Harvard Class of 2021 Regular Decision Results ONLY

[MITphysicsmajor]

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1430 total, 730 Math, 700 English, Essay 15/24 (did not send)
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite, 36 English, 35 Math, 36 Reading, 31 Science, Writing 8/12
SAT II: Physics 800, Math 2 800 on second try (first try got 750), Chemistry 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0? I have a 97-98% average right now
Weighted GPA:n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/ 383
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis): IB chemistry SL 7
Senior Year Course Load:

IB Full Diploma

Physics HL
Economics HL
English HL
Math SL
French SL
Theory of Knowledge

Plus Advanced math/ intro to calculus

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Participant of the International
Summer School for Young
Physicists (ISSYP) 2016
(acceptance rate below 10%)

Reach for the Top National
Finalist (2016)/ Provincial Team
Champion (2014-2016)
(Canadian equivalent of quizbowl basically)

2nd in Canadian Chemistry
Contest in
Manitoba/Saskatchewan/Nunavut

Provincial Team Champion in
Canadian Senior Mathematics
Contest

Top 6 in Manitoba in the
Canadian Open Mathematics
Challenge for grade 11s

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

Reach for the Top - 2nd chair Senior Team
Trivia based competition on a variety of subjects. National finalist (2016),
Provincial Champion (2014-2016)

Contest participant
Canadian Senior Math Contest- Provincial Team winner;Canadian Chemistry
Contest- 2nd in MB/SK/NU;Canadian Open Math Challenge-Top 6 in MB Grade
11

Badminton, Varsity player
Have played boys singles, and boys doubles; Qualified for city finals tournament

Job/Work Experience:

Shell Canada Employee
Worked primarily as a cashier, as well as maintaining the site.

Also does paid tutoring

Volunteer/Community service:

Tutor
During lunch, I assist my physics teacher by helping her students at lunch. I also
help my peers in the morning and during class

Summer Activities:

Participant of ISSYP 2016
Attended lectures on theoretical physics. Discussed interesting questions with
working physicists and graduate students.

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

My essays in general were comprehensible but perhaps not very deep or touching. Maybe a 6-7/ 10? Not sure.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:Physics teacher adores me, 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: English/history teacher, we are pretty chill, 8/10
Counselor Rec: IB Coordinator/math teacher, loves me, 10/10
Additional Rec:Reach for the top coach, is fond of me 7/10

Interview:
This is funny sort of. I had to reschedule like 3 times because of schedule conflicts and the day of my actual skype interview, I took a nap after school and slept through my 5PM appointment. I eventually interviewed the next day but I was sure that I had blown any chance I had. Either the interview was not very important or they liked me a lot (probably the former).

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, probably need a lot
Intended Major: Math and Physics
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Canada
School Type: Large public
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~110 000 CDN (83 000 US)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM? i don’t think this counts since I am international though.

Reflection

Utterly shocked. I applied to several other schools and I almost did not apply to Harvard.

Strengths:
Test scores, grades, recommendations, ISSYP, Reach for the Top National finals, Contest performance, URM maybe?

Weaknesses:
Lack of demonstrated leadership, narrowly focused extracurriculars, international applicant asking for a lot of financial aid. Also essays and interview were probably too lackluster.

Why you think you were /rejected:

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Princeton, University of Toronto, McGill, Waterloo, University of British Columbia
Rejected: Stanford (REA), MIT, Caltech, Yale,
Waitlisted: UChicago

General Comments:

I also would like to thank everyone on CC past and present for helping me through this application process. I am mostly a lurker and rarely sign in but I have read so many posts on here. Thank you for everything and congratulations to all those who are accepted. To those who didn’t get in, the fact that you applied already means you are wonderful and that you will excel regardless of where you go.

[doorrealthe]

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2300 (770/740/800/8) only sitting
SAT II (subject, score): Math 2 - 800
Unweighted/Weighted GPA: 3.9 ish UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
AP/IB (place score in parentheses): APUSH (4), AP Lang (4). AP Calc AB (5). AP Gov (5). AP Comp (5). AP Environmental (5).

Senior year course load:
AP Calc BC
AP Physics
AP Statistics
AP Economics
AP Literature

Awards:

• AP Scholar with Distinction
• National Merit Scholar Commended
• Chosen as 1 of 8 teens nationwide for a major program (lots of publicity)
• (2x) High school award in math and science - given to best student in each class
• Yale essay contest 1st place
• Two other, smaller online essay contests - finalist/top10 winner
• second place in We The People state competition
• High honor roll, NHS, etc.

Extracurriculars (exactly what is on my Common App):

• Blogger for the Huffington Post
• Co-Editor in Chief of school newspaper
• Co-President of DECA business club
• Co-Founder of a growing company (annual revenue projected around $15k-20k)
• Published writer and journalist: fantasy novel published on Amazon, reporter for local newspaper, published in 4 literary magazines
• Editor for a national high school literary magazine
• Karate Black Belt (first degree)
• Class Treasurer
• AVID Tutor and Freshman mentor
• Former waiter and housekeeper at a bed and breakfast, ongoing private tutor with 3 clients, former employee for a financial literacy website

Recommendations:
Good

Essays:
Pretty good

Other:
U.S. State/Territory or Country: competitive state
School Type: Very large public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: No financial aid
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):

Strengths: ECs
Weaknesses: Scores and GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think the peer recommendation helped me as well as the interview!
What would you have done differently?: Nothing
Where else did you apply?

Accepted: Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UVA, and BC
Waitlisted: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Duke, and UChicago
Rejected: Princeton, Penn, Cornell, and Brown

[nshome82]

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (800 M, 770 W, 740 R)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36 M, 35 R, 35 E, 34 S)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Chemistry, 770 Bio M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.88 (out of 5)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/~480
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s: Calc BC, English Lang/Comp, World History, Macroeconomics. 4s: Biology, Chemistry, Physics 1, Human Geography, US History, US Government
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: 3-D Modeling/Animation (lol), AP Statistics, AP Physics C, Academic Decathlon, AP English Lit/Comp, AP Spanish Lang/Culture, Speech & Debate, Varsity Tennis
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Scholar, National AP Scholar, Academic Decathlon State Qualifier, Nominated for “Best Advocate” @ Mock Trial State

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Tennis (Team Captain), Mock Trial (Lead Attorney/Team Captain), Student Body Treasurer, Academic Octathlon/Decathlon Honors Student (Medals at Regionals/State competitions), Science Bowl, UIL NS/Math/Science (Made state Junior/Senior year), Speech and Debate, Indoor Club Soccer
Job/Work Experience: Research Internship at the Texas Tech Neuroimaging Institute, programmed images for a functional MRI simulator through MATLAB
Volunteer/Community service: United Way Youth Division Volunteer (~20+ hours per school year), 2 years of NHS (~8 hours per semester)
Summer Activities: Research Internship (2016), BU High School Honors Program (2015)

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: Described how sports helped me become a passionate, thoughtful person. 7/10
Harvard Supplement: Wrote about contributing to citizenship/leadership, basically talked about all of my life experiences and how each one has reinforced my belief in collaboration. 9/10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: English teacher, we became close friends and she is fantastic writer. 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: Math teacher, I was the youngest student in her class but she treated me like her best. 8/10
Counselor Rec: Probably generic. 6/10
Additional Rec: Research mentor, longtime family friend. 8/10
Additional Rec #2: Decathlon coach, knows me like family and captured all of my best qualities. 10/10
Interview: Lasted almost two hours, really enjoyable and we essentially talked like friends. 9/10

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Biological Sciences
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Bengali
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: Leadership, well-roundedness, impact on my school
Weaknesses: No particular weakness, just an incredibly talented pool of RD applicants to compete against
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly, I was pretty dumbfounded when I got accepted. I knew there was a possibility but I never dreamed it would happen. Probably accepted because my personality really showed and I differentiated myself from traditional STEM kids through abundant leadership/diverse extracurriculars. Also, I made it clear how much I care about my high school and how I’ve taken advantage of every opportunity to excel here.
Where else I applied: Accepted at Harvard, Rice, UC Berkeley, and UT Austin (Honors), Waitlisted at UPenn, Duke, CalTech, Northwestern, Georgetown, and Michigan, Rejected at Stanford, MIT, Columbia, and Yale

General Comments: So excited to meet the Class of 2021! My only advice really is to be ready for anything, admissions are wild. In the essays, show them that you’ve beaten the odds and stood out in your community (it is okay to brag just a little haha). Finally, good luck to everybody!

[imarobot]

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 730/710/700
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2140
ACT (breakdown): 28/31/30/27
ACT superscore (breakdown): 29
SAT II (subject, score): Math I 690, Chem 750, Chinese 610 (didn’t send lol)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1
AP (place score in parentheses): none (school doesn’t offer)
IB (place score in parentheses): none (school doesn’t offer)
Senior Year Course Load: Senior Chemistry, History, English (American Authors), Spanish. Online courses at state university: Calculus & Analytic Geometry I, General Chemistry II (finished all math at my high school),
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): n/a
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National Merit Commended, Honor Roll, Valedictorian

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): National Honor Society Chapter founder, President (all four years); Chinese Language Society (founder and only regular member :’( ); low-level activism with the state Democratic Party which is not a huge thing in rural Mississippi…
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community Service: I live in a very rural area as my parents work at a remote military base, not many volunteering opportunities. Tutoring at my school, volunteering in China with my grandparents for two summers. “Volunteered” on a farm for a summer freshman year before I knew what volunteering was but they just used me as free labor.
Summer Experience: ^^

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: 10/10 - I wrote about hoping to be the first student at my high school to get into a college, and reflected on inequality and how out-of-place I’ve felt for my whole life living here. My school is very small and new (the old school that served my area was shut down for poor performance), and no one before me has gotten into any 4-year college from my high school (around 10 people apply each year). I could have gone to a high school or a private school in a nearby city, but my parents sent me to the local school because private school would have been very expensive, and I would either have to drive two hours or board there, and because competition at any of those high schools to get into college was a lot fiercer.

Teacher Recommendation #1: 10/10 Math teacher, I read it and she called me “the most brilliant person I have ever met in my life”
Teacher Recommendation #2: 9/10 English teacher, read after she submitted it, also really nice but said I’d make a fine doctor (not what I want to do and she didn’t seem aware med school is after UG anyway - d’oh!). There were also some weird comments about how she was afraid I wouldn’t know English when she first met me but I turned out to be her best student (actually my English is way better than my Chinese, see SAT II XD)
Counselor Rec: 5/10 Unfortunately apathetic, the counselor seemed annoyed he had to do this and didn’t know about the Common App or the process.
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: I really enjoyed it! The interviewer was really nice but seemed to know everything! I felt intimidated since he brought up all kinds of things in current events and science and politics that I know nothing about, and seemed really puzzled that I didn’t know everything he did.
Art Supplement: n/a

Other

Date Submitted App: 12/20 (I think?)
U.S. State/Territory or Country: MS
School Type: Public rural
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: $100k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): Rural, underrepresented school

Reflection

Strengths: Essay for sure!! Leadership (started clubs since my school didn’t have too many), being from a rural underperforming school
Weaknesses: Asian, no top awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Geography
What would you have done differently?: Nothing! Ha!
Where else did you apply? Columbia (visiting a friend there right now!), Duke, University of Mississippi, University of Florida, all accepted

**Other Factors: **

General Comments & Advice:
OMGOMGOMG I can’t believe it, still in shock!! See you all next year at HARVARD!

[Reese5]

**Decision: Waitlisted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1580 (790 Reading and Writing, 790 Math, 22 Essay)
ACT (breakdown): 35 Composite (36 English, 35 Math, 33 Reading, 36 Science, 33 Writing)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Biology M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 W, 4.85 UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (5), US History (5), BC Calc (5), Lang and Comp (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP French, AP Stats
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nothing extremely major… National Merit Commended, AP Scholar with Distinction, Harvard Book Award, French Honor Society, National Honor Society, and a bunch of school academic awards.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

• Varsity Tennis (Captain)
• National Honor Society (Officer)
• Asian Culture Club (President)
• Math Team
• Biology lab aide

Job/Work Experience:

• Intern at biomedical company
• Teacher assistant at local language school (won award for best teacher assistant)

Volunteer/Community service:

• Invention/Science Camp (Camp Counselor)
• Volunteer at local hospital
• Volunteer at town library

Summer Activities:

• Internship at biomedical company
• Summer program at Brown
• Invention/Science Camp (Camp Counselor)
• Hiking/traveling with family

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

• Common App: 9/10, Initially I didn’t really like my essay, but re-reading it, I think it actually reflects me pretty well. I wrote about finding balance as an individual and as part of a community
• Supplements: 8/10, Pretty average and pretty boring I think

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: AP Bio teacher 9/10, did well in class, work as lab aide
Teacher Rec #2: AP Lang teacher 9/10, did well in class, connected with teacher
Counselor Rec: 8/10 didn’t know super well, but she definitely likes me a lot
Additional Rec: none
Interview: 8/10 Good conversation, but nothing outstanding

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biological Sciences
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public, small but high-ranking in Massachusetts
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: Upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): lol

Reflection:
Strengths: Grades, test scores, teacher recs
Weaknesses: Interview, Asian, interested in biology (very popular major)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: didn’t really stand out from the thousands of other Asian applicants interested in biology. Also Harvard already accepted a girl from my school with tons of legacy SCEA
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted at Yale (its on Harvard >:) ), Dartmouth, Duke, Vanderbilt, UVA, and McGill; wait listed at Harvard, UPenn, and Cornell; Rejected at Columbia and Princeton

General Comments: Congrats to all accepted! You have all worked so hard to get where you are. For all those who didn’t receive the good news you were hoping for, please remember that college admissions is such a crapshoot and that some random admissions officer’s decision does not reflect who you are as a person.

[LeftHandedWombat]

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): M:690 W:600 CR:800
ACT (breakdown): 33 R: 36 S: 30 E:33 M: 32
SAT II: Bio:800 US History:760 Math II:700
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.85 UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): mid 30’s/ ~350
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH: 5 Human Geo: 5 Psych: 5 Lang:5 Calc:4 World: 4 Bio:3
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov, AP Stats, AP Micro and Macro, Calc 2 @ local college, AP Lit, Spanish IV, American Film (Independent Research Course I designed), and some filler classes (we’re on trimesters)
Major Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): STAND human rights campaign (w/ leadership role) Model UN (w/ leadership role), FIRST Robotics (w/ lr), Academic Bowl (for fine arts and spelling,) Link Crew, acted in the school’s musical, NHS, and a few other things
Job/Work Experience: Conservation Research my summer of Sophomore year, and I was an intern at a not for profit organization over summer of junior year
Volunteer/Community service: Dog Walker for humane shelter, graded math contests for the local middle school, volunteered at local holocaust museum
Summer Activities: Conservation Leadership Conference and a Law summer program

Rate out of 10
Essays:
Common App Essay: It was about my social anxiety and was pretty personal, it was reviewed by a lot of people and was pretty solid 8/10
Harvard Essay: It was about Kermit the Frog, and how he influenced my interest in patent law. It was weird and a risk but it was well written I think 8/10
Teacher Recommendation: Didn’t read, but my 10th grade English teacher is also an academic team coach and club sponsor and I know her really well, so I would be bold to say 9.5/10. My other rec was my Calc teacher liked me but admittedly doesn’t know me all that well so most likely 6/10
Counselor Rec: She sponsored a club I was in, but still hardly knew my name somehow? Undoubtedly not too good 4/10
Additional Rec: My bosses from the not for profit co-wrote a rec. They really liked me, and I still volunteer so I think a solid 8/10
Interview:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Statistics
State (if domestic applicant):IN
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: large public
Ethnicity: Black and Hispanic
Gender: M
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, LGBT+
Reflection

Strengths: ECs, GPA had really strong upward trend, really rigorous workload
Weaknesses: GPA, scores,
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: The essay was a risk, admittedly. It was a little weird in hopes of showing off my personality, but it might have flopped. Also, it discussed my post-grad plans, not undergrad.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: UPenn, Cornell, UChicago, URochester, UWisconsin, IU
Waitlisted: Harvard
Rejected: Brown, Princeton, Yale

General Comments: I was addicted to these threads when I was applying, but noticed most of the kids who posted waitlisted/rejected had amazing scores and were majorly salty about the turn out. Just so you know, not only perfect scoring prodigies get waitlisted, lol.

ALSO: You can’t hear this enough. If you are applying to reach schools, please please please make sure you have a solid safety/targets to which you actually are OK with going!!! I was lucky enough to get into some reaches, but It’s really traumatizing to see people go to schools they hate because they didn’t plan out the “what if’s”.

[ShootForTheMoon]

[ size=4]Decision: Accepted[/size]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1530/1600 (800M/730R/19Essay) One sitting
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown): N/A
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): Math Lvl 2 (800), Biology M (800), Chemistry (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A in Australia
Weighted GPA: My weighted GPA in America during freshman year was 4.71/5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/80ish
AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry (5), World History (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): IB 45–HL Math (7), HL Bio (7), HL Chem (7), SL English A Lang&Lit (7), SL Mandarin B (7), and anticipated SL Psychology (7)
Senior Year Course Load: The subjects above minus SL Psychology
Number of other applicants in your school: one or two
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): 1st Place in USNCO Local exam, National Top 24: Australian National Chem Olympiad, National 0.3%: Australian Mathematics Competition, National Finalist: BHP Billiton National Science and Engineering Awards, Finalist at Intel ISEF 2017

Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):
Also had other more minor awards that I talked about with my interviewer (he went through my entire resume)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
President of Science Bowl Club, Research intern at local university, Principal Viola in school orchestra and local youth orchestra, Deputy Junior Mayor of the city’s junior council, Piano, public speaking, student government, etc
Job/Work Experience: Kumon tutor for 2 years, Olympiad Ambassador for the Science Olympiads for 1 year
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteered at hospital, animal welfare league, confucius institute
Summer Experience:
Traveled to China, New Zealand, etc.
Doing research in the lab
Attended Chemistry Olympiad Summer School (equivalent to USA’s Training Camp)
Went back to Chemistry Olympiad Summer School the next year as a Staff member/Tutor

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: CommonApp: pretty happy with it 9/10, supplemental essay was very personal, but probably not as good as my commonapp 7/10

Teacher Recommendation #1: Fav english teacher. She let me read her recommendation letter and it was even better than I could have imagined. She managed to seamlessly depict me in a positive light, both in and out of the classroom. 10/10
Teacher Recommendation #2: Math teacher. Said good things about me, but it was pretty short and bland. 7/10
Counselor Rec: should have been good?
Additional Info/Rec: My piano teacher sent in a recommendation about my ability to learn and appreciate music. 9/10
My research supervisor also sent in a rec 9/10

Interview: hands down best interview. We aimed to talk for 1 hour, ended up being 2, and my interviewer told me he would be depressed if I didn’t get into Harvard. 10/10
Art Supplement: Sent in a music supplement, playing viola. 8/10.

Other

Date Submitted App:
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Australia (but US citizen, lived in America until freshman year)
School Type: Public selective school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket Range:
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):
don’t think I have any hooks

Reflection

Strengths: I think my interview carried me. I also was so involved in and out of school in a wide variety of activities.
Weaknesses: My supplemental essay could have been better.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I was SO shocked to find out I was admitted! Harvard may have liked my well-roundedness? I also think I demonstrated a strong passion to STEM across my entire application.
What would you have done differently?:
Where else did you apply?
I was accepted to MIT and Northwestern, rejected to Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Cornell, waitlisted to UChicago.
How unpredictable are college admissions LOL

**Other Factors: **

General Comments & Advice:

COMMITTED to Harvard Class of 2021 <3

[l_erudite]

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1500 (740E 760M 23/24W) *didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite (36E 34M 36R 33S 29W)
SAT II: 800 U.S. History, 740 Math Level II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99 *school doesn’t send
Weighted GPA (out of 100): 105.84
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/261
AP (place score in parenthesis): Stats (5), English Lang (5), U.S. History (5), U.S. Gov (5), Euro (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Art History, AP Calc BC, AP Eng Lit, AP Physics 1, AP Psych, AP French, Band (Honors)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, MA Association of School Superintendents Award

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Marching Band (Drum Major), Varsity Soccer, Mock Trial (President), NHS, World Language NHS (Officer), English NHS (President), Model UN, Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, Indoor Track (JV/Varsity)
Job/Work Experience: had jobs all throughout high school; cleaned tables at a restaurant for about 3 years
Volunteer/Community service: nothing spectacular, about 60 hours throughout HS
Summer Activities: Work/schoolwork, mostly
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 9, very very personal/raw (subject confidential), worked through it for several months with numerous English teachers; Harvard Supplement: 10, definitely best app essay I’ve written, showcased leadership and refusal to give up after failure, etc.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10, from an English teacher who had me 10th grade and now, highlights so many qualities inside/outside of school, very good letter
Teacher Rec #2: 8/9, from sophomore year Euro teacher (first AP teacher), focuses mainly on academics
Counselor Rec: 7/8 I’m guessing, don’t know counselor well but I would assume they talked mostly about my rank/school stuff
Additional Rec: 8, from my VP – I am the only one in my school to have received a letter of rec from him and his position in the school system is honorable, talks a lot about academic achievement
Interview: Very very strong, interviewer was quite impressed and seemed to like me a lot

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: History and/or Government
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant): U.S.
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: upper middle (around 150,000)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None really

Reflections:

Strengths: LOTS of leadership (Drum Major, Officer, President, etc.) and very strong academic achievement, great success in a difficult course load both junior and senior years, strong recs, very strong supplement
Weaknesses: counselor rec?, maybe Math Level II score
Why you think you were accepted/rejected/deferred? While my GPA/test scores certainly placed me within Harvard’s caliber, I think the combination of strong essays, strong recs, and a great interview really added a personal dimension to my application that interested them more so than just the numbers.

General Comments: I am committed to Harvard.

Other schools you applied to and their decisions:
ACCEPTED: Harvard, Dartmouth, Williams (Tyng Scholar), Colby (Presidential Scholar), Northeastern (Honors), BC (Honors)
REJECTED: Yale, Princeton, Columbia
WAITLISTED: Tufts (lol)