Harvard Class of 2021 SCEA Results Only Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Creating this post for the Harvard Class of 2021 results expected December 13th, 2016
Please post DECISIONS ONLY on this thread. Use the format below.

**Please DO NOT post congratulations, or any other comments here.**

PLEASE REPLACE THE **[*** BELOW WITH JUST **[** BEFORE POSTING

[B][size=4][color=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size][/b]
[B][size=4][color=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred[/color][/size][/b]
[B][size=4][color=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size][/b]

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details):
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details):
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details):

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflections:

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments (if any):

2

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1580 (790 M, 790 R/W, 19 essay) - took for NM, did not send
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36 E, 36 R, 34 M, 35 S, 31 essay)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.73
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not rank, but I would have narrowly been #1
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5), Macroeconomics (5), Microeconomics (5), Statistics (5), Calc BC (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP World History, AP Comp Gov, AP US Gov, AP French, AP English Lang, AP Physics C, Differential Equations, Gym
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): State debate champion

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Speech/Debate, Math Team, French Club, Mock Trial, Model UN, Science Bowl (2 years), National Honor Society
Job/Work Experience: camp counselor during summers, some tutoring during school years
Volunteer/Community service: N/A
Summer Activities: nothing other than work
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App - 8, I thought it was pretty good and spent a lot of time on it (about hiking, history, and politics)
Harvard - 7, had a minor mistake but was otherwise solid (about my love for trivia)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): Calc BC and Diffeq teacher - 8; I read it and it was strong overall
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): APUSH teacher - no idea
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): no idea
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): Speech coach; it was probably well-written, but I didn’t see it
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): First one (with alumnus) - 5; I was nervous and had a lot of trouble
Second one (at Harvard, with admissions officer) - 9; it was more about content and my interests, and I wasn’t as stressed

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Government/Economics
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflections:
Strengths: Grades, testing, recs
Weaknesses: Essay mistake, first interview, ECs a bit weak for Harvard
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No clue
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to UVM

General Comments (if any): I am shocked! I never knew this would happen.

3

Decision: Deferred
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 33 (35 English, 31 Reading, 32 Math, 32 Science, 35 Writing)
SAT II: 710 French w/ Listening, 760 US History, 760 Math I
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95/4.00
Weighted GPA: 4.65/5.00
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10/500ish-- top 2%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry (4), French (4), English Language (5), European History(4), US History (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Environmental Science, Gym, AP French, AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calc BC, AP English, AP Art History
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 90th Percentile and up: National French Contest (10, 11); IL State Scholar; minor school awards

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Literary Magazine (Co-Editor in Chief, Published author), French tutoring (4 yrs), Intensive French Language Day (2 yrs), French Honor Society (3 year member), Nat’l Honors Society (2-year member), Nat’l Art Honor Society (Secretary), Scholastic Bowl (Varsity, 11-12), IL Youth Summit Representative (11)
Job/Work Experience: Summer Camp Jr. Counselor (11). 2016 Presidential Election Judge (Paid to work the polls)
Volunteer/Community service: 12 hrs/year for National Honors Society (11-12), French tutoring (every week since Sophomore year), National Art Honors Society (10 service hours, 12th grade)
Summer Activities: learned to code Java, school trip to France
Essays (rating 1-10, details): For an essay, I sent in this really weird Science/Photography/Poetry project I did over the summer about climate change using photos I took in France. Wrote extracurricular essay about being a humanities freak learning to code. Also submitted a collection of French poetry
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: My 11th Grade Physics Teacher-- really likes me, I aced his class, we joked about how I might accomplish more in my 20’s than Newton :slight_smile: 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: My 11th Grade English Teacher-- on the first day of school he made me read my essay out loud to the class because it was so well-written. Really formed a friendship/connection with him, he told me he thinks I’ll get into every one of the 12-odd colleges I’m applying to. 10/10
Counselor Rec: I got to know her a lot over the past year–she was especially helpful with making me feel safe and comfortable at school. 9/10
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: It was kind of awkward, but I really think I spoke from the heart. Really nice guy, we talked for about 45 mins, mostly about foreign language and travel. It was a fun experience. 7/10
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Linguistics/French
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Public, mid-sized
Ethnicity: White (European)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Grandfather is a Harvard legacy

Reflection
Strengths: Strong commitment to learning French and sharing that knowledge with others, good extracurriculars, outstanding recommendations
Weaknesses: GPA and Class Rank (although my teachers seem to like me a lot), I’m not that good at standardized tests (see-APs), but hopefully my Subject Test scores will show I have mastery in those subjects. Not that many awards, ex, I’m an artsy person but have never submitted to Scholastics Art+Writing.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I was deferred probably because it wasn’t clear that I was a legacy? But I’m really proud of being able to get deferred on my own merit?? This is so weird
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No where yet! I find out if I get into the University of Illinois on Friday.

General Comments : It’s still an honor to be deferred. I wish the best of luck to everyone who received their REA decision today. Just submitting an application is a success :slight_smile:

4

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550/1600 (800M + 750R/W)
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite (36 E + 36 M + 33 R + 35 S + 9/12 Essay)
SAT II: 790 Math I, 690 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Weighted GPA: 4.64 (out of 5.0)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Gov (4), World History (5), Calc AB (5), Physics C - Mech (5), English Lang (4), Comp Sci A (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Spanish IV (Honors), AP Calculus C, Advanced Obj-Orient. Design (Gifted), AP Chemistry, AP Physics C: E&M, AP Micro/Macroeconomics, AP English 12
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): It’s Academic, Math Team, Model UN, Red Cross, Basketball
Job/Work Experience: Cashier at fast food restaurant, Intern at US EPA
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at hospital, volunteer at YMCA, Red Cross
Summer Activities: Interning and volunteering (mentioned above)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app = 9; supplement = 8 or 9
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 9
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 7
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 8
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details):
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 8

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): MD
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public (~1400 students)
Ethnicity: Asian-American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~$120,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflections: IDEK I’ve only had like 10 min to think and be sad
Strengths: Maybe test scores, essays, possibly recs
Weaknesses: Definitely extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: weaknesses and too many “qualified” students, so unless I was “over-qualified” I probably wouldn’t get in
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Well, its too early to say, but I did get into Penn State

General Comments (if any): Good luck to everyone else who’s waiting for decisions or applying RD (especially if you were deferred like me)! Don’t worry because not everyone successful went to Harvard and not everyone at Harvard becomes successful.

5

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):1480 (760 for both parts)
ACT (breakdown): 27 (didn’t submit)
SAT II: 790 Spanish, 680 Biology
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9/4
Weighted GPA: 4.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/66
AP (place score in parenthesis): School does not offer
IB (place score in parenthesis): School does not offer
Senior Year Course Load:Semester I: Calculus II, British Lit., Public Speaking, Physics I
Semester II: Calculus III, Physics II all classes dual enrollment
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Honor role, NC scholar, nominations to Governor School, nominated for Morehead Cain, Parks Scholarship nominee.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Piano, DECA, tutoring, exploreres, Phi theta Kappa, Leadership, church activities and community service.
Job/Work Experience: Paid internship in a NCCDI.
Volunteer/Community service:Red Cross Blood Ambassador, church mission trips, Operation christmas Child,
Summer Activities: Worked with an organization to save foreclosed homes, and help lower income buy homes.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 9/10: I think it was well done of my experiences under DACA, but can be considered a basic essay.
Supplement: 7/10: wrote about my want to be an astrophysicist. Made a huge typo last sentence.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t see, common app
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t see, common app
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t see, but very close to her, as it is a small school.
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): N/A
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 Went well in my head, had good exhange and neat conversation. He kept getting interrupted however because he was interviewing on the job and kept getting called to help a patient.

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Astrophysics
State (if domestic applicant): NC, USA
Country (if international applicant): Peru (long story)
School Type: Early College
Ethnicity: Latino/Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: less than 50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM (hispanic), undocumented, Peruvian

Reflections: Sad but hopeful
Strengths: My status, essays were good personally, etc.
Weaknesses: Not enough extracurriculars, SAT II scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: International student level, not standing out
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: UNC-Charlotte (others have not released their decisions yet)

General Comments (if any): :frowning:

6

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take oops from the Midwest :stuck_out_tongue:
ACT (breakdown): C: 33 (E: 35; M: 33; R: 35; S: 30; W: 10)

so my ACT is a bit complicated. My highest composite score (C: 35; E: 36; M: 33; R: 34; S: 35) was taken in the absence of writing, but when I emailed Harvard, they said they did not superscore. I was not sure whether or not the 35 was acceptable since there was no writing score with it, so I just submitted both scores.

SAT II: didn’t take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.74
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/262
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Human Geo (5), AP Chem (3), AP Calculus, AP Psychology (5), AP World History (4), AP US History, AP Biology, AP Statistics, AP Spanish (3). Not everyone’s perfect :wink: self deprecating laugh
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: Wind Ensemble, AP Statistics, AP Biology, Economics, Government, Anatomy and Physiology, College Course, Dual Credit English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, State Scholar, FIRST Dean’s List SemiFinalist, Best of Day for Piano, Top Scorer for Scholastic Bowl, Freshman of the Year for Band, Honor Roll

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): First Tech Challenge Robotics (Captain), Student Council (President), Wind Ensemble (First Chair), Pianist, Jazz Band, Scholastic Bowl (Captain), Mathletes,

Job/Work Experience: helped out at family restaurant all four years, mentor at library

Volunteer/Community service: volunteered mostly for the National Energy Education Development Project (NEED) and logged nearly 200 hours. Helped out at their Youth Awards Ceremony and was a rep for their cause.

Summer Activities: volunteered for NEED, volunteered at local hospital throughout summer, worked at father’s restaurant, traveled. Some summers I would volunteer at the library and their various programs. Basically kept summers busy. However, i don’t recall ever letting H know that. It never came up anywhere.

Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10 I say they were awesome – had some kick a** essays submitted to H – at least in my opinion. Spent the summer before senior year working diligently on them. I went outside of the box and wrote a sonata and a play. Literally. My common app essay was broken down in sections (coda, recapitulation) of a sonata and my supplemental essay was a play.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 9 (Had English teacher for two years and almost cried reading her rec.)
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 8? Never was able to read it.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 7-8 He’s not the overachieving sort, but I’m pretty sure it was positive. :slight_smile:
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): had two more recs from teachers. I would give them a rating of 8-9, but again, I have never read them. I just know my teachers do appreciate my work and my passions. Also, I’m not sure exactly the difference between a good letter and an exceptional letter, so forgive me.

Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 9 I enjoyed my time with my interviewer. I felt it went well. I tried to show I was well rounded without being too well rounded. I had some activities I loved that we spent more time discussing. Later, after I emailed him my thanks, he mentioned purchasing the book I had raved about. :smiley:

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes. $$
Intended Major: Chemistry (premed)
State (if domestic applicant): Midwest
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 50K-90K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first generation female

Reflections: all in all, I tried to be the best student I could be. My scores may not be perfect and my activities not globally impactful, but I did what I did because I loved doing it. In my application, I hoped to showcase my passions.

Strengths: my essays. not vain, but I really, really think they were my best work. I felt at the time that if I was not going to be amazing in other areas I might as well let my personality shine through so maybe I could have some edge, of a sort.

Weaknesses: definitely my AP and SAT Subject Test scores (or the lack thereof). Also, I had no amazing internship or life altering or impacting activity. No major award. :confused:

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: see weaknesses

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Purdue (accepted), Loyola University Chicago (accepted), University of Missouri Kansas City (accepted but still waiting for the 6 year BA/MD results), Northwestern, Yale, Princeton, Brown, WASHU, UNotre Dame, UChicago, University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign

General Comments (if any): I created this account and am doing this purely for next year’s (anxious) bunch. I read last year’s SCEA thread and it more or less inspired me to apply. I really would not have otherwise. It sucks to be deferred but we shall see what March brings.

7

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): New SAT: 1420
ACT (breakdown): 32
SAT II: 640 Molecular Biology (yikes), 710 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93/4.0
Weighted GPA: 5.4/6.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/630
AP (place score in parenthesis): Only submitted 2 (Biology: 4. Psychology:5 ), but I’ve taken a total of 10 AP exams thus far (AP Scholar with Distinction since Sophomore year).
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov, AP Macro, AP Lit, AP Physics C, AP Principles of Computer Science, AP Art 2D, AP Environmental, AP Spanish Lang, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, Dual Enrolled in a few classes.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Speaker for a Global Organization, Harvard Book Award, Science Fair Award (I never made it to Intel tho.), AP Scholar with Distinction since Sophomore year.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Class office (treasurer, senator, President), Science National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta (Treasurer/ Secretary), Religious Club (Co-Founder, Secretary/Liaison), Independent Researcher (won awards at Regional and State Level) and Tutor, Dancer, County Leadership Program, Founder of a Mentorship Program.
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at a Hospital, Mentorship Program.
Summer Activities: School, Volunteering, Ramadan
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app: 9/10? It was super serious. I identified a problem I noticed in society and explained how I started a mentorship program to combat it. Supplement was hilarious 15/10. I wrote a letter to my roommate. Everybody who has read it says that it screams my name.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Pretty good overall

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): I didn’t read
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 idk
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 13/10 idk
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 10/10, 7/10, 6/10 idk
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): No Interview

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Neurobiology
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Did not list, but I’m multi-racial (specified in additional comments)
Gender: Iron Male
Income Bracket: $40k-$60k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Multi-Racial?, Immigrant, familiar with many languages, overcame many problems, cultured, low income.

Reflections:
Strengths: My essays!! Extra-Curriculars were pretty extensive and cool. My course load is ridiculous (my guidance counselor said it was the most rigorous course load in the school’s history. I’m surprised that they didn’t call my guidance counselor to confirm everything on my application was true and that I wasn’t failing my classes.)
Weaknesses: Test Scores were pretty low, I did a bunch of things and didn’t really “specialize” in a field kinda? There were typos and grammatical errors in my Additional Comments section, and it may have been too blunt? (I was crying while I was typing everything out, and just submitted it to get it over with; I had a headache from the crying, too. As you can probably tell, it was really emotional for me).
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m not really sure. I wish I had gotten an interview though. I think they really want my mid-year report before making a decision (I’m taking 10 AP classes, so they probably want to see that I can manage everything).
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: A local school on a full scholarship. I also applied to my state school and another private university (but not responses from either of them, yet).

General Comments (if any):
You don’t need a college to validate your self-worth!! Have confidence in yourself and do what you love. Know that sometimes colleges reject you because they know that you might not be happy at their school, even if you are extremely qualified. I feel like everything happens for a reason. Yeah, it sucks that I don’t have a definite answer, but I’ll just deal with it.

8

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550/1600 and 2200/2400, not gonna get the breakdowns right now
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 Chemistry, 790 Math II, 750 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.17 (I think it’s out of 4.3 at my school, not 100% sure)
Weighted GPA: 4.95 (out of 5, I believe)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1%, and I believe I am 1st or 2nd in the class (they don’t tell us)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Statistics (5), US History (5), Computer Science A (5), Calculus BC (5), Chemistry (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics, Advanced Topics in Mathematics, Calculus 3, Science Research, Gym, AP Euro, Research and Debate, AP Computer Science Principles, Latin 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NHS (VP), National Merit Semifinalist, minor school awards and probably some other stuff I’m forgetting

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Robotics (6th year, team captain), Student Council (Director of Communications), Astronomy Club, Programming Club, National Honor Society, Fencing (3 years)
Job/Work Experience: Worked at my synagogue’s field school, have done archaeological field work and I’m currently doing archaeological research.
Volunteer/Community service: I tutor with relative frequency
Summer Activities: 3 Archaeological Field Schools
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7. Honestly, not my best-- I revised my Common App Essay last minute and in retrospect, my essays may have been weak and broad.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 10

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 10. My sophomore physics teacher, sophomore, junior, and senior Science Research teacher, and robotics coach. We get along quite well and he knows me pretty well.
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 10. My Calculus and computer science teacher. We know each other pretty well, and I’ve worked with him on a couple programming projects.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): Honestly, a wild card. Probably good, I’m a good student and haven’t had any discipline problems.
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 10. I got an extra one from both my Chem teacher, who I get along with really well, and the archaeology professor I am conducting research with at Yale.
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 9 or 10. It went pretty well, although I feel like all the stuff I talked about was the stuff that was already on my application. Don’t know how useful that is.

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Anthropology
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): My aunt went there and my grandfather went to Harvard Law– so pretty much nothing

Reflections:
Strengths: My academics. I have pretty good scores and I’m in the top 1% of my class, so that definitely helped me not get rejected straight out.
Weaknesses: Extracurriculars. I think I could have had more, especially in the volunteer area. I’ve seen some people with incredible extracurriculars, and don’t feel like I match up.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I got deferred because I’m a good candidate, but not an amazing one. I think I have a pretty good chance of being accepted in the spring, but we’ll have to see.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: N/A

General Comments (if any):
I honestly expected to be deferred, but that doesn’t mean I’m not bummed out. I’m really not looking forward to having to wait until spring to hear back again. Also, this means I’m going to have to cram a hell of a lot of applications in in the next few weeks. Whoops.

9

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Did not submit 2260C, 690CR, 770M, 800W
ACT (breakdown): 35C, 36M, 35S, 35E, 34R, 10W
SAT II: USH (770), Bio (800), Math 2 (780)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 9
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio (5), USH (5), Eng Lit&Comp (4), Eur Hx (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Chem SL (7)
Senior Year Course Load: Marine Sci (A), IB Eng4, IB Calc&Stat, IB Bio3, IB Cont Hx2, IB French 5B, IB TOK
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ISEF (Finalist), State Science Fair (1st Place +3), Regional Science Fair (1st Place +2), USNCO (Nat exam), Astronaut challenge (State finals), AP Sch w Dist

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Swim (12+ years - not recruit level), SGA, Clubs (French, Science, MAT, NHS, Interact), School newspaper (ed), Non-profit (co-founder)
Job/Work Experience: NIEHS paid summer internship
Volunteer/Community service: NPO, Hospital, IB ambassador, SGA, Key club, Interact club, Youth group, Youth UW
Summer Activities: Harvard SSP, NIEHS
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9? (Can’t rate my own essay)

**Recommendations/b: Waived FERPA, so all below are guesses
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): Chem - he said he wrote 4 pages, so guessing very good
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): Bio - all 4 years, did research, so guessing good
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): Have good relationship, but really can’t tell (large public school GC!)
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 1 from SSP Prof, 1 from NIEHS PI
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details):

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, but will not qualify
Intended Major: Undecided on app
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: See above
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflections:
Strengths: GPA, scores, ECs, focus on research
Weaknesses: Ethnicity?
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments (if any):

10

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):1500 (CR:710; M:790)
ACT (breakdown):N/A
SAT II: 630 U.S. History; 780 Math
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA:N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis):N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis):N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Traditional Chinese school. Course load’s the same through all 3 years.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nada

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Rock band Mainstreet 7 (Co-founder, lead guitarist); Student/Volunteer at the Harvard Summit for Young Leaders in China; 2015 h-week attendee, one week exchange at Harvard university; School magazine(photographer, still shoot film); Language & More Seminar, focusing on boosting my fellow classmate’s English abilities and personal development (founder, lecturer); organized city-wide rock music festivals with student charities 2 years in a row; Education without Barriers, a NPO focusing on providing online tutoring to orphans (co-founded with Harvard alumnae, co-president); school olympiad team for informatics.
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities: nothing much; attended the said summit.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): don’t think I would be too objective to score it. Wrote about my quirky cooking habit and how it reflects my way of life in an environment of limited resources and opportunities. Supplement about how building a rock band in an unsupportive environment has made me grow and come to terms with reality, and took advantage of it.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details):from my English teacher. Didn’t read
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details):from my olympiad coach. Didn’t read.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): Submitted a rec from the principal instead.
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details):from the alumna I’m working with. it was not very well-written.
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): Don’t wanna score it since I could be biased. It was intense and rushed since there was a 1 hr time limit and the fact that there are 2 interviewers.

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Undecided
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): China
School Type: Traditional public school
Ethnicity: Asian/Chinese
Gender:Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflections: essays may be a bit too on the nose
Strengths: extracurriculars?
Weaknesses: given all the news about fraud and forgery these days about Chinese international students, I guess it’s reasonable for them to trust me a little less. Also my school is rather unrecognized internationally.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments (if any): Don’t have the energy for this now lol

11

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2370 (800 CR / 800 W / 770 M)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36 E, 36 R, 34 M, 34 S, 32 Essay)
SAT II: 800 USH, 800 SP, 770 LIT
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.38
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2 of 305
AP (place score in parenthesis): Spanish Literature (5), Spanish Language and Culture (5), French Language and Culture (5), Biology (5), Chemistry (5), English Language and Composition (5), Microeconomics (5), Macroeconomics (5), United States History (5), Environmental Science (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): not offered
Senior Year Course Load: AP Art History, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Human Geography, AP English Literature
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NSLIY-Finalist

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NSLI-Y Participant, Speech and Debate State Finalist (team captain), MOOCs from edX and Coursera (over 30), FNHS (president), NHS, Children’s Literacy Center, Young Diplomats Club (founder, president), Cine Club
Job/Work Experience: Intern with Colorado Democratic party
Volunteer/Community service: Children’s Literacy Center
Summer Activities: NSLIY, Stanford Summer High School (2015)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app: 7 (wrote about getting in AP Spanish without ever having taken Spanish class before, kinda was boring "look at me: I failed a test and then did better yay!) Supplement: 10 (wrote about growing up on the internet and the impact it has had on me with MOOCs, languages, etc. pure me distilled into essay format)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): unknown, but I love both teachers and they love me and I gave them a list of experiences in class to write about that demonstrate intellectual vitality

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): see above
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): see above
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): Impressed by my rigorous curriculum I think
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details):
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): went really well. I think interviewer was impressed with me striking good social/academic balance at competitive public school

Other: fluent in French, Spanish, and Arabic
Applied for Financial Aid?: n
Intended Major: Govt.
State (if domestic applicant): CO
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 150,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): legacy

Reflections:
Strengths: I think I showed a lot of intellectual vitality with my languages, my MOOCs, and just in class generally. Alongside test scores and grades it was a good combination I thought.
Weaknesses: Boring common app essay
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: n/a this is SCEA

General Comments (if any): To all applicants in the future, DO NOT TRY AND BE WELL ROUNDED. Bad strategy. Have hope. Work hard on your essays. Only send in essays you love. Shoot for the stars.

12

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (780 CR, 760 M, 800 W), Superscore: 2360 (780 CR, 780 M, 800 W)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Math 2 (800), U.S. History (770), Bio M (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.57
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% of 500
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chinese (5), CS (5), Euro (5), Calc BC (5 and AB 5), U.S. History (5), Biology (4), Physics C: Mechanics (5), Lang (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Stats, AP Gov, English 12A, Satire, Orchestra
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, National AP Scholar, President’s Service Gold Award

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math Club (President), Science Bowl Club, Violin, L-P Youth Outreach Symphony (Concertmaster), Tri-Valley Youth Music Ensemble (Conductor), East Bay Association of Visiting Musicians (Vice President), Cross Country (Varsity), Track and Field (Varsity Distance)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Perform violin with various groups around the Bay Area (100+ hours a year), Relay for Life
Summer Activities: UC Davis Young Scholars Program, COSMOS UC Davis, cross country training/camp
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8, Wrote about how I failed to break 5 minutes in the mile my sophomore year and how that translated into a different perspective on running.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 9, Advisor for Math Club, calculus teacher, we are pretty close, talk about a lot of math and fantasy football
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 9, Advisor for Science Bowl Club, physics teacher for two years, already wrote me a letter of recommendation which got me into two competitive science camps
Teacher Rec #3 (rating 1-10, details): 9, AP Euro teacher, coach for cross country and track
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 9, Interviewed me for an hour, had a great conversation, believe she wrote me a great recommendation even though we did not talk that much throughout high school
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 10, Slam dunk recommendation by my research mentor, said I was the best student he ever had and I completed a project which was supposed to take 6 months in 6 weeks.
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 8, Was pretty chill

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biological Sciences
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Public, 2000+
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflections: Not much, it was a shot in the dark and I guess I didn’t totally miss.
Strengths: Volunteer service, research camp, running, I did all my school/extracurricular activities every year in high school
Weaknesses: No major awards, nothing earth-shattering
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Harvard defers a majority of their early applicants and I guess I did not make the cut.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Applied to Stanford, UCs, Princeton, UChicago, MIT, USC, WashU in St. Louis

General Comments (if any): Can’t wait for regular!

13

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2360
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Biology E, 780 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~3.8-3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.61
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank, but should be in Top 10 for class
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus BC (5), AP Physics 1 (5), AP Biology (5), AP US History (5), AP Statistics (5), AP Lang (5), AP Physics 2 (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Economics, AP US Gov, AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Spanish
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Octofinalist (Top 16) at NCFL Nationals in PF Debate, 2 time Tournament of Champions qualifier for PF Debate, Top score in state on AMC10, 2nd Place in event at FBLA Nationals, placed at PUMaC, International Public Policy Forum Debate Top 32 in World, 2 time AIME qualifier

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Speech and Debate Team (2 year debate captain), Math Honor Society (President), FBLA (Vice President), Science National Honor Society (Project Director), National Honor Society (Warden of Leadership)
Job/Work Experience: Tutoring?
Volunteer/Community service: Key Club (~70 hrs)
Summer Activities: Boys State (served as State Senator), FBLA Nationals, attended debate camps, founded my own debate camp for middle schoolers
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app was about cooking and how it’s benefited my life. Thought it was an 8/10 but apparently not? Harvard Supp was about starting and failing at an entrepreneurial venture and my lessons from it. Thought it was an 8.5
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 (My AP Lang teacher, was active in her class and one of her best students that year. Should’ve been decent)
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 6/10 (My AP Physics 2 teacher, did not stand out too much)
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 6/10 (I go to a large public school, so it was probably generic, but my counselor interacted with me a lot because I was a top student so it should be better than average)
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details):
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 7/10 (Thought it went decent, talked a lot about politics and entrepreneurship with my interview. I stumbled on some of his questions about business though, so maybe that screwed me)

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 150K+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Lol more like anti-hook amirite?

Reflections:
Strengths: Test scores, awards, and I thought essays, but maybe not
Weaknesses: GPA wasn’t insane, teacher recommendations weren’t outstanding, maybe interview went awry
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My narrative wasn’t super compelling compared to some of those of the other kids applying. Also possible the interview turned out a lot worse than I had expected. The anti-hook doesn’t help either.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nowhere yet, the waiting game continues…

General Comments (if any): Good luck to all applying RD!

14

ACCEPTED!!!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 36 Composite with 33 writing (first/only sitting)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98 UW
Weighted GPA: 4.46 (highest I’ve seen on Naviance for my school)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC (5) Chemistry (5) Lang+comp (5) Macro (5) (school doesn’t offer many APs)
IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc (through Stanford OHS), AP Art, AP Biology, AP Physics 1, English H (AP not offered, indicated I was going to take the test), Latin IV H (AP not offered), Independent study: Developing a speech and debate curriculum to teach debate as an elective at my school (right now the debate team has no coach/funding/school support)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NCTE Achievement in Writing Award, won entrepreneurship contest with $1500 grant, short story published in pretty prestigious journal, RYLA, National Latin Exam gold, national merit semi-finalist, some school awards I put in additional info

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Food delivery business (CEO/founder, manage team of around 20 in 3 locations, won above award for the business plan, 11/12), Competitive figure skating (United States Figure Skating Double Gold Medalist, 15 hrs/week year round, since age 4, 9/10/11/12), Cake Business (Sell professional-quality sculpted cakes, submitted arts supplement, 9/10/11/12), Speech and debate (Captain, NCFL national qualifier/top 10 states, 11/12), Activities/fundraising committee at skating club (Chair, raise like 10k a year, 9/10/11/12), RYLA stuff (Group facilitator, 10/11/12), School advisory council student rep (11/12), Latin club (lol, 10/11/12)

Job/Work Experience: Paid internship with my favorite pastry chef in Washington DC (summer after 11)

Volunteer/Community service: Skating Club activities committee is technically community service, never really logged hours though (should probably get on that if I want to graduate)

Summer Activities: Harvard SSP, aforementioned internship (25 hrs/week), RYLAs, Skating (surprisingly, most skating competitions happen in the summer)

Essays (rating 1-10, details): I think that these were strong, I like to think that I am a good writer and they were certainly unique. Common app was funny, about having a “puppy mom” in the tiger-mom filled skating world, H supplement was about my kinda bizarre love of making cakes (tied it in to a Harvard alum who is my business/baking idol lol), and EC was about my delivery business.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I’m not going to try to rate these, but here’s some details if you care
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): Chemistry teacher, even though I’m not good at chemistry we got really close and she asked to write my rec. Also known for writing amazing recs.
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): Latin teacher, had her for four years, our class is like a family and she’s one of the sweetest, most encouraging people I know. She had a ton of recs to write though so idk how much time she put into it.
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): Likes me (bonded over baking), gave her a pretty complete resume but probably generic public school counselor rec
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): Great! Woman who runs the entrepreneurship competition I won, really likes me and well respected in the Boston start-up world (actually the coolest person ever, she used to be a video game mogul). I’m doing a lot of work with her this year, and I told her to emphasize how I could continue working with her and on my business if I could stay in Cambridge.

Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): AMAZING!!! The guy said that he had been interviewing kids from my school for 5 years and I was the strongest candidate he’d ever seen (which I find hard to believe but okay), said that I was a perfect fit for Harvard and that the system was absolutely broken if I didn’t get in.

Other: Submitted a cake sculpture arts supplement (probably a first), people are always shocked by my cakes and I reviewed it with the head of another college’s art department. Also included website links for my businesses, and a link to a short story.

Applied for Financial Aid?: N
Intended Major: Put humanities
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant): USA!
School Type: Kinda competitive public (send at least 1 kid to H every year)
Ethnicity: Albino
Gender: F
Income Bracket: Too much for FA, too little to afford college (long story)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): My skating club has longstanding relationship with Harvard? My friend’s magic eight ball said I would get in? None really.

Reflections: kajdslfjasdlfsdj
Strengths: ACT, some strange ECs, possibly essays, sent an unusual arts supplement
Weaknesses: Worried my essay might come off wrong, no “spike”
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: See strengths
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Only applied to Harvard so far, probably won’t apply unaware else :slight_smile:

General Comments (if any): WTF IS HAPPENING HARVARD '21!!!

15

Decision: Accepted

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 36 (E:36 M:35 R:35 S:36)
SAT II: Biology M 800, Literature 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): UW: 1/387, W: 3/387
AP (place score in parenthesis): Nine AP tests, mostly 5s
IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
Senior Year Course Load: AP Language, Anatomy Honors, Organic Chem I (dual credit), Differential Equations/Linear Algebra (dual credit), Spanish 4, Pharmacology (dual credit), Psychology (dual credit), Government (Dual credit), Gym (lol, trying to take this online bc gym)

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

United States Senate Youth Program
Coolidge Scholarship “Senator”
President’s Volunteer Service Award: Gold
National Spanish Exam Gold Medalist
National Merit Semifinalist
National AP Scholar
Coca-Cola Scholarship Semifinalist
NSLI-Y Study Abroad Program Semifinalist
Bunch of Science Olympiad awards at state and regional level

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

Lieutenant Governor of Key Club (tri-state leadership board)
Internship with US Senator Amy Klobuchar
Policy Board Member of my state’s Youth Council, we’re writing an Omnibus Bill (super exciting!)
Co-Chair of my county’s Youth Commission
Columnist for city’s newspaper with 70,000 daily readers
“Team Leader” (think Chair-type deal) of world famous hospital’s Young Volunteer program
Mentorship with doctor at said hospital
Science Olympiad- I won many medals, worked harder than anyone I knew, and was really sad when the elections for captains came down to a popularity contest. So no real leadership in that organization, but it used to be my passion
County-appointed board member of county’s Environmental Commission
County-appointed board member of county’s Community Advisory Committee
Cashier at grocery store
National Honor Society
National Spanish Honor Society

Essays (rating 1-10, details): I loved my common app essay. But to be honest, it was completed at the last minute.
My supplement was a reflection on the USSYP listed above. It was reused from another application. Meh.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10.
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10.
Counselor Rec: 9.5/10. Counselors at my school turn over fairly quickly, so I’ve only known her for a year or so. She really likes me and knows how motivated I am.
Additional Rec: 9/10. Really positive, but more of a list of stuff I’ve done than my qualities. It’s more the style of the rec than the content I’m iffy about.
Interview: Great! He was really kind and interested in me and my activities.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Double major in political science and who knows what else
State (if domestic applicant): Minnesota
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: High
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflections: I don’t know how to begin! My school hasn’t sent someone to Harvard in so many years.
Strengths: Grades, ACT, recs, essay
Weaknesses: No hooks, “standard strong” applicant
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My app shows that if you’re well-rounded and strong in many different areas (grades, ECs, recs) , you can get in. You don’t need to cure cancer or dedicate all your time to one activity :slight_smile:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to University of Minnesota Honors Program

General Comments (if any): To everyone deferred or rejected, you will get into an amazing school!

16

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t submit

ACT (breakdown): 36C: 36E/36M/36R/36S

SAT II: 800 Chemistry, 800 Math 2, 790 Biology, 770 Physics, 770 US History

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89; 4 B’s total, explained that 2 of the B’s were from first semester freshman year, while I was still adjusting to the new country (I had lived in India for 7th and 8th grade).

Weighted GPA: School doesn’t weight

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank

AP (place score in parenthesis): 5’s in US History, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Computer Science

IB (place score in parenthesis):

Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP Calculus BC, AP Spanish Language, AP English Literature, AP Physics C, American Government/Economics

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2nd Place Tournament of Champions (Debate), 1st Place HOSA National Leadership Conference, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Semifinalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • Debate (Captain); 4 years; Ranked 1st Junior/Junior Team Nationwide at the end of 2015-2016
  • Medical Explorers (President); 4 years
  • HOSA (Treasurer); 3 years

Job/Work Experience:

  • Tutoring high schoolers in math and science
  • Debate coach at a local academy

Volunteer/Community service:

  • Debate coach at local middle schools: 50 hours
  • City Council and Bernie Sanders campaigns: 150+ hours
  • Hospital volunteering through Medical Explorers: 160 hours

Summer Activities:

  • Research Internship in UCSF Neuroscience Lab: 1 year (In the process of publishing a paper)
  • Research Internship in Stanford Biomedical Lab: 1 year

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

  • Common App: Wrote about how debate transformed my clothing style and in turn, my confidence (9/10)
  • Extracurricular: Wrote about debate, not very exciting (7/10)
  • Long Supplement: Wrote about my love of lucid dreaming, and how I explore different memories and ideas in my dreams. (9/10

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: AP Biology Teacher: I think she really liked me, but I’m not sure how the letter was. (7/10)

Teacher Rec #2: Honors English Teacher: She also really liked me, but her comments during PTC’s were even more positive than my biology teacher’s. But again, I never saw the letter. (8/10)

Counselor Rec: I go to a large public school, so I doubt it was very personal. However, I did make it a point to try and get to know her towards the end of junior year. (7.5/10)

Additional Rec:

  1. Stanford Mentor: I read this letter, and it was really good. (9.5/10)
  2. UCSF Mentor: Didn’t get to read this letter, and it was written by the professor, not my actual mentor, so I’m not sure how good it was. (7/10)

Interview: The interview went really well. At the end of it, the interviewer said that I have “a talent for communication” and that even if I don’t get into Harvard, I’ll “be a leader wherever I go.” (9.5/10)

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Neuroscience
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large Public School
Ethnicity: Indian-American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $350k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: EC’s, Test Scores, Essays, Interview

Weaknesses: GPA, lukewarm recommendation letters

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I was deferred because my EC’s weren’t enough to make up for the strong GPA and recommendation letters other applicants might have brought to the table.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

17

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): NA
ACT (breakdown): 36 Comp (36 Eng, 35 Math, 36 Reading, 35 Sci, 09 Writing I know it’s really low :frowning: )
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
Weighted GPA (out of 5.0 for APs): 4.63
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA

AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (5), APUSH (5), BC Calculus (5), Physics C Mechanics (5), Physics C E&M (5), Chinese Language and Culture (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): NA

Senior Year Course Load: AP Spanish, AP English, AP Computer Science, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, Concert Choir, Jazz Choir, Multivariable Calculus (Through MIT OCW, No official credit given), AP Statistics (Self study)

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, some debate awards, some Scioly awards

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Math Team (I quit this year)
Debate (Co-captain but I quit this year)
NHS
Tri-M Music Honors Society
Key Club (Co-founder, Co-president, Webmaster)
Science Team (Co-captain)
Computer Science Team (Co-captain)
Robotics Team (Co-captain)
Hackathons and small coding projects (like games, simulations, websites, PM me for more info)

Job/Work Experience:
Research in China on PM2.5 air pollution, first author of published paper in peer-reviewed journal, but no awards or conventions or anything like that lol
Helped physics teacher analyze data for his edX course, co-authored paper in The Physics Teacher
Interned at business law firm freshman year summer, helped translate blog posts into Mandarin for Chinese immigrants

Volunteer/Community service: mostly through Key Club and NHS

Summer Activities (I can send you links to my projects if you’re interested and PM me):
MIT BeaverWorks Summer Institute (programmed autonomous racecars that could detect/avoid obstacles and stuff)
Wolfram Mathematica Summer Camp (programmed 3D simulation of particles bouncing off a floor that’s moving in a sinusoidal pattern)
PM2.5 Research (learned how to operate Scanning Electron Microscope and EDAX, collected PM2.5 particles and viewed them under SEM, drafted plan for autonomous pollutant collection /analysis using drones, which would contribute towards a database of pollutants and potential sources that could help limit air pollution)
iD Tech Camp Harvard (learned how to program using C#, Unity, and Python, made some mini-games)
Northwestern Debate Institute
The business law firm thing mentioned above

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
CA: Wrote about how I adjusted to living with Grandma in China after parents divorced - focused more on my internal thoughts and realizations about the kindness other people give us and how we should give back. I think my writing style ran a risk not flowery enough, and my ideas might have been too abstract, but I thought it genuinely captured my experiences (no idea how they read this, maybe 7?)
Additional Information: Talked all about my PM2.5 research motivated by my brother’s respiratory problems, details on what I did and my PM2.5 robot plans, ran risk of being too dry and factual, but I thought it conveyed my passion (again no idea how they took it, 7?)
EC Activity: Wrote about babysitting my two brothers and watching them mirror some of what I do (maybe somewhat cheesy, 8)
Supplement: Wrote about my experiences feeling left out in robotics team as a female, and how I improved my confidence by working harder and looking up to strong role-models like my Grandma and even Daenerys from Game of Thrones, my username is Clareesi for that reason :wink: (I thought it was pretty poetic, 8?)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): English teacher (he discussed it with me and I was so flattered by it, 9)
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): Physics teacher (I worked with him on his edX paper, but idk how good his writing is, 7?)
Optional Teacher Rec #3: Math and CS teacher (was pretty close personally, he’s the advisor of our CS club and was my geometry and calc teacher, he spends a lot of time on recs but doesn’t really like writing them so idk, 6?)
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 8? As good as a counselor rec can be at a public school like mine I guess. I had some good conversations with him and he gave me the Princeton Book Award so idk.
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): PM2.5 research advisor (wrote it in Chinese and was translated, talked about my hard work and how quickly I learned, 7)
Beaverworks Summer Institute professor (very very generic letter, but prof is from MIT so there’s a bit of prestige, 4)

Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details):
9, was pretty good I thought, she seemed impressed by my resume and tried to persuade me to go to Harvard over MIT

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: CS, Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian (I didn’t specify on CA though it was probably pretty obvious)
Gender: Female (woohoo girls in STEM)
Income Bracket: upper upper middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): NA

Reflections:
Strengths: Really focused research that tied into everything I did + my backstory, family, and stuff.
Weaknesses: No legacy, no major awards, Asian
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly I tried everything that I could have done. I think the main thing that got me in was the research paper and developing a peak and proving that I really liked STEM with the activities I did and all my essays.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: First decision

General Comments (if any):
If you want any more deets feel free to PM me.

18

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): C:1490 (720 R, 770 M first time; 710 R, 780 M second time)
ACT (breakdown): didn’t send (C:34, though, just didn’t want to spend extra $)
SAT II: 750 US History, 800 Math 2, 680 & 730 Lit (taken sophomore and senior year)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.986
Weighted GPA: n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): U.S. History (4), Micro (4), English Lang (5), U.S. Gov (5), Calc BC (5), European History, Physics C, Macro, English Lit
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Euro, AP Physics C, AP Macro, AP English Lit, Honors Calculus III, Latin 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit (Semi)finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Honor Society, published in some small creative journals

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Junior State of America (VP, on state cabinet), Quiz Bowl (captain, went to nationals), student government (“house” secretary), Forensics (varsity letter lol), Link Crew leader
Job/Work Experience: Election worker, intern on respected (but unsuccessful) congressional campaign
Volunteer/Community service: mostly at my local library, nothing impressive
Summer Activities: summer programs at Brown, UMich, Penn, working on congressional campaign, volunteering, watching my siblings
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: 9.5; I wasn’t in love with it, but everyone who read it was so…
Supplemental: 5; rip I had a horrible case of writer’s block and put this off until the night before, it had a good topic (I wrote about my school’s unique magnet program, which matched with my 2nd rec letter) but there were some horrific syntactical and dictational choices I only noticed November 2
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 9, pre-calc and calc teacher; didn’t get to read it, but she’s written recs for kids who’ve gotten into Harvard before (including one who got in this year, congrats to him!!). she seemed to like me as much as she liked them
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 7.5 magnet teacher; she wrote like 40 recs this year, but I think she likes me more than some of the other students. she also wrote me a letter for Penn summer program with low acceptance rate and I got in, so…
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 9; I feel like we know each other pretty well, she seems to like me
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details):
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): 5; I had pretty much resigned myself to being rejected so was just doing it for the experience and being really self-effacing, also I can get really superficial when I have to ask interviewers questions eek. Also got really busy and forgot to send a thank you note…

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: n/a
Intended Major: Political Science & Mathematics (at least a minor in math)
State (if domestic applicant): MI
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: public (with magnet programs, although not a magnet school)
Ethnicity: Asian/White, put both (when you google me my Asian dad’s picture comes up lol)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 200K+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a

Reflections:
Strengths: my school is weird and young but it’s building a really good track record with the top brass, recs, ECs aren’t too shabby, main essay
Weaknesses: SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAY, ECs are pretty standard, Poli Sci major, interview
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m good, but I’m not so great…wasn’t really expecting anything else.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: nowhere yet, am waiting for UMich-Ann Arbor; am applying RD to American, Brown, Penn, Columbia, Wellesley, Smith, Princeton, Georgetown, Wesleyan

General Comments (if any): I really wasn’t expecting anything else. Congratulations to everyone that got in, and congratulations to everyone who didn’t; even just a quick skimming of this thread shows that I’m in pretty good company.
*My grade in Physics is horrendous, I’m taking it online, and it’s just not well-structured or well-taught. I’m dropping it second semester, but am instead taking physics at community college.

19

Decision: Deferred

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): Did not submit
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36,36,36,36) and 11 on essay
SAT II: 800 USH, 800 Physics, 800 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Weighted GPA: 4.36
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not reported
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (5), BC Calculus (5), Microeconomics (5), Macroeconomics (5), Computer Science (5), Physics C (5 x2)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: 4 More APs, band, required science classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nope

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Volunteer/Community service:

Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Harvard Supplement was pretty good (8/10), Harvard Extracurricular Essay was ok (6/10), CommonApp was really good (9/10).
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Not sure. I think teachers liked me, but I wasn’t a standout student or anything.

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 7
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 8
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 7, did not really know me
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): none
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): This went absolutely horribly. I think this was the reason I didn’t get in.

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): Maryland
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Magnet
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Unknown. Not enough to qualify for aid.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflections:

Strengths: Extracurriculars, Essays, Test Scores
Weaknesses: GPA, Teacher Recs
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I never thought I could get in, so this is totally expected. Can’t say I’m not disappointed though.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Harvard is my first result.

General Comments (if any): Take a chance, but don’t expect too much, especially if you don’t have perfect grades. You need to have a hook, or be at the top of a field to have a shot. Harvard is enough of a crapshoot that we cannot take a rejection or deferral personally.

Honestly, stay off College Confidential, and results threads. I didn’t include extracurriculars or awards because there is so much more to an application than what you see in these threads. Teacher recs and essays are incredibly important, and online lurkers will never see those. Wish us rejected/deferred people luck for regular decision. The colleges we get into may not seem as good as Harvard, but once we get there, we will realize we wouldn’t trade that experience for anything else. This is no doubt a blessing in disguise.

20

Decision: Deferred

Objective: SAT I (breakdown): Did Not Send
ACT (breakdown): 36
SAT II: MATH Level 1 (800), Math Level 2 (800), Biology E (800), Biology M (800), Physics (800), Chemistry (800), World History (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0/4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.57
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A, my school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus AB , AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 1 , AP Physics 2, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Comparative Government & Politics, AP United States Government & Politics, AP World History, AP English Language & Composition - All 5’s
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Ap Computer Science, AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Physics C Electricity & Magnetism, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Spanish, AP Literature
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Brain Bee Finalist, HOSA International Leadership Conference Qualifier, USA Biology Olympiad National Semifinalist, USA Chemistry Olympiad National Semifinalist

Subjective: Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Class President Junior and Senior Year,
State Honor band. NMSF.
Job/Work Experience: 3 summers Research in Stem.
Volunteer/Community service: 500Hrs
Summer Activities: Research and Volunteer
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details):
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details):
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details):
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details):

Other: Applied for Financial Aid?: N
Intended Major: Neuro Science
State (if domestic applicant): MO
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: > 150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflections: Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:Can someone tell why I was deffered.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments (if any):