<p>This website, to start with, is intimidating. Listening to people who "only" got 2350 on their SATs is enough to make anyone nervous. Then you hear their ECs. And then you heard their horrifying rejection stories. Not just to Harvard. To University of I've-No-Clue-Where-The-Heck-That-Is. So my question is this: Who gets in to Harvard?</p>
<p>Is there anyone out there currently attending Harvard, who was not student body president, who did not have a 4.0 unweighted GPA, and who was not a nationally ranked insert-sport-here player? What does it taketo get in? Because when I visited this summer, they told us that 50% of the people with perfect score who apply didn't get in. So what did the less-than-perfect people have that the perfect ones didn't? Are they just super robots?</p>
<p>I guess I'm not really looking for a pretty little packaged answer. I just want to know if regular people can get in, or do you have to be the type of super-human who takes 6 APs in a single year?</p>
<p>It depends on what your definition of regular is. Harvard and the other top schools are the main targets for most of the elite students in the country. That means near perfect test scores, lots of APs, plenty of activities, etc. Given the number of applicants, it doesn't make sense for Harvard not to admit these types of students. As for their individual normalcy (or lack thereof), it's the same as everywhere else. Some people are cool, and some are jerks. You'll get a higher percentage of egotistical people because that's what happens when you're among the best at what you do, of course. </p>
<p>Of course, to get in without these things requires you to either be a celebrity or someone with very deep pockets, and even then it's dicey. Such people can hardly be considered regular.</p>
<p>The alumni of Harvard I've known, beginning in 1982, all seem regular enough. If I had to choose one adjective that encompasses them all, I would choose "diligent," as I know plenty of people who are as smart as they are, but none who are harder-working than they are. I think being around people like that would be a good atmosphere for the applicants who are fortunate enough to be admitted to Harvard, but everyone applying to Harvard needs to have a backup plan, and it's not the end of the world if you don't get in.</p>
<p>I would like to say that Harvard places a huge emphasis on PERSONAL qualities. Academics can only take you so far. I know plenty of people here who do not fit what the CC population believes to be the "average" for Harvard. There are asian/white kids who have scores in the 600s and blacks/hispanics who have high 700s or a perfect score.</p>
<p>I'd also like to add something else to xjayz's last post (before I get back to the work that's going to somehow kill me this weekend)...</p>
<p>Even those people here with perfect or near perfect scores NEVER talk about it (at least they won't conspicuously bring it up in a conversation). No one brags about his or her 1590 or 1600 score and it doesn't matter. Also, those people have plenty of personality and are certainly not robots.</p>
<p>thanks xjayz and windcloudultra, that's the type of anwer I was looking for. Reading CC, it makes it seem like you can't even get into Nowheresville State, let alone Harvard, without getting at least a 750 in each section of the SAT.</p>
<p>Does anybody have any real, tangible examples of someone who got in with average, as in "low" for Harvard, SATs? Anyone who is not a URM or super athlete? The SAT is killing me and I just need a little trace of hope.</p>
<p>cinnamon862: I don't know what you mean by "low." If you mean below 700, I've seen many here. Besides, we don't talk about our grades or scores here, which makes it hard to determine. For example, I only know one other person's GPA here other than mine.</p>
<p>Let's just say this- I'm Asian (the ORM kind), I got in and my SATs were under 2200. </p>
<p>And to reiterate what XJayZ wrote....no one talks about...or cares what your SAT and GPA was back in high school. You're at Harvard...that all that counts.</p>
<p>All Asians are considered "ORMs", WindCloudUltra--be they East (China, Japan, Korea), South East (Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, etc.), or South Asian (India, Sri Lanka, etc.).</p>
<p>Dropped Science after 10th grade (high grades but not a class of personal interest) dropped Math after 11th grade, same reason. Dropped history end of 11th grade, the #1 student in the class, because she applied to attend an Introduction to International Relations at a local college.Finished 12 grade with only 3 classes at school but went to night school to study Spanish (not offered at her school) and sort ways to expand her learning beyond the normal school experience. She thought it was not worthwhile applying to Harvard as she had not followed the "normal" path, doing the require 4 years of math,4 years of science etc. A last minute change of heart, "if I don't apply, then I really don't have a chance" dashed to the post office to send her application. A postitve response in April showed how wrong she had been. Never the super robot, a person who looked to expand her learning experiences in a variety of ways and not follow the group but to find things she loved and explored with depth and a passion and in regards to acceptance there a deciding factor: LUCK. SAT 2120 but 3 SAT II in 700's and not a single AP class</p>