Harvard EA strong stats/essay/recs.. weak ec's

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>-sorry if you’ve seen something like this already… i’ve posted a chances thread on the old forum before. added oct sat 2 scores, updated college list and info on essay/recs.</p>

<p>Early Action: Harvard</p>

<p>Regular Decision: Berkeley, UCIC, Columbia, Dartmouth, Georgetown, U of Georgia (honors program), UMD, Montgomery College (2 yr), Princeton, Stanford, Swarthmore</p>

<p>-Public school in Maryland
-17 yr old Korean-American male
-Lived in Korea 1995-2000 (grades 3-7, 5 years)
-GPA UW 3.96/4.00, W 4.6ish
-SAT 1 1580 combined, 780 verbal 800 math
-SAT 2 800 Biology M, 800 Math 1C, 750 Math 2C, 750 Korean, 700 Writing (79/80 multiple choice subscore, 4/12 essay… i have serious handwriting issues. writing is actually my strength.)
-Recommendations: One best in career rec from 9th grade bio teacher, one excellent rec from 11th grade ap bio teacher, one very good rec from 9th grade biology teacher. Extra recommendation from the county public school system music executive.
-Essay: The most outstanding part of my application, I presume. Maybe some of my recs will match this. Very strong essay on nothing (no special topic but shows passion for music/life. very well written).
-Class rank: school does not rank. One of top few out of 400.</p>

<p>EC’s:
It’s Academic/Quizmaster– Grades 10, 11, 12
Varsity Mathletes (Math team)- 10, 11, 12
Chess Club- 10, 11, 12
SVHS String Quartet (violin 1)- 9, 12 (did not exist in 10-11th grade)
Spanish Club- 12
Spanish Honor Society- 12
Science Club- 11, 12
Science Honor Society- 11, 12
National Honor Society- 12
Student Government (Representative)- 9, 10, 12
Class Office (President)- 10
Pit Orchestra- 9, 10, 11, plan to participate in 12th</p>

<h2>International Club- 11</h2>

<p>DC Soup Kitchen- Grade 9
Saint John Newmann Youth Group- 9, 10
Saint John Newmann Choir- 10, 11, 12
All-County Orch (violin 1)- 9, 10, 11, plan to participate in 12th
Maryland All-State orchestra- plan to participate in 12th
Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra (violin 1)- 9, 10, 11, 12
Potomac Valley Youth Orchestra (violin 1)- 10, 12
Academy of Saint Cecelia Youth Orchestra (violin 1)- 12
National Philharmonic High School Division (violin 1)- 9, 10, 11, plan to participate in 12th
Boy Scouts of America Unit 1352- 10, 11</p>

<p>Leadership:
Secretary, Science Club- Grade 12
President, Class of 2005- 10
Class Representative- 9, 10, 12
2004 MD Boy’s State (elected City Representative, City Health Officer, State Commissioner of Health, and party representative for Jr Boy’s Nation)- 11
Concertmaster, HS Symphonic Orchestra- 9, 10, 11, 12
1st violin HS String Quartet- 9, 12
Associate concermaster of Potomac Valley Youth Orchestra- 12
1st violin National Philharmonic High School Division String quartet- 9, 10</p>

<p>Awards:
not much.
National Merit Commended Scholar
Maryland Distinguished Scholar Semifinalist in Academic Achievement
Maryland Distinguished Scholar Honorable Mention in Talent in the Arts
Numerous subject awards, club awards, honor roll/straight a/student of the month awards.
Consistently recieved rating of 1-Superior (highest rating) at County and State level Solo and Ensemble Festivals</p>

<p>Senior year schedule:
AP Psychology
Symphonic Orchestra
AP English Literature and Composition
AP Calculus BS
AP Chemistry
Science Aide (Spanish wouldn’t fit in schedule, stuck between art/aide)</p>

<p>Please give an estimate of my chances at Harvard EA… and also RD. If possible, for the RD schools too. =D Thank you all in advance for your feedback.
I’m surprised at how many ppl are applying to Stanford EA… last yr i knew 5 kids who went to Stanford, 0 who went to HYP. Best of luck to you guys and gals applying to Stanford… I think you’ll need it. xD Seems like it’s gonna be harder than HYP this year.</p>

<p>btw… to contact me-
aim- quixoticpio
yahoo- quixoticpio
msn- <a href="mailto:quixoticreverie@hotmail.com">quixoticreverie@hotmail.com</a>
email- <a href="mailto:quixoticpio@yahoo.com">quixoticpio@yahoo.com</a></p>

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<p>First off, being asian american of course hurts you. The 750 Math 2c is a little sketchy--regardless of the reason the 700 writing hurts you.</p>

<p>Your recs I would say ar enot that great, one is from a 9th grade teacher? That's no good--also they're both in Bio--and it's gonna come off desperate if you send in a rec from a non-teacher--harvard hates that.</p>

<p>Don't bank on your essay--it's the last thing they read, and also, high schoolers don't know how badly they write.</p>

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<p>yes, i know that being asian hurts me.
the 9th grade bio is going to be a supplementary rec.. my two recs will beome from my other bio teacher and an english teacher. the one from the county public schools music executive is to help explain a special situation in which our school's music director basically screwed up everything for me, missed all-state/all-eastern auditions consistently, state solo festivals, etc.</p>

<p>you'd be surprised if you saw my writing, i'd say.</p>

<p>but thanks for sharing your opinion anyways, i appreciate it.</p>

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<p>You're welcome, sorry if i was curt--I just go to a highschool where the writing standard is extremely high, in fact its so high that most average writers from our school go onto get perfect grades in English classes at top tier colleges.</p>

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<p>nah, it's alright. i'd rather be criticized sharply than be given false hope/security.</p>

<p>what kind high school do you go to?</p>

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<p>questin on app.. under the "academic honors" section in the common app, should we write in pargraph form or is a mere list okay?</p>

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<p>I think you have a good shot at Harvard, you're ECs aren't THAT weak!! You have a good list, you will be fine. My only advice would be to maybe add Penn into the mix as its similar to some of your others, and perhaps dump Columbia. Its a very unique and not typical college experience so be up for it.</p>

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<p>thanks. why dump columbia though?</p>