<p>silverturtle - It is true that a large number come from the top ranked universities, and no doubt that carries weight. But it is an equally valid hypothesis that these students were the best of the best to begin with, and so naturally scored very well on the LSAT and did well in school. It is quite possible every one of them, or at least most of them, would have gotten into the same law school anyway because of their innate ability. We will never know, I suppose, although there are many stories of people that got accepted to an Ivy, went elsewhere for financial reasons, and still got into the med school/law school they had planned to try for from the beginning.</p>
<p>fallenchemist,</p>
<p>Indeed, there are confounding variables. Students from Harvard are, on average, higher achieving than those from Berkeley, for example. But the extent of the over-representation, in my subjective assessment, does not seem fully attributable to this. That 63 figure represents .95% of Harvard’s current undergraduate population, whereas the 14 figure for Berkeley represents .055% of their undergraduate population; that’s 17.3 times the proportional representation for Harvard. And Berkeley is better represented than any other public university! (Plus, even more Harvard graduates go to HLS than go to YLS, which is surely pulling the already-relatively-high number down.)</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>I hate to break it to you but 175 hours of community service isn’t “ample”; I have a friend that ended at UCI (University of California Irvine) with over 1000 hours of community service. But theoretically, if your other extracurriculars are strong enough, community service isn’t a necessity.</p>
<p>I really don’t have anything to say that hasn’t been said before, just this: </p>
<p>kal8254, why did you put up this thread if you already know you’re in? Keep working toward Harvard and don’t bother talking to us idiots who think you’re not that perfect applicant that you obviously are. </p>
<p>Unless you actually want some advice, than maybe consider not attacking people who are genuinely trying to help you.</p>
<p>
Give me a break kal. How can you get a perfect average when you already don’t have perfect grades? You can lash out at the people that point this stuff out, or you can show some maturity and admit it was a silly thing to say at best. It is stuff like that which will just kill you at almost any school you apply to. Own up to your mistakes.</p>
<p>Also, how can you have a 35 in the ACT math section when you have not even taken it yet? That makes no sense. Anyway, doesn’t matter. Actually it is more terrible if you did get a 35. Then you really should know that if a person got scores of 100, 100, 100, 100, 80 for an average of 96, they could get a score of 100 200 more times and their average would never be 100. Same exact thing.</p>
<p>You are right, what Jason said was uncalled for and that was already pointed out. You have a good record so far, now you need your “real” test scores. I was genuinely trying to help you, but if you want to lash out because you are getting frustrated by this thread, that’s fine. I do suggest you don’t start any more threads though, if that is the case. It will always be the same.</p>
<p>Hah, funny. Used the exact same wording as FunnyFunnyGirl as we cross posted.</p>
<p>I think you could always try and see what happens, but research other schools too. Part of the college process is widening your horizons. There might be somewhere that’s perfect for you that you just haven’t found. Good luck</p>
<p>OK, I did not say we’re ALL trying to help. But, well I do and most of others too. That’s not the point anyway… I realize you’re not really getting the feedback you expected. But there is no need for that attitude. 
Thats all I meant.</p>
<p>You DO have a shot at Harvard (if you actually score as high as you think you will) but it will not hurt to stay a little more open-minded. </p>
<p>It’s gonna sound terribly trivial but I’ll say it anyway: Harvard is EXTREMELY hard to get into. There are some crazy smart kids with perfect scores, 4.0 GPA and impressive ECs who get rejected every year. It’s just how it works :)</p>
<p>I mean it in the sweetest way possible: why are you so set on Harvard? I mean, beside that it’s Harvard. None of what you said points at Harvard specifically. It seems to me that it’s just your little fantasy to go there. Just think about it: does it have to be Harvard? There are a lot of great schools that are not so crazy competitive to get into which will set you just fine for the future too.</p>
<p>This is one of the longest chance threads I’ve read this year…</p>
<p>going off of FunnyFunnyGirl, harvard is not some paradise that once you enter is heaven, many people have gripes about harvard and many people choose other schools over harvard. </p>
<p>Refer to this <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/187335-why-i-chose-yale-over-harvard-current-student.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/187335-why-i-chose-yale-over-harvard-current-student.html</a></p>
<p>disregarding the yale pushing, it shows why harvard is not as great as they say, and choosing schools close to its caliber may be a better idea.</p>
<p>also this: <a href=“http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1226150,00.html[/url]”>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1226150,00.html</a></p>
<p>I don’t know why I wasted so much time reading some of this, but I will however chance/critique. you. I agree with most of the repliers that without a score already secured, you have nothing. Impressions on what your score will be, and what they actually are, are sometimes vastly different. You don’t have a single standardized test of any kind finished. However, from the EC stand point, I say you have a very diverse set of ECs there, very nice. My only concern is that this looks way too textbook. It seems you did what you thought the colleges would like to see. Considering how many applicants a college gets every year, this is very transparent. Choose a couple that you actually like, and stick to them. If I’m way off base, then I apologize. So far, I think you’ll have a decent chance by your senior year. Statistics of admission mean nothing to the individual, keep that in mind.</p>
<p>After reading this enormous thread, I cannot resist from posting on it. Truthfully I believe the OP is in denial or shock. When anyone dedicates time and effort into a goal and fails (not saying you did), it is almost the worst feeling ever… I think you were not well informed from the start before this thread because you seem as if your stats are to Harvard standards, when there are thousands of applicants with better stats who are rejected. I really like this thread because it revealed some things about myself. College is an opportunity for higher learning, but as well as to seek new relations and to discover one’s self, not spend 24/7 studying. Also education opens the path to a good life, but everyone needs to evaluate what THEY want in life. I believe you should apply to Harvard no doubt, but no one is going to baby you and say you are automatically in. </p>
<p>I think you should save this thread and copy it down. Then read it in 8 years and post another thread of CC if you really feel the same way about Harvard. Most of the posters in this thread and CC are regular contributors and are trying to help. At least respect their opinion even if they contrast your own. </p>
<p>Also I am curious, is the OP a boy or a girl?</p>
<p>OP is a girl. She mentioned it in the first post.</p>
<p>kal8254, please think about what we’re saying about your Harvard dream.</p>
<p>And, definitely - chancing you with some actual scores would be a lot more accurate :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s a reference to the most ubiquitous lens focal length made by the most legendary optics company. Though, of course, the second bit is debatable with groups like Carl Zeiss and Leica still in business. </p>
<p>It’s a matter of personal preference, but I suppose I’m a bit biased considering how a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 is attached to my camera right now (:</p>
<p>You can chance me too, I have the same GPA as you.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/959562-3-6-7-2400-hypsmdccb-orm-international-quadrilingual-polyglot.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/959562-3-6-7-2400-hypsmdccb-orm-international-quadrilingual-polyglot.html</a></p>
<p>I wouldn’t call Duke a safety for anyone.</p>
<p>@ Kobudnik</p>
<p>So you’re saying Duke could reject the kids who make it to the IMO and/or are Intel/Siemens finalists or top 10?</p>
<p>I don’t know I’m just saying it’s not a sure bet. There was a kid in my town a couple of years ago who got into Princeton and not Duke. You may in fact get in, but it’s not definite.</p>
<p>Ok, everyone has said mostly what I would but I’ll just state my points quickly</p>
<p>First of all, Colleges do look for your passion in the school Harvard will sense if you want Harvard for on other reason than it is Harvard</p>
<p>Secondly they like passion in a particular area, getting involved in every possible activity before you apply will be detrimental because it will not indicate passion in any one particular area, it will show that you only did it for college and being so involved will stretch you to thin in your senior year. I suggest you buckle down and focus on your grades and what you are passionate in</p>
<p>Thirdly, there is nothing wrong with wanting a prestigious job for financial reasons, but you cannot possibly be both and if you want to succeed in either you should learn more about them </p>
<p>Finally your friend did not get into oxford for her art, the UK does not look at extracurriculars, just marks</p>
<p>Yes, doing exceptionally well on your IB will get you into Oxford. Not passion in any one thing. </p>
<p>Furthermore, I think that it would be a good idea to spend much more time looking at your safety schools. It is easy to identify reaches and we all love to daydream about them, I am no exception. However, it is very (perhaps even more) important to identify safety schools that you are pleased with because generally you have a higher chance of being admitted there. And if it is a bad year and you don’t get admitted into your targets, you want to have a safety that you chose not cavalierly assuming you would get into you dream school, but rather one that you thought about carefully. You want to be happy NO MATTER which of your schools you go to.<br>
That being said, having a dream school is not a bad thing, go ahead and apply but be realistic when you head in, don’t have the greatest of expectations.<br>
Good luck :), I mean this all constructively</p>