submitted my application this afternoon! 
Actually, taking the weather into account is a good idea. My older son didn’t take it into account. We live in the mid-Atlantic US, and get pretty harsh winters, and my son is reasonably winter-tolerant. But Boston winters (especially last winter) took him offguard. Cambridge has so little sunlight all year long, that he wound up with a very serious Vitamin D deficiency. He’s never really adapted.
On the other hand, my younger son knew he didn’t want to go south. He hates the heat. He loves the weather in Cambridge. His big complaint this past winter is that they called classes off during record-breaking snows.
Is it really hot in Palo Alto? My biggest concern about Stanford (if I actually get in) is that I’ll face a similar weather than the one I’m used to (I hate the heat). My whole life I’ve wanted to move to a place where there’s actual winter (my winter is 10 degrees celsius…).
But on the other hand, I’ve always wanted to go to Stanford. I think that’s one of the main reasons why I can’t decide to apply either Harvard or Stanford scea.
Oh, and I’m not a big fan of the beach.
Thank you so much, @notjoe
@potterfan why don’t you just google average temperatures in Cambridge vs. average temperatures Palo Alto??
BTW, Boston winters are brutal, but fall/spring months are also really cold. I toured Harvard in April and the snow was still melting!
Palo alto is fairly mild, neithere brutally hot on average, m or brutally cold. Average highs during summer are the upper 70s F, to the low 80s F. Average highs in winter are upper 50s F to Low 60s F. Average lows are upper 30s F to lown 40s F.
@potterfan Stanford is known for its good weather. Even when hot, the weather is dry and so not terribly uncomfortable. Since you have never experienced really cold weather, you don’t know what you are pining for. This past winter it was brutally cold in Boston. The frigid temperatures made going outside a real challenge for many weeks. As you probably heard, Boston had record snowfall and Harvard had to close down for three days which has never happened before. The year before was not much better in terms of frigid weather and snowstorms.
Boston can have very hot days in summer into fall, but is mostly a colder climate. It can be very cold in the winter, we’ll below freezing. A key difference is snowfall. In Palo Alto, snow is rare and significant accumulation is rarer. Last winter, Boston got over 8’ of snow. That’s eight feet! They were disposing of snow until July. More typical is 3 - 4 feet with average high in winter in the 30s F and average lows in the low 20s F, but with extremes far colder.
just wondering if i would be a likely candidate for harvard. act: 35; gpa: 4.25; 6th in class; president of national honor society; vice president of beta club; successful speech and debater; took many AP courses; come from very poor background; single parent home; from mississippi; not applying early decision; average AP scores (3-4)
Is it alright if my counselor uploaded my transcripts on CommonApp and submitted them ONLY via CommonApp?
On my Harvard Login Portal, I can see the green mark next to transcripts, but I was wondering anyway…
@leonardo2020, yes, I e-mailed Harvard concerning the exact same thing, and they said submitting the transcripts only through CommonApp is perfectly fine.
@cristina1225 What a relief - thank you!
is the application due at 11:59 today or 11:59 tomorrow
I’m applying from Ireland. I’m from England, though, and lived in America between 2007-14 (I’m on a gap year now and will be going back to America soon). What do you guys think of my Harvard chances? More importantly, since that’s very unlikely, would I also be a strong candidate for other top schools RD?
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Why are you applying to Harvard for SCEA?
I have a few top reach schools that I’m taking a shot at, but Harvard was the only one that was Early Action rather than Early Decision (didn’t want to risk getting accepted to a school ED and not get a sufficient finaid package as an “international” student). It’s a school I’d love to go to for numerous reasons, and with Early I thought I’d have the best chance. Since it’s the most selective school I’m applying to, I thought it best to go early to improve my odds, however slightly. Parents also encouraged me to apply. -
What draws you to Harvard?
Prestige and the impressive people that make up the campus community and alumni network were for sure the initial points of interest. I also have a friend and a few acquaintances that go there and many relatives in Boston (one older cousin doing a fellowship at MIT). -
What makes Harvard stand out from other schools?
See above. It’s got the best international brand for any America school, methinks. -
Where else are you applying for RD?
For sure Amherst, Dartmouth, Brown, NYU, Kalamazoo College and UChicago. My Common App has all 20 school spots filled up, but I won’t apply to them all. I’ve also already applied to U of M and a few small schools in Michigan with rolling admissions.
Note that I applied to college 2 years ago before I was forced to take time out (this is my second gap year). I was accepted into Michigan but had to defer my application. Rejected from Yale, Columbia, Penn, Oxford and Cambridge (since you can’t apply to both of those in the same year, I applied to them in two consecutive years and was rejected from both after interview). Stupidly, I didn’t apply to any safety schools that might have given me finaid, which Michigan didn’t. Back then I didn’t realize I wouldn’t be eligible for loans because I was in America on my dad’s work visa and not a green card.
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What are your qualifications?
At a very good public school: 3.95 GPA, 34 ACT, 5’s on 5 APs and a 4 on a 6th, currently the editor of an international online film magazine, edited the school paper in high school, captain of the debate team, film & media leadership position on the FIRST robotics team, a few other leadership positions & activities in high school, lots of gap year experience (lived in 3 countries, learned many skills and done many personal creative projects alongside my internship with the aforementioned film magazine). I took the gap year for financial reasons, and because my family was moving to spend a year in Europe (that’s my main concern about the gap year - I didn’t choose to do it on my own, it was a family thing and I had no choice really, but I explained this on my application). Also taking some classes right now, both in person and online. -
What are your summer plans?
This question is kind of moot now, but last summer I wrote & started making a feature film with my friends. We didn’t finish it, though. This summer I moved from France to Ireland. Highlight activities include mountain climbing and learning to boat/fish. -
What is your intended major?
At Harvard it would be Visual and Environmental Studies. Everywhere else, Film Studies. Would like to do a second major in either English or Political Science. That will be decided once I’m in college. -
What are your hobbies/interests/extracurriculars?
Most of them mentioned above. I write daily film reviews, and linked my online film diary on my common app. Also interested in photography, music, politics, literature, writing, and filmmaking. -
What tips/advice do you have for applying?
I guess this only applies to people doing RD now, but as someone who’s applying for the third year in a row (not to Harvard, to college), I would say, the more time you spend planning, the better - especially essays. My essay this year is much more personal than the one I wrote 2 years ago, and I’m hoping that will make me a better candidate. Have critical people read your essays. Most importantly, have safety schools.
I would assume tomorrow
I can’t see any information about material received in my application portal…Should I email them?
Hi everybody. I am from Pakistan and am applying for Harvard scea. Not sure if I would like the weather. I wanted to ask if the deadline was 12pm Eastern time or local time? Also I am applying for Financial aid. We have around $500K in assets and $18k annual income. To what extent are the assets gonna hurt my financial aid? I already send the supplementary document packet and css profile but still wondering. Also most likely nobody in the past 4 years has gotten into Harvard from my City (Its a huge city of 12M) so I don’t really know my chances
I’d like to thank everyone who helped me figure out where to apply early. After thoughtful consideration and a bit of impulse, I applied to Stanford scea.
Oh and I wanted to ask how are my sat scores IELTs scores, supplementary document packet, css profile going to be linked? How can I know if harvard has received them, I did mention my css and commonapp ids on every thing I sent.
Eastern time
It’s about a month and a half until decisions come out—how are you all planning on passing the time? Not gonna lie, the waiting is gonna make me go crazy and only a few days have passed since I submitted my application…