Harvard SCEA vs. Penn ED vs. Columbia ED

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi CC,

I am rising senior at a top 15 boarding school in New England, and I want to know what my chances are for Harvard SCEA, Penn ED, and Columbia ED. There are pros and cons to all three, and I know I would enjoy all three schools equally despite their differences in environments.

here are my specs:

1560 SAT Superscore (760 R, 800 M, 22 Essay)
223 NSMC Index on PSAT
SAT II: 800 on Math II, 800 on Chemistry, currently waiting on scores for Literature and US History
3.81 Average unweighted GPA for three years (top 15-20% of my class, but I have one of the most rigorous/intense courseload of any student at my school)
Junior year APs: Calculus BC, Statistics, Language, and US History

Activities:
Soccer (JV B, JV, hopefully Varsity next year, Captain of JV B Sophomore year)
Debate (President + various awards)
MUN (Secretary General + various awards)
Math Team (USAJMO Qualified in 2016, AIME Qualified in 2016, 2017, AMC School Winner 2016, 2017, HMMT/Yale MMATHS team member)
Community Service (Working at local montessori school, crafts for patients at children’s hospital)
Music (Orchestra section leader, Northern Regionals 2016, 2017; All State Orchestra 2016)

I currently want to prepare for a possible career down the business path, but I feel like as an Asian male (US Citizen), my specs are a bit to weak for, lets say, an application to Wharton. Upon consulting other threads/counselors, it seems that a major in a social science (i.e. IR, PoliSci, Econ, etc.) would be ideal and then moving on to possibly study business in grad school. For a social science major, what would my chances be for Harvard, Penn, and Columbia?

Also, if anyone knows: does having a parent who was previously faculty at Harvard add any points to my application?

Thank you all so much!

2

I think its as close you’ll get to being a legacy so it may help a little bit, but since Harvard is a competitive school it will really depend on what role your parent played at the college. I would recommend applying to Penn early, of the Ivies it has the largest difference between their ED acceptence rate and their RD acceptence rate (meaning that if you really want to attend Penn I highly recommend applying ED). Don’t know much about Columbia, but I know that Harvard’s ED pool is really competitive compared to their RD pool, so you’d be better off applying RD

3

Former Harvard prof won’t help at all. Sorry.



Your math is strong, and Wharton loves applicants with strong math backgrounds. I’d reconsider that one, if it interests you.

4

You have an outside shot at HYPS, so why lock yourself into Penn or Columbia early? People in elite circles like CC, your private school, Wall St., and people in foreign countries who have heard of American universities (and even me) respect Penn and Columbia but when you get out in the real world where you have to interact with the other 99% of Americans you’d find out that there are only a handful of schools people consider prestigious. Penn and Columbia aren’t in that group. I think it’s worth it to take a shot at HYPS. I don’t know if being a prospective social science major matters. Schools for the most part don’t break down acceptance rates by intended major or area. Typically the percentages are actually higher if you apply to engineering programs but they also have a more competitive pool of applicants so it’s tough to say if it’s easier.


I don’t know what other people told you or why but it’s not necessarily “ideal” to study business in grad school. This sounds like a classic case of mistaking correlation for causation. There are lots of people who major in the social sciences in undergrad because they don’t know what to do or can’t or don’t want to study something harder, end up working in finance or consulting for a couple of years after undergrad, and then go to business school. That’s typical of top school graduates, but doesn’t mean it’s the ideal path. I’m all for getting a liberal arts education but that doesn’t mean you have to get a formal liberal arts education (you can always read Plato on your own, and you should) or wait till you’re 24 to start studying business.

5

@NotGoodEnough9 I don’t know about you, but I’m not applying to colleges out of pride. I apply because I want to go to a place that I will learn and grow so that I could be successful in the future. I don’t think anyone should be trying to flaunt their college degree to people outside of their jobs unless they are trying to compensate for something.

Penn and Columbia are amazing schools, and definitely have lots of prestige within the circles of people who can actually influence your career.

6

High reach for all. GPA is a bit low for those schools. Do you have any state or national level extracurricular achievements or awards?

7

@ucbalumnus USAJMO is top 250 in the United States for <10th grade. Does that count?
and yes GPA is a bit low; at my school 3.7 is at the 18.5% mark. However, I’ve also heard from previous admissions officers that they look at the intensity of the course load as well; I got matched reach for all three schools (also got matched reach to Brown, UMich, etc.), with possible as USC and likelys as NYU and BC.

8

@NotGoodEnough9 @theOGreject2017 I have to agree with OG on this one. Yes - it is true that HYPS is considered to be the elite of the elite - the name value is incredible. However, I also believe that the name value does not outweigh the education I would receive at a college I like vs. a college I hate attending. I’m not the fondest of Yale and Princeton’s environment, nor am I too fond of Stanford’s. They are amazing schools, but I just don’t see myself succeeding at those schools as not only a student but also a person. I liked Penn/Columbia/Harvard’s setting much much better, and could see myself enjoying my 4 years at any of those three schools.

and NGE9; perhaps there was a misread? I do want to study business it grad school, but also want to open myself up to other possibilities. However, I am most intrigued by that field, and thus would like to pursue a social sciences major in undergrad and decide where I want to go with grad school from there.