@lugdunensis with that being said, if you are average at a school that’s “easy”, then it wouldn’t look the best. they’d want someone who can overachieve at a school that’s “easy”. if you are just average at a “hard” school, then it’ll just show to them that you worked hard and didn’t fall behind. But at the end of the day, this is such a small factor in your application. the deciding factor, the way I see it, are the essays.
It’s kind of nerve-wracking to think that all final decisions may not have been made yet.
Has any international student received an adcom interview after your alumni interview?
@nijusohc Agreed on essays. Nobody talks about them enough here because of their subjectivity, but in order of importance, essays/ECs > GPA > SAT is my two cents.
Did any international applicants get accepted early on CC last year? From what I’ve gathered, nobody in my country has been accepted SCEA for the past four years (save one recruited athlete.)
What day are the decisions going to be released?
@nijusohc @h2a216
Interesting information. But HOW exactly it influence? If you study in school that is top ranked in country, valedictorians of that school several last years got perfect or near perfect scores and average scores of students are essentially higher than world average scores. Does it positive or negative for your application?
If they will have applicant from such school with perfect score and applicant from very weak school, but who also managed to get perfect score. Who will get advantage?
My friend who attends Dartmouth saw that my school was ranked “medium difficult” which is definitely very low, but I have taken the highest number of AP classes I could. Will this negatively affect me?
@lilyfullford no, that’s what they want. even if its a low or medium or high school, they want to see that you explored what your school could offer (and perhaps beyond)
@Alezzz all they want to see is that you’ve worked harder than the average in your area. sometimes that could be 10 AP classes. Sometimes it could mean 30. what’s important is that you took your given resources and went beyond what was just given to you by the environment
basically, don’t worry about where you come from if you were able to go beyond what is expected of you and the area you live in. Ultimately, the deciding factor WILL be your essays (as long as your grades aren’t complete bull). don’t worry, and lets all knock on wood!!
@moscott No, I didn’t. I just got Commended 
I’m a test taker type, so I guess it just wasn’t my day. I think the main hype point of my application is my cancer research and the organization I founded called The Steminist Movement. :-??
How about your son? Did he get NMSF?
@oRcHiD4 that’s pretty cool : ) were your essays about that?
@nijusohc My essays mentioned that, but I also talked about my career as a pre-professional ballerina from before I got into the cancer scene. For the Harvard-specific essay, I discussed a disability I have and how it empowers my interests in linguistics and biomedical technologies.
@oRcHiD4 that’s so cool!! Good luck to you next week : ) I hope it’ll be good news for all of us
@nijusohc Thanks so much!! You as well. You got this!
I have been the only student from my school applying to Harvard and Ivy League since my school has established for 60 years. I don’t know if this condition has given me advantages or disadvantages. Yet I am already so happy in this ‘Harvard Journey’ as I have learned a lot from my interview. I am an international student applying from Asia and I had my early interview on 5/11. I am not sure if this is a good sign but I have been trying to get myself calm as I know I can do nothing now. The only thing I am worried about are my essays because they are not too personal. For the long essays, I have written my opinion regarding some society controversies. For example, social injustice, social responsibilities , my attitudes when I face difficulties, my opinion of blindly following others’ routes and death. For short essay, I have written my voluntary work experience in Hong Kong teaching disabled students English and my research on the history of some ethnic groups in Asia. I hope they are fine.
@cutebaby honestly, it ultimately comes down to your ECs and your essays. don’t worry!! it won’t be a disadvantage to you at all
I guess it is safe to say that I will be deferred EA due to not being offered an interview while several of my classmates did?
@tiffsworld no, interviews are random and getting one/not getting one doesn’t mean anything