I’m a junior in hs, planning to major in Econ/Spanish w/ a pre Law concentration.
white from a public school
4.73 Weighted GPA, 4.0 unweighted
1 out of 516 in my class
9 AP so far, 6 senior year: 5’s in everything except APUSH
33 ACT, I’m retaking it in Feb
A+'s in all classes, except a B+ in AP Bio
Internship w/ the governor’s campaign
President of my high school’s dance marathon
President of my school’s International Club
President of my 4-H Club
Hook: Founded my own tutoring co. to help underrepresented/special needs children for free.
w/ a recommendation from Mayor Gregg Ballard & Senator Richard Lugar
Thanks so much!
That’s not quite a hook, but more of a strong EC.
On actual stats. Obviously really great GPA/rank, but things can change through junior year. Right now your ACT is on the low side, so if you do better on the retake your chances will go up. How do you already have a rec from the mayor and your senator? It might also be hard to submit those because some schools only allow one other recommendation, just kind of weird… make sure they’re personal and don’t feel tacked on.
ECs in general look pretty solid, make sure your really stick with the tutoring company if you want to make it a selling point for you. Understand that Harvard and Yale aren’t looking for someone who’s really good at a lot of things. They’re looking for someone who’s THE BEST at one thing. Find something, and make it your selling point.
So you’re a good candidate, it looks like. But that really means not a lot at these schools. Harvard accepts 1/4 of all valedictorians that apply, so it by no means makes you a shoo-in. Keep your ECs up, the main place where it looks like you’re lacking is in competitions and real recognition outside of your school. Find the thing you’re most passionate about, and do some competitions. That could really strengthen you. Otherwise, keep your GPA up, do better on some tests, and you’ll have a strong shot.
Unless Lugar and Ballard have actually worked directly with you in ways that they would be able to meaningfully & directly speak to how you do things drop them as references: neither Harvard nor Yale will be impressed and there is a fair chance that they will interpret it as good old fashioned name-dropping / you implying that your (or more likely, your parents) knowing important people is a reason to accept you instead of somebody who doesn’t know important people / entitled kid, and could even hold it against you. Otherwise I hope @gibby will be along soon with her great 'you are a viable candidate/nobody can say more post.
@collegemom3717 thanks for the advice, but I did work with Senator Lugar and Mayor Ballard at Lugar’s Symposium for Tomorrow’s Leaders. My parents don’t know him, nor are we rich/politicos.
That symposium isn’t what I’d call sufficient opportunity to get to know him; it’s a day long, and he just lets people talk to him a little at the end. Whatever we say won’t change what’s in the rec, but make sure you understand that if that rec isn’t realllly personal, colleges will be skeptical. I doubt that you can get that great of a rapport from a day or two.
Gibby is a male not a female.
Oops- apologies @Gibby & thanks for the correction @Multiverse7 ! And no, a 1 day conference is not enough for anybody to write meaningfully about you, OP.
i dont wanna sound like pesimist, but you need to work on your ECs, do something special , do something that you love, try to accomplish something.
with your stats/ecs i would say you are one of lottery participants. you dont really stand out, you must be someone beyond numbers and statistics. clubs and etc , dont do much in applications, if you are interested in science, show your passion in researches, accomplishments… if you are interested in football, try to play in best club possible , you must be best of best, if you want guaranteed spot. top 100, top 1000 of us and etc!
your recommendations are nice tho! 
i would say you are playing lottery with 2 tickets.
thanks for the advice, guys. I’m gonna take out the Lugar and Ballard recs and instead talk more about my ec’s, which include helping native spanish speaking refugees learn english/helping their children with my tutoring nonprofit.
I’m also going to instead include a rec from my spanish teacher who has been teaching for over 50 years and says that I am the best student that she has ever had.
if you got a B+ in Bio then your unweighted GPA wouldn’t be a 4.0…
Also no one can really “chance” you for Yale/Harvard. Yes, you are within the range academically but it is essentially a crap shoot from here. I have a brilliant friend who just got deferred ED from Harvard. Valedictorian, took a million APs, straight As, and the nicest person ever and she got deferred. It came as a shock to everyone but it is proof that we cannot predict anything. I say don’t waste your time on here-- spend time on your application essays, keep working on grades etc. Your essays are really what are going to make you shine, because everyone applying to Harvard/Yale will have similar grades.
I agree ^ since everyone applying to ivy leagues have excellent stats, essays are what are going to make or break you