<p>ECs
Class President
Football - Varsity
Track - Varsity
Debate Team - National Success
* PLACED AT HARVARD TOURNAMENT*
Tutor
Started and am President of Fundraising Club for African water purification
Work w. Refugees as a volunteer
(summer trip)</p>
<p>I've always taken the hardest courses available to me. The reason my GPA is so low is bc I screwed around Fr and So year. I got a 4.0 second semester as a JR. definite upward progression. Also my football team was the best in the state and football is a religion,3hrs of practice 7 days a week w. the month of December only off. </p>
<p>URM status WILL help you, but realize that being an International applicant will make it tough for you. </p>
<p>Nobody can be sure, because Harvard is a reach for EVERYONE. There is not too much feedback you can get because even “perfect” candidates with 2400s and 4.0s get rejected. Your SAT score is decent, GPA showing an upward progression is good, and you have okay ECs.</p>
<p>All I can say is good luck, and do not lose hope.</p>
<p>It is basically unrealistic with that GPA, all though an upward trend is good, you said it yourself you did not try hard for half of your time in high school, top colleges don’t like that. Remember Harvard accepts less then 10 percent of all applicants and they are constantly rejecting people with a 4.0 uw.</p>
<p>If you will be applying as an International student, I think you have an advantage! Because, one thing top universities want is diversity and I doubt there are many applicants from Libya. So if Libya is under represented at Harvard and with your URM status and your “upward trend in GPA” - I think you have a good shot at Harvard!! </p>
<p>Though even this “good shot” is nothing but a 5% chance!! </p>
<p>Also, have you tried being recruited? Contact the coaches at Harvard and see what can be done!! </p>
<p>And, out of curiosity - by football do you mean Soccer or American football??</p>
<p>Actually, this is just plain incorrect. The competition in the pool of international applicants is more intense than in the domestic pool at Harvard and other elite universities. Harvard is one of a handful of American universities that meets full demonstrated need for international applicants. That creates a huge volume of applicants from abroad. So Harvard wants diversity, yes, but it never has to deviate very much from its standards in order to get it.</p>
<p>And it’s also beside the point here, because MidasTouch is actually a U.S. citizen.</p>
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<p>MidasTouch, I’m afraid this is completely toxic to your application. Harvard will be able to fill its entering class–several times over, really–with applicants, even minority applicants, whose grades are much better because they didn’t screw around for the first two years of high school. Sorry.</p>
<p>@Sikorsky – To your second point - note that I said “IF” MidasTouch will be applying as an “International Student”. And as he and probably his family are living in Tripoli(as is said on the original post) - his status may still be that of an International Student.</p>
<p>To your first point – I agree that Harvard has a very competitive International pool. But look at it this way(hypothetical example) - there are 500 applicants from UK and there are 30 applicants from Libya. An applicant with a 3.3 GPA from UK will have it really tough(near impossible) as chances of ~4.0 GPA among the other 499 applicants is very high. However, in case of Libya - which has recently been through a civil war situation and such - a 3.3 GPA might be at the top of the regional applicant pool.
Now I agree that a 3.3 gpa is probably quite low(irrespective of where you are from) but given the OPs strengths in football and other ECs, his solid SAT and his upward trend in GPA, he has a slight advantage because he offers diversity(with his background) and his URM status.</p>
<p>Basically - his chances based purely on his GPA & ECs are probably low. But given his background and assuming that he has written strong essays - the OP has a low chance, but still a chance!!</p>
<p>Either way, @MidasTouch - no harm applying. Just don’t pin all your hopes on Harvard. Try to keep up the 4.0 in senior year!! :D</p>
<p>Not if he is a U.S. citizen, as he says in post #3 that he is. I don’t think he is living in Lybia now, either, based on my reading of post #3: “I was born there but moved here.” But that’s a moot point, since U.S. citizens living abroad are not in the same admissions pool as international applicants.</p>