Hey Harvard Look At Me!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

I am a high school Jr. and I am a Harvard hopeful!!

I know everyone posts the same stuff but I wanted to get on here to see what kind of responses I can get regarding my chances of getting into my dream school. As I mentioned, I am a high school Jr and reside in Texas. My current stats are as follows:

GPA - 5.22 / 5.0 scale
Class Rank - #1 / 469
Full AP course load taken and will complete the remaining available AP courses offered by my school during my Sr year.
Test Scores- ACT - 31

Extra Curricular- Varsity Softball (Current Harvard Softball Prospect) , Student Council- Class President , Spanish Club- Historian, Superintendents Advisory Commitee, Principals Advisory Commitee, Girls State Leadership, Rotary Youth Leadership, Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Council

Summer Internship - Houston Methodist Hospital (Caring Teens Program)

Volunteer Work - Toys for Tots, Fill the Truck Food Drive, Meals on wheels, Environment Day Volunteer

Honors and Awards - National Honor Society, Scout Softball All American , USA Softball/ Under Armour Pre-Season All American, Softball First Team All District 21-5A, Academic First Team All District 21-5A, Campus Top Biology Student Award, Campus Top Scholar Award, Internship- Houston Methodist Hospital

Background Information: Hispanic / Female / Texas Resident

****Based on the above informaton I have provided; Can anyone give me an ideas on any additions, areas of improvment, and advise on my potential admittance into Harvard?

Thank you in advance,

2

Coach Allard would be able to answer these questions more accurately than any us us can.

3

Selective colleges use test scores to judge whether a student could handle the work load on their campus. The HIGHER your ACT/SAT score, the LESS likely an Admissions Officer will question “If I admit this kid, will they struggle on my campus?” No college wants to admit a student and set them up for failure. Currently, your ACT of 31 is BELOW Harvard’s 25th percentile score. (See C9 data points : https://oir.harvard.edu/files/huoir/files/harvard_cds_2017-18.pdf)

Generally a straight ‘A’ student, ranked #1 in their class, will score within Harvard’s ACT range. You did not.
That might have Admissions scratching their collective heads with questions, such as (a) Did the OP have a bad day when they took the test?, (b) Is the grading curve at the OP’s high school too easy, hence they are a straight ‘A’ student in their HS but didn’t score higher on the ACT?, (c) If admitted, will the OP be able to maintain an ‘A’ average at Harvard, or will they struggle to be a ‘B’ student?

You really don’t want an AO asking any of those questions. To be a serious applicant for Harvard (or any ivy league school), your test scores need to be solidly within a colleges range. For Harvard that means a 33-34 ACT. I don’t know what test scores a softball recruit is generally suppose to have, but for a golf recruit: https://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mgolf/faq#Recruiting

As such, I would think you would need to retake the ACT or try the SAT. Best of luck to you!

4

Thank you for your reply. I will be on campus and I am meeting with the Coaching staff on May 3.

5

Thank you so much for the input. The 31 score was on the first time I took the test. I am scheduled to take it again and I am also doing a ton of prep this time to hopefuly improve on that score.

thanks again.

Megan

6

What do you want to study ?

Any career goals ?

7

I believe you stand a reasonably good chance now of being admitted if you are a recruited athlete. If you bring your ACT score up by two or three points I think your likelihood of admission would really escalate.
Congratulations on your very impressive High School credentials!

8

Why is Harvard your “dream school”? Sometimes, when students say that, it means they don’t know a lot about other schools. That may not be the case for you, but make sure that Harvard really is what you want.

There are top schools that do not emphasize or even require test scores https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional If you look at the list, there really are top schools there. However, if you need financial aid, some require scores for that.

You are probably right, that your scores will go up.

9

I will be a Biological Science/ Pre-Med Student

10

Thank you for the reply Compmom. I have looked and I am currently looking at other shools as well. I have had great opportunities as an athlete to visit a lot of schools like Uchicago, Amherst, Middlebury College, and MIT. All these schools were great and I feel that would offer great experiences both in the classroom as well as on the playing field…

11

Some of the schools you mention are on the list of colleges that don’t require scores, that I posted above,