<p>DHA, I feel your pain man, I know how it feels to be poor, real poor, but i think you have this weird aura about you which unfortuanetly turns people off. You are at times VERY contradictory. You dont want have programs to give "a leg-up" so to speak, but EXPECT to get in with stats that FRANKLY SPEAKING put you in the bottom 3% of Harvards stats. 75% of Harvard students score near 1600, 50% at 1500, and 25% at 1400. You scored 1250 (or around there 1880(2/3)=1250). Then 95% of the school is in the top 10%, with 35% being Validictorians. You are in the top 20%. But even discounting these things, you still have these weird perception that JUST BECAUSE YOUR POOR you OUGHT TO BE accepted. Take it from me, NO ONE IS A GURANTEED ADMIT AT HARVARD. </p>
<p>I GOT DEFERRED
I HAD BASICALLY A 1400(2100)
I HAD 4.45 Weighted, ranked 4/340
I TAKE MULTIVARIABLE CALC, ORGANIC CHEM + LAB IN THE NIGHT
I WORK 30 HOURS A WEEK AT NIH, DOING RESEARCH THAT I WILL
PUBLISH IN MAY IN VIRIOLOGY (aMERICAN, JOURNAL OF)
I TAKE 5 AP CLASSES DURING THE DAY
I LEAVE HOME AT 6 AM AND RETURN 10:30 PM
I HAD 800,790,720 ON SAT2
I HAVE TAKEN 9 AP EXAMS AND SCORED MOSTLY 5'S AND 4'S
I AM GOING TO TAKE 6 MORE THIS YEAR
I AM CAPTAIN OF 2 CLUBS, IN 4 MORE, VOLUNTEER 20 HOURS A WEEK
I LIVE IN A HUGE PUBLIC HOUSING COMPLEX
IVE SEEN DRUGS, VIOLENCE, AND VICE
I MYSELF HAVE GONE THROUGH HELL AND BACK, AND ALMOST A DAILY BASIS
IVE HAD TO WORK AS MUCH AS 90 HOURS A WEEK TO HELP PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE.
IVE BEEN ON STREET CORNERS TRYING TO SELL T-SHIRTS AND OTHER THINGS TO PUT GODDAMN PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY ON THE TABLE</p>
<p>WITH ALL THAT I DIDNT MAKE IT. I AM NOT BITTER, AND REALLY DHA YOU SHOULDNT BE EITHER. </p>
<p>MOST MINORITIES DONT "HAVE SCORES LOWER THAN YOURS" , MOST MINORITIES AT HARVARD SCORE BETWEEN 1300-1450 AND HAVE 3.7-4.0 AND ARE RANKED TOP 10-2.5 IN THEIR CLASS. YOUR KIDING YOUR SELF TO BELIEVE YOUR BETTER THAN MOST OF THE PEOPLE WITH A 1250.</p>
<p>For my next application im going to do an essay about something else besides poverty and stuff, and instead write a letter to the adcoms explaining how everything has affected my life and HOW I STILL MAINTAIN A POSITIVE OPTIMISTIC outlook on life. DHA look into your heart and write a similarly heartfelt letter to the adcoms, and perhaps you will make it to Yale. Oh yeah man remeber im not your enemy man, im just trying to help you realize that you need to lighten up and look forward to life and peace and not dwell on the past. Move forward, man, if harvard doesnt want you look for new haven or princeton or philadelphia or providence. just move on and maintain a positive vibe, and please stop characterizing groups and infusing politics into everything.</p>