Hello, I’m a high school senior(this year I’ll be) and I’m looking forward to put Harvard on the top of my list.
first of all, I’m an international, I come from Egypt and I have never been to the states and most certainly don’t have a residency or so.
my scores are
SAT1: 2370 (800 on reading, 790 on math, and 780 on the writing section)
SAT2:I’ve only taken the math1 test and I got a 700 because I got ill that day and I couldn’t make it through the test or even the biology test, so I’m retaking it on the November series, expecting 700~750+ on each.
GPA: somewhere around 3.9 to 4.0
EC’s : here comes the problem, my school offers a rather narrow space for extracurriculars which I know is a huge gap in my application but I’m looking forward to fill it! My Ec’s so far are: I was part of the school’s student council for the last 2 years and I’m running for presidency this year.I’m head of the school’s debate club, and I’m the school’s student representative. that’s about it for the school, a few other stuff here and there , nothing mentionable. when it comes to ec’s outside of the school, I’m a member of a number of community service organizations and scientific clubs, for example I’m a member of a community service organization called interact which is in part a part of the international rotary club, I’m running for the presidency of the community service organization division this month, as well. I know that my ec’s are extremely unsatisfying but I’ve got the time and the chance to boost them up, but I need help, what should I do? which activities should I start pursuing? what counts as an ec? I mean I could be doing other things but miss to count them as an extracurricular activity.
by the way, I’m planning to take a concentration in a biology related field, still didn’t decide which, but I’m hopefully applying to medical school afterwards which is also something I know extremely hard but I’ll take my chances.
one more thing, do you advise me to apply as an early decision student of regular decision?
that’s all for now, waiting for your replies!
Since you’re a rising Senior, I don’t think you have time to improve your extracurriculars. Just work with what you have, and hope for the best.
Please take a look at this post from an MIT Admissions Director on chance posting, as everything in it applies to Harvard as well: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/939227-reminder-no-one-not-even-me-can-give-you-an-accurate-chance-at-mit-p1.html
You seem like a wonderful candidate, as are the thousands of other students who apply and are rejected. As Harvard receives more applications from qualified applicants than they have seats in the freshman class, Admissions uses a student’s essays, teacher recommendations, guidance counselor report (SSR) and interview report to select one high-performing student over another. As you haven’t posted that information (nor should you), the only way you’re going to find out your chances is by submitting your application. Best of luck to you!
@PartyNextDoor I thought so too. fingers crossed.
@gibby I’m familiar with this post and I know that nothing and no one can guarentee that I’ll be accepted other than the application itself.However, I’m just looking for some advice to get the best out of my application, so, I’ve a couple of questions if you don’t mind.
I haven’t taken any ap’s since no one does here in egypt and I didn’t actually find out that there is something called ap until like the last 2 months, how badly will that do to my application?
also, how many subject tests do you think I should take? I was thinking of retaking math1 and biology, how about extra chemistry or physics? will it really matter?
regarding my ec’s, how bad is my situation? what can I do to make the one’s I mentioned above count better in my app? are there any other activities that I can involve in in such a small period of time?
last question, should I apply early decision or regular? I know that ED is more competitive and they take only the best of the best,so, would my chances be better applying RD or am I competitive enough to go for ED?
Go to http://www.hio.harvard.edu/statistics, and from the pull-down menu select STUDENT’S, HARVARD COLLEGE (the undergraduate school) and EGYPT.
There are currently five (5) student’s from Egypt enrolled at Harvard College who are freshman, sophomores, juniors or seniors. That means that Harvard, on average, accepts about one (1) student from your country every year, and every fourth year accepts two (2) student’s.
Those are terrible odds, no matter what your credentials. To be accepted to Harvard from your country you have to be the best-of-the-best from Egypt. Is that you? Are you the best Egypt has to offer this year? As I have no idea who else is applying from Egypt, I cannot answer that question.
To be absolutely honest, there is nothing you can do at this point in the applications process to better your odds besides writing a killer essay (whatever that means). You just have to apply and hope for the best.
@gibby Thanks for your response.I don’t know either what egypt has to offer but I hope I’ve got a decent chance.
anyway, what do you think, early or regular decision?
As Harvard only accepts 1 student per year from Egypt, you might as well apply SCEA.
@gibby that actually makes sense 
thanks alot
Gibby, is that the number of students accepted, or the number enrolled? It looks like enrolled to me, in which case Harvard could have accepted more than 1 from Egypt in a given year -I recognize that many students who are accepted might well enroll, but others might not be able to, due to insufficient financial support etc.
@midatlmom: That’s the number of Egyptian student’s enrolled. However, given that Harvard has an 80% yield, and Harvard is only one of 6 US universities to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need without gapping for international students, I would think Admissions would need to accept no more than 2 students from Egypt every year to achieve their enrollment number. Any way you slice it, the odds are pretty slim.