<p>Honestly how do you see a perfect application for Harvard(which involves high chance of acceptance)?</p>
<p>This thread is everything thats wrong with college admission mentality in kids these days. There is no “perfect application”. They are not looking for a predefined agenda. Sure, you need good grades and SAT scores to get your foot in the door, but the rest is all subjective.</p>
<p>^ Like.</p>
<p>But here’s my answer: the perfect application? The one in your hand after you hear you’ve been accepted by H or any other selective school. You are who you are. You’re either a round peg trying to fit a round hole or you’re a square peg – regardless you’re not going to be able to change yourself. At this very moment, every thing you are that will get you accepted or rejected to H is already in place (unless your mom can win the next $300M powerball).</p>
<p>@pixels: Thank you so much for stating what should be obvious.</p>
<p>@HelpChristianity: You need do some research on what Harvard is looking for, as you seem absolutely clueless about college admissions.</p>
<p>A good place to start is this NY Times interview with William Fitzsimmons, Dean of Harvard Admissions:</p>
<p>[Guidance</a> Office: Answers From Harvard’s Dean, Part 1 - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/harvarddean-part1/]Guidance”>Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 1 - The New York Times)
[Guidance</a> Office: Answers From Harvard’s Dean, Part 2 - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/harvarddean-part2/]Guidance”>Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 2 - The New York Times)
[Guidance</a> Office: Answers From Harvard’s Dean, Part 3 - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/harvarddean-part3/]Guidance”>Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 3 - The New York Times)
[Guidance</a> Office: Answers From Harvard’s Dean, Part 4 - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/harvarddean-part4/]Guidance”>Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 4 - The New York Times)
[Guidance</a> Office: Answers From Harvard’s Dean, Last of 5 Parts - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/harvarddean-part5/]Guidance”>Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Last of 5 Parts - The New York Times)</p>
<p>When you are finished, read several books on College Admissions. Among my favorites are: </p>
<p>1) “A Is for Admission: The Insider’s Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges” by Michele A. Hernandez (Ms Hernandez was a Dartmouth Admissions officer for many years.)</p>
<p>2) “Acing the College Application: How to Maximize Your Chances for Admission to the College of Your Choice” by Michele A. Hernandez </p>
<p>3) “What You Don’t Know Can Keep You Out Of College” by Don Dunbar</p>
<p>I know about this. Never I would try to change what I did, and practically it is impossible right now no? I was wondering, how do you(you, not Harvard admission officers) see a perfect admission. For instance I see a guy with almost perfect GPA, International awards and impressive essays about his passion for science and research. Outstanding recommendation from his teachers(that guy must be an outstanding student)</p>
<p>Once again, there is no such thing as a “perfect application.” I don’t think in those terms, nor should you. </p>
<p>Here, let me tell you about two applications.</p>
<p>Applicant #1: 97.8 GPA from an ultra competitive high school, 2280 SAT, 6 AP’s (all 5’s), 6 SAT II (all 750 and higher), EC’s: Acting in theater for 6 years, performed in 12 musicals and plays, including a summer at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She was also the flyer for her high school cheerleading team. Two stellar teacher recommendations and thought provoking essays.</p>
<p>Applicant #2: 96.8 GPA from an ultra competitive high school, 36 ACT, 6 AP’s (all 5’s), 6 SAT II (all 750 and higher), EC’s: Baseball for 6 years, including two summers on a travel team (not a recruited athlete though), computer science: designed and wrote several games in Java and attended Georgetown University for a summer computer course. Two stellar teacher recommendations and thought provoking essays.</p>
<p>Which student got accepted to Harvard? </p>
<p>Applicant #1 is a Harvard student, but she got rejected from Yale and waitlisted at Princeton.
Applicant #2 is a Yale student; he was also accepted to Princeton, but rejected by Harvard.</p>
<p>So, what’s my point? Both applicants are super talented, but selective college admissions is unpredictable, even for the absolute top candidates. There is no such thing as a perfect application – there is only what a college finds attractive, and that’s subjective and varies from year-to-year depending upon the competition. </p>
<p>In another year, maybe applicant #1 would have been accepted to Yale and Princeton. In another year, maybe applicant #2 would have been accepted to Harvard. Who knows? Because we are not involved in the decision making process, no one but an Admissions Director can tell you why one student gets accepted and another rejected. Although you can try to guess what happened, you can’t figure it, no matter how hard you try.</p>
<p>I agree with the other posters. There is no “perfect” application. It all depends on who you are. You could be the smartest person ever with perfect test scores and great awards/extra curriculars, but still be rejected. When applying to harvard, there are no guarantees and there is no “perfect” application.</p>
<p>There is a perfect application, but it doesn’t exist. I almost guarantee that if you discover a cure for cancer, win a Nobel prize, publish a new York times best seller, AND own a fortune 500 company before you apply for college, ANY college would want to have you. But you don’t need to go to college if you already have those accomplishments. Just do your best an hope for the best.</p>
<p>^^ Actually, many famous people who probably had “the right stuff” when they applied to Harvard, have been rejected: [Famous</a> Harvard Rejects Named by Magazine - ABC News](<a href=“Famous Harvard Rejects Named by Magazine - ABC News”>Famous Harvard Rejects Named by Magazine - ABC News)</p>
<p>"The Harvard admissions office "accepted [convicted Unabomber] Ted Kaczynski and rejected Warren Buffet. The process is not even close to perfect.‘’</p>
<p>I do agree with you about on one thing: Just do your best and hope for the best!</p>
<p>I suggest you look at the statistics of rejected, waitlisted, and accepted students in the Official Harvard Class of 2016 RD and EA results threads to make your own conclusions on how you should present yourself in the best way to top colleges like Harvard. A “perfect application” might not have perfect scores or stellar awards, but presents the applicant in a genuine and interesting way.</p>
<p>[‘The</a> Ideal High School Graduate’ - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/ideal-grad/]'The”>'The Ideal High School Graduate' - The New York Times)</p>
<p>"Mr. Fitzsimmons was speaking on a panel as part of the College Board’s annual conference in New York City.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure Harvard has figured out what the ideal student is,” he said, clearly disappointing some cramped audience members. “But public service is a baseline. We’re trying to find people who make others around them better.”</p>
<p>Mr. Fitzsimmons called successful applicants to Harvard “good all-arounders – academically, extracurricularly and personally,” and he stressed the importance of demonstrating humanity and three-dimensionality in one’s college application. “I want to know, what is it this person does beside chew gum and produce good grades or scores?”</p>
<p>He warned against the superficiality of charismatic dispositions. “Charisma isn’t everything,” he said. “It actually makes a difference to have substance. And those quiet people can be incredibly easy to miss in college admissions, but they can be brilliant and wear incredibly well over the long haul.”</p>