I kinda wanna go to Harvard.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey everyone, I'm a senior right now and I just want to know where I stand. I really want to go to Harvard. I appreciate any criticism.</p>

<p>Anyways, this is my first time doing this so here it goes:</p>

<p>Intended Major: Biology, Chemistry, Pre-Med Track</p>

<p>Current GPA: 3.6676. Hoping to bump it to 3.7175 by Graduation. </p>

<p>Classes:</p>

<p>9th Grade:
Alg 2 Honors (B+/A-)
Lit. (A/A)
Latin I (A/A)
US History (A/A)
Health (A/A)
Physical Science (A/A)</p>

<p>10th Grade:
Choir (A/A)
Computational Physics (C-/C+)
American Literature (A-/D-)
AP World History (B+/A-)
Latin 2 (A-/A)
AP Chemistry (B+/A-)</p>

<p>AP Tests Taken:
Physics B - 5
World History - 3
Chemistry - 5
Calc BC - 5
Human Geo - 3</p>

<p>11th Grade:
Guided Study
Latin 3 (A/A)
AP Computer Science (A-/A)
AP Biology (A-/A)
AP USH (B/A-)
British Literature (A/A)</p>

<p>AP Tests:
Comp. Sci. - 5
Biology - 4
USH - 3</p>

<p>12th Grade:
AP English Lit.
AP Latin
AP Gov
Physics 183 @ MSU </p>

<p>AP Tests:
Lit
Gov
Latin
Physics C
Physics C
Stats</p>

<hr>

<p>Sports:
JV Tennis (9-11)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
ACTION (9-12) Captain (11)
Key Club (9-11) LT. Gov (12)
Debate Varsity Captain (11-12)
Science Olympiad (9-12)
NHS (12)
Quiz Bowl (9-12) Maybe Var (12)</p>

<p>Volunteering:
ACTION
Key Club
NHS
Private Tutoring (Grades 5-12 & I also tutor some college students in Calculus)
Mentoring (Elementary Students)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Worked at my dad's office and filed home health care papers for his company (9)
Tutor at Mathnasium (12)</p>

<p>Research:
I am currently researching Neurodegeneration with a professor at MSU.
I hope to submit a paper to Siemens and Intel STS.
Will most probably be published if anything. </p>

<p>Competitions:
Prepping for USAChO, USABO, USAMO, Brain Bee this summer.
Will compete in all next school year. </p>

<p>Awards:
Science Olympiad
Debate
AP Scholar
Magna Cum Laude on the National Latin Exam - Freshman Year (School never offered it after my freshman year)</p>

<p>Summers:
Freshman - Self-studied Bio, Chem, Geometry Honors, Precalc Honors. Worked at my dad's office.
Sophomore - Tennis. Tutored.
Junior: RESEARCH! Prepping for competitions. P90X. </p>

<p>SAT I : 2300
ACT: 35
SAT II: Math Level 2: 800; Chem: 780; Bio M: 780</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendations: Amazing!
Counselor Rec: She loves me!
Additional Rec: Debate Coach and Key Club Adviser.
State: Michigan
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000+</p>

<p>My app will be based around my work I've done with kids, hopefully my research if I finish my paper on time, and hopefully the competitions I am preparing for this summer. </p>

<p>Thank you for your comments in advance! I will appreciate your advice/criticism.</p>

2

<p>People have probably told you this before, but the GPA is lacking. That said, the rest of your app is absolutely amazing! The SAT really makes up for the GPA and that research your doing is really really great! If i were you i’d try to finish up that research in time for the essay. That research you’re doing really separates you from the crowd.</p>

<p>Chance me please? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1525710-bowdoin-chances.html#post16144382[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1525710-bowdoin-chances.html#post16144382&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Good luck! You have a lot of good things. Only problems I see are with your AP scores (the 2 3s), GPA is a little low, and ECs a little lackluster. Also, being Indian (I’m Indian too) doesn’t help unfortunately. I’m sorry for the criticism though. The only thing you can do now is work on essays, ECs, and GPA boost! I wish you the best of luck! </p>

<p>Chance me back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1524516-chance-me-please-all-ivies-stanford-duke-uchicago.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1524516-chance-me-please-all-ivies-stanford-duke-uchicago.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>GPA is low, EC’s are a “meh”. Being Asian somewhat lowers your chances. The SAT and the other scores are good!</p>

5

<p>What happened to your sophomore year? For the schools that do not count freshmen grades, your uw GPA would be much lower than your calculation. It seems you put too much emphasis in academia even over the summer. If you do get a paper out, then you would have a great chance. Otherwise, your GPA and EC would be your weakest link.</p>

6

<p>Sorry, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen. Your GPA is very low by Harvard standards, and even though your test scores make up for it, Harvard is so competitive that one chink in the armor can mean the end.</p>

7

<p>Your grade in American Literature in 10th grade going from A-/D- in the second semester is a significant RED FLAG for any top school…one generally sees this for students who get caught plagiarizing/cheating or something NOT GOOD…</p>

8

<p>Having reviewed applications before…many school districts in this country end up giving D/D- instead of F grade to students who are otherwise “good” students who got caught cheating…it usually is a compromise that school administration and the student’s parents come up with so that they don’t ruin that students “life” or “future”…most top colleges are sophisticated enough to figure this out…</p>

9

<p>^ Disregarding the reason for a D- grade, I agree that would definitely raise a red flag and significantly impact the chance in top schools. Particularly, it was an A- in the first semester. One may need to explain that in the essay in attempt to rescue the chance.</p>

10

<p>I think there is a chance, go ahead and get that neurodegenerative research published and both Harvard and Yale will more than likely take you.</p>

11

<p>Grades and EC’s could be judged as “typical”; Harvard wants “extraordinary”. </p>

<p>As indicated by other posters: D is a big RED FLAG. </p>

<p>What happened to Varsity tennis? They’ll look at that. Harvard “types” are varsity for 4 years.</p>

<p>Work experience for your father wouldn’t be considered as valued as: working at a food bank or shelter. </p>

<p>It sounds like you are trying to “pad” your r</p>

12

<p>@FuturePetVet I had a rough year my sophomore year personally, but thanks for the compliments! </p>

<p>@awesomenerd I appreciate the criticism. APs aren’t considered on the applications, right? They only look at APs once your accepted so you can get college credit. In my essays, I hope to further explain my work with kids and stuff. Other ECs were mainly competitions like Debate and SciOly. </p>

<p>@billcsho I think my ECs are pretty fine. I’ve obtained many leadership roles in everything that I’m doing. I guess I’m just going to have to explain that to the admissions people. I’m trying to focus on academics over the summer to compensate for my crappy sophomore year. Im 90% sure I can get a paper done, hopefully in time for Siemens and Intel. Also, I think Harvard counts all 4 years. </p>

<p>@marinozai Thanks for giving it to me straight haha. </p>

<p>@gravitas2 @billscho I was caught plagiarizing my sophomore year. She didnt give me a D just so that I wouldnt get an F. I earned a D according to the point system we have at my school. Im going to explain that to the admissions person and see if they want let me off the hook haha. </p>

<p>@saye329 I really hope youre right!</p>

<p>@auntbea:</p>

<p>I hope to get far in the competitions. I have achieved leadership roles in my ECs, so that shows my dedication and effort, I guess. I mainly focused on tutoring kids and competitions like Debate and SciOly. </p>

<p>I made a mistake on the tennis part. I was JV 9-10 and I was Varsity my Junior year. Im still deciding whether or not I want to play my Senior year. I would be a def Varstiy player. </p>

<p>I’m trying my best to get a paper published. Im 90% sure I will. I really hope that boosts my chances. </p>

<p>When it comes to my work experience, I only worked for my dad the summer after my freshman year. All other work that I did over the summers had nothing to do with my family and relatives. For the independent tutoring that I did, that was all me. For my job at Mathnasium, that was all me. I’m definitely going to make that clear for the admissions people.</p>

<p>Your DD is amazing! Dang. I’ve never heard of a Harvard interview story where that happened. Now I’m really scared. Still, congratulations on your DD’s success!</p>

<p>Thank you all for the input! You’ve really helped me a lot! I truly appreciate it.</p>

13

<p>That D was in the tenth grade and constitutes one blemish on an otherwise decent application. Make sure they recognize it as not-cheating, or ensure you say sorry about it. Sincere sorry.</p>

<p>Colleges Do Not Care About GPA.</p>

<p>And please don’t take too excessively into account anecdotes about specific people. Kids with worse stats and fewer hooks than aunt bea’s have gotten into Harvard.</p>