I know, he is an asian boy

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Well, seeing so many "chance" questions, I am also putting one here to see whether he has a chance to squeeze into Harvard:</p>

<p>Asian boy (you know it is a jungle there for them)</p>

<p>SAT I: 2400 (one shot)
SAT II: Math 2C- 800; taking chemistry, Spanish and possibly Chinese soon (estimated scores 750-800 for all three if nothing unusual happens).</p>

<p>School: very competitive private school, small class (<85 seniors), no rank (unofficially, he is no. 1), no AP, no IB. 99-100% attend 4-year colleges. </p>

<p>GPA: 3.99/4 (school is tough on grades, in its 26-year existence, only 1 kid got 4.0 so far).</p>

<p>Ex: (very typical for asians)</p>

<p>Piano (11 years): many city and state competition honors and awards, "emerging artist" in a metropolitan area of 2 million people.</p>

<p>Violin (7 years): school orchestra concert-master</p>

<p>Chamber music at a music conservotory (3 years)</p>

<p>Rock-roll band (2 years).</p>

<p>Volunteers at hospital, low-income housing complex, habitat for humanity, foodbank, and mandatory school requirement for enviornmental and community services, etc. (counselor says, enough).</p>

<p>Scholarship to study a foreign language in another counrtry in summer of 2005.</p>

<p>Recommendations: will be excellent; will send in the live recording from the artist concert.</p>

<p>He knows it is Harvard, and he wants to apply and to see what happens.</p>

<p>Kind comments, please!</p>

2

<p>You bore me. Lol j/k...well, I suppose you have a decent chance just like all those other Asian boys.</p>

3

<p>What separates you from the other high scoring violin playing math loving asians?</p>

4

<p>Exactly...what does he/you (if this is not a parent posting) do for fun? NOT "what can I contribute to Harvard", but "who am I as a person"...Harvard teaches you how to think and be a full person, not how to score well on tests. If you want the information, you go somewhere else...if you want the information AND want to learn how to think (very important), you go to Harvard. They want PEOPLE, not study machines. I get the general sense that he's/you're not, and there <em>are</em> some 24/7 studiers (not a word, I don't think, haha) at Harvard, but just in case...
Hope this helped!
Ciao,
~lb :)</p>

5

<p>"what does he/you (if this is not a parent posting) do for fun?"</p>

<p>Really. What's up with this? Why can't an asian kid play piano or violin for fun? I sure do, since I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't like it. I understand that this is a typical asian ec, but I am more than a little miffed that you think most of us don't have fun doing it.</p>

6

<p>Ok, a little clarification: he reads the news 30 - 60 minutes a day, watches all the sports (baseball, basketball, football, even poker), played frisbee and ran x-country, chats with his friends daily, plays piano about 1 hour and violin 30 minutes a day. </p>

<p>he is not studying 7/24 and he should not ... Thanks for your concern. Please don't judge his "fun" part. He is just efficient. He knows how to "think", maybe even deeper than you do (sorry if that is an offense.) His teachers' comments: if only he studies harder ... </p>

<p>If you attend his concerts (including his band concerts), you know he was certainly having fun, the audience were alslo having fun.</p>

7

<p>This has got to be the most annoying thread ever.</p>

8

<p>I personally think your answer to my question hinges on his acceptance.</p>

9

<p>Good essay = good chance of admissions
Frankly, all those wonderful things you just wrote to indicate that (your friend, or you...still can't quite figure it out) is/are a fun person doesn't help your application much. I'm not sure where on the app you can write: "I watch all the sports," and frankly, I don't think anyone cares. I a lot of Asians watch sports- so what? I know I do. </p>

<p>SO- in the end, it's gonna be important that an interesting personality emerge from the essay. Everything else (your grades, SATs etc) will give you a slight edge in the first round, but you need the extra spark to do the magic)</p>

<p>By the way...good for you. More Asians should be reading the news more often. Geez, there's so many apathetic Asians on campus at even the most prestigious schools...it drives me up the wall...</p>

10

<p>Usually, Asian boys have a big disadvantage to other races. People always say you must be excellent to get into H. His SATs and grades are very impressive. How is his music talent? I guess he must be around No. 1 in piano or violin in his state to get into H. 7-year violin and 30 min daily practice don't sound very good to be No. 1. And 1 h daily practice doesn't get you anywhere. I know a boy practice 3 h a day since he was young.</p>

11

<p>I think everyone has good advice here. Windcloud sums it up best by suggesting Mr. Z focus on helping the committee to relate to his personal side.</p>

<p>Several options
1. As Drewbin says, if Z. is really into his piano playing, that would be important to explain. What is the meaning of music for him, other than something he is good at?
2. Probably the single best thing would be to look for a quality Z. has that distinguishes him from most others. This might be some sort of personal or family challenge or interest (e.g., any kind of struggle he dealt with; if he is a very thoughtful person about being Asian American).
3. Harvard is going to be asking, what will this guy be doing in twenty years other than being as successful as he already is (relative to his peers). Virtually no one who applies to Harvard is so successful that this alone will get them in. (exceptions: winners of national and international achievements or exceptional athletes, and of course people from places or backgrounds that are rare at Harvard, whether due to geography, language culture, or nationality).</p>

<p>I think Z. probably does have something to put forward, and maybe he can tell us what it is.</p>

<p>Finally, it is crucial that Z.'s application to Harvard not seem just like one more step in his "success" in life. Harvard has been fighting a rep for being "the" school for a long time, and is trying to combat the elitist image and saying it has something else to offer the world--leadership, imagination, creativity, openness to poor students, risky moves into new disciplines, etc. </p>

<p>(I know it sounds weird to say Harvard has been struggling with its rep as #1 but actually being #1 can be an image problem in some ways. Just notice how many threads at CC are Harvard bashing on the basis, it seems, of disliking that Harvard is the <em>default</em> top choice of the vast majority of applicants to the Ivy's and other elite schools. For whatever reason, including racist ones, Asians have gotten a reputation for being especially prone to the #1 thinking.)</p>

12

<p>Well, of course, this kid (who is somehow likeable to me based on the way described) has the same chances as all the other excellent prospects for Harvard: "low." He is well-qualified, a well-done application will enhance the chances, but no one can say any more than that. A small proportion of the highly qualified applicants are accepted. That's just the way it is.</p>

<p>Do the best application possible, find some other great schools to love, of lesser selectivity. Do a great job on those applications, too.</p>

13

<p>zzzz,
"School: very competitive private school"</p>

<p>What is the school's track record with Harvard?<br>
Does the GC approve of the application?</p>

14

<p>I don't know how other asian is doing. We are asian and I have two children. We have had Time for many years and my two children are fighting over to get to read the Time first when it reaches our mail, every single time....</p>

15

<p>Ohio_mom:</p>

<p>"What is the school's track record with Harvard?
Does the GC approve of the application?"</p>

<p>The school has a very small senior class. It emphysizes on "arts, humanity", instead of "math and science". Every year, it sends kids to Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Chicago, ect. Harvard is not a school kids apply to often, so the track record with Harvard is not impressive and hard to judge.</p>

<p>GC strongly suggests Z to apply to a few top schools, including Harvard. She says Z is a "nice, well rounded person". By the way, the GC is the best one in our city with credentials of writing articles on college admission.</p>

<p>Z is realistic about the process and knows the competitiveness.</p>

<p>Thanks all for your kind input.</p>

16

<p>Well, that's relatively encouraging. He should do the SCEA if he is able and is sure that Harvard is his fav. When he does his essays, remind him that this is the one place where the admissions committee will really be able to see him as person. This can be in a meta sense ... the details of what he does will enumerated in the rest of the app.</p>

17

<p>Reverse discrimination against high achieving asians is increasing, and if you read between the lines of recent statements from officials at both Harvard and MIT, you will sense this also</p>

18

<p>as an asian male (who is enrolled), i'd say he has a chance and definitely should try. I hope though, that all his activities (and future activities), essays, etc., reflect his own interests and desire to pursue them. I think a lot of this "discrimination" is based on the stereotype that asians are all doing the same things not bbecause they themselves inniated them, but their parents or some other person "advised" them to do it</p>

19

<p>He got into H and declined to go there.</p>

20

<p>Lol, so where is he going instead?</p>