So, I have waited a few weeks to post about this because I have been so distraught. On April 1st, I excitedly checked my college decisions; alas, I was rejected from the only school that has the programs worth my effort in high school: Harvard. Not even waitlisted. Rejected. Everyone in my life told me I was the perfect fit, from my teachers to my counselors. Did they make a mistake? Please, help me make some sense of this. Here is a rough synopsis of my stats:
SAT: 2390 single sitting (I hate SAT essay graders)
SAT 2: Math II 800; Physics 800; Spanish w/ Listening 800; Literature 770
ACT: Didn’t take because SAT matters more anyway
Rank: Valedictorian
APs: 13 5s,1 4 (didn’t report the 4)
School: Competitive Private
State: Florida
Intended Major: Computer Science
NHS President
Spanish NHS Vice President
USAMO 2 times
Debate Captain
-3 Time Debate National Qualifier
-2 Time Debate Tournament of Champions Qualifier
-NSDA All-American
Intel ISEF Qualifier in Computer Science
National Spanish Exam Gold
USABO Semifinalist 11th
Harvard Summer School (turns out it’s a waste of money)
Published Research with Computer Science Professor with local university 11th
School Literary Magazine Editor
Internship during school year with Hewlett Packard 10th
Essays:
Common App: I thought it was flawless? I wrote about how I coped with depression but had the realization that it was merely a result of my privilege and unable to come to see through it. My English teacher was floored by it and she’s a Duke Masters in English.
Harvard supplements: They were alright. People that read them praised them, but I wasn’t too impressed personally, and neither were the adcoms.
Recommendations:
English Teacher: 10/10. Loves me.
Physics Teacher: 9/10. Great guy, but his writing skills aren’t that great. I had to make a few edits, but Harvard probably didn’t know that.
Ethnicity: Asian (:/)
Income: 400k+
Reflection:
I did get accepted to Cornell, so I guess i have to go there now. But I really don’t want to and I feel liek I deserve more. I only applied to Cornell and Harvard, and Cornell was intended to be a safety. It was, but I didn’t expect to go there. To make matters worse, a URM girl at my school (2150 SAT, barely any extracurriculars) got accepted SCEA to Harvard. I just don’t udnerstand this broken system based on demographics. Anyone got any tips to ease my mind or can make sense of this tragedy?
You talk about privilege. You are very privileged to be able to attend Cornell. Harvard is just a school. You’ve built it up too much if you think its “the only school that has the programs worth my effort in high school”.
"Great guy, but his writing skills aren’t that great. I had to make a few edits, but Harvard probably didn’t know that.
What does this mean?! Why are you editing your teacher’s recommendation?
It’s time to move on and celebrate where you are going instead of wallowing about where you are not going. It’s been more than 6 weeks since acceptances came out.
I read the other thread. I actually think your perspective is quite valid. Not clear about what you wrote above? Did you get past the depression? Is that what you are saying?
I did note that you are Asian with a lot of close to perfect stats. I am sure that there are just too many like you, and that it is not personal. Who would reject you, except a college that can reject whomever it pleases for the slightest whim, since it rejects 96% of all applicants?
Life will go on. You will prevail. You still got into another Ivy! Goodness. Take a look again.
I’ve heard that Cornell is full of people who are bitter that they didn’t get in to one of the other Ivys. I didn’t want to believe it, considering what an incredible school it is. Interesting.
If I were you, I’d be happy to be attending Cornell. I think that you were ill-served by your guidance counselor for applying to only two competitive schools, neither of which is guaranteed. What if you had gotten in nowhere?
There was another that I can’t find, about a guy who applied to 20 top schools with top stats and got in nowhere!
A less than 10% acceptance rate is a reach for anybody unless you’ve got a truly amazing hook to accompany truly amazing stats.
Anyhow, you are in good company. See the following threads:
For your major you are better off at Cornell. Harvard is not really known for its Computer Science degrees. Out of all the Ivys I think Cornell have the best engineering and computer science programs. So this may have just worked out in your favor.
IMHO, your essay (no matter how flawless you think it may have been or your teachers praise) probably contributed to your rejection. One of the highest costs for colleges these days is health care, specifically the cost of treating students with mental health care issues. Given Harvard’s past response to the mental health care of their students, I would imagine that Admissions would run away from any student who wrote about depression in their essay on the simple belief that a student might have a re-lapse during their 4 years of college – and that might cost the college more in health care costs! See: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/18/mental-health-breakdown-when-harvard-fails-its-students.html
Is this the “ironic posts” part of CC? Not buying it. If true, you were silly to do that, and lucky your safety (where they rejected kids better than you) worked out!
@therealOG2017 What an arrogant post. “I did get accepted to Cornell, so I guess i have to go there now.” Oh, I feel so bad for you. You act like Cornell is community college.
Really? Harvard has the only program worth your effort in high school? First of all, where did you get that idea? For your intended major, Harvard is not in the top 15. Second, it seems like you think you “deserve” to go to Harvard. This is a school that rejects 97% of all RD applicants.
If Harvard was the only school worth your effort, why did you bother applying anywhere else?
Get over yourself. Despite how great you think you are, Harvard did not make a mistake. The reason you got rejected probably has to do with the fact that you came across as conceited - just like you do in this post. Perhaps the rejection will instill a little humility in you and you’ll get your top choice in grad school. For now, try not acting like going to another Ivy League is a chore.
PS: for someone who claims to be such a damn genius, you sure proofread very little.
Wow that sucks. I agree with gibby, it seems like your mental health story was a turn off for them. As sad as it is, top schools don’t look kindly upon students with mental illness.
i am so surprised that you didn’t get in! Shocked really. You are obviously deserving of this, you did work hard, and there is no good reason while you should not be at Harvard. You surely are equal or superior to those that did get in, so obviously there was some mistake.
Perhaps if your mom calls she can get this all fixed and you can go. I would encourage you to get a parent to call over to admissions and get the whole thing worked out. It would be a shame for someone with your credentials to have to settle with Cornell. If the phone call alerting them to their mistake does not work, I would take a gap year (or years) and keep reapplying to Harvard until they realize their mistake.
Honestly… you seem like a fairly average Harvard applicant. I know it is not what you wanted to hear. Your odds are probably a little better than 5%, but while you are very good at coloring in the lines, I don’t see the “out of the box” type of applicant that they love. And agree with other posters that if you were really thinking and researching, you would not pick Harvard. CS isn’t really their strongest point. There are several schools that have stronger CS than Harvard.
You are lucky to have the Cornell acceptance. And regarding this as a “tragedy”, you need to research the definition of that. A tragedy is when a family member dies or your house burns down and you lose everything you own. It isn’t because one college didn’t accept you.