<p>A few days ago the Harvard Admissions office e-mailed me and encouraged me to apply. Frankly, I'm a bit confused because my sat scores are below average.. a 2120/2400. Do they do this often? The e-mail was quite generic. Or did they take into consideration the region I'm in because my score is a bit high for the middle east.</p>
<p>I don't know if they email international students rather than sending them snail mail. We got a (snail mail) communication from them some time ago, very much a 'form letter', encouraging my daughter to apply, but we knew not to read too much into that, because that at least is sent out to a lot of students. I don't know the significance of the email you received, though, or how many they sent out.</p>
<p>i have no idea, but i think they send those out a lot because they sent me a letter, email, brochures and application and my scores were wayyyyy too low (1910 at the time). im pretty sure its near impossible to get into harvard with those scores, so maybe they sent me the stuff because im from a place where im sure no one usually applies there.</p>
<p>The context of such a communication from Harvard is that Harvard is very diligent about recruiting students. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_34/b3998441.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_34/b3998441.htm</a> </p>
<p>The email means what it says: you are encouraged to apply. What happens after you apply is not predicted by such a communication, but I would still consider it good news, and if I were your age and interested in Harvard, I would submit an application. Of course any applicant to Harvard this year, or any year, will also want to apply to some safety college that you are sure to get into. </p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=357223%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=357223</a> </p>
<p>If you get more than one offer of admission, then you have the happy "problem" of deciding which offer to accept. If you'd like to get an offer of admission from Harvard, one essential step is submitting an application. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I believe the House of Slytherin has recruited you. I don't know whether to say "Congratulations" or "Sorry" :(</p>
<p>A 2120 is more than fine for Harvard, and any of its peer schools (YPSMC).</p>
<p>sara,</p>
<p>You probably selected Harvard in your Common App profile and you allowed Harvard to contact you through email. It's not very special.</p>
<p>i dont know, i personally never selected harvard in my common app or anywhere because my scores where so low, and they still sent me a bunch of stuff. i guess it means they just want as many people to apply as possible even if most have no chance of getting in.</p>
<p>I think if they contact you and say they'll waive the application fee it means they want you.</p>
<p>Not necessarily. Just remember that Harvard, as an institution, still wants to make itself look as good as possible, i.e. get that sub-9% acceptance even lower. So take those messages with a grain of salt :/</p>
<p>i agree w chelmar. they just want lots of people to apply even if they already have the most talented students applying and even reject plenty of them. i wish they'd offer to waive my app fee tho</p>
<p>We got that e-mail, as well as a call this summer from their office. I assumed it was high PSAT score?</p>
<p>You don't even have to pay the application fee -- have a guidance counselor write that the $65 is a hardship, and it's OK.</p>
<p>crazy mom, probably it's more like 'reasonable PSAT' for all the reasons above - everyone wants a bigger pool, presumably to win the selectivity title...</p>
<p>I suspect that even a perfect PSAT on its own wouldn't generate a call. But a high score from an under-represented school or zip code probably would, because Harvard has been trying to expand its reach as a way of encouraging more minority and lower-income applicants.</p>
<p>232 PSAT, although I doubt they are clamoring for tiny public high school students in rural Iowa. Maybe just want tons of applicants. It was kind of neat, he got called by our state school, Harvard, and some tiny Catholic school who keeps recruiting him for tennis.</p>
<p>actually, most top colleges are constantly looking for more rural applicants, so that may be why. Here in suburban CA, with boatloads of applicants, students with PSATs of 239 have not been called... :) just the form mailings...</p>
<p>I suppose I differ from a lot of the posters here that are quite cynical or pessimistic. Harvard is a world-class institution and they want to make their populace as diverse as possible. There aren't any cut-offs be it GPA-wise, standardized test-wise, or for extracurricular activities. I just believe they want to get more people to apply to get a more diverse applicant body and thus, a more diverse student body.</p>
<p>Also, I received an e-mail from their Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Office. I'm excited and have already applied.</p>
<p>They'd like to see you apply and then reject you so their admissions rate is lower :).</p>
<p>I put Harvard down on the list of schools I intended to apply on the CommonApp, and they've sent a few reminders saying they look forward to reading my application or something..I won't apply for undergrad though XP</p>
<p>It's Harvard! They're just luring students in order to boost up their application number and drive down their admission rate. Otherwise the mere sound of the word "Harvard" would have scared thousands of applicants away.</p>