**Improved Harvard 2011 RD Results Thread**

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
161

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<pre><code>* Deferred EA? Applied RD Only
* SAT I (breakdown): Not Taken
* ACT: 32
* SAT II: 800 MIIC, 770 MIC, 710 Bio
* Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98/ 4.244 W (Had 4.0UW at time of applying)
* Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):2/406 (Ranked 1st at time of applying)
* AP (place score in parenthesis): Not Sent/ Bio (4), AP Lang (4), APUSH (3)
* IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
* Senior Year Course Load: (At time of applying) Calc II, Forensic Science, Anatomy and Physiology I, AP Literature, AP Environmental Science, World Civilizations
* Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
</code></pre>

<p>-All State Football - Academic: Top 11 football players with the highest grades in the state.
-1st Place - (Captain) Business Professionals of America Website Design: 2
years in a row (2005 & 2006).
-2nd Place - Science and Engineering Fair of Metro Detroit; abstract of
which was published in a book by Villanova University at NCSSSMST symposium.
-City Beautiful Commissioner
-Homecoming King
-Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Award:One student from each school chosen to represent school at leadership symposium.
-Voted Most Likely to Succeed
-Rotary Youth Leadership Award: One of three students selected, based on application process, to represent INTERACT chapter at leadership symposium.</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<pre><code>* Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
</code></pre>

<p>-Football Team- District Champs 3 years in a Row (Captain)(9-12th)
-City Beautiful (Commissioner) (11th)
-Link Crew (Leader) (11th-12th)
-Harvard Crimson Business Internship
-INTERACT, community service organization (9th-12th)
-Business Professionals of America (captain) (10th-12th)
-National Honor Society (11-12th)
-Student Council (President) (9th-12th)</p>

<pre><code>* Job/Work Experience: Car Wash Manager 30hrs/Week (Mostly Weekends)
* Volunteer/Community service:
</code></pre>

<p>-INTERACT- Various Stuff - 70 hours
-Link Crew Leader - Mentoring - 40 hours
-Helping out with translating and tutoring arabic kids in Detroit during summer - 200 hours
Total : 400 Hours</p>

<pre><code>* Summer Activities: Every summer I attend football camps, but in addition to summer football camps I have participated in:
</code></pre>

<p>-Community Service- (9th)
-Attending University of Michigan Medical Academy (only 50 students from all of Michigan are selected) (10th)
-Harvard Summer School (11th) and Business Internship at Harvard Crimson (11th)</p>

<pre><code>* Essays: Great, Admissions Officer Called to Compliment on my essay.
* Teacher Recommendation: 1 Amazing, 1 Decent
* Counselor Rec: Did a great job
* Additional Rec: None
* Interview: Told a teacher he would give me his highest recommendation.
</code></pre>

<p>Other
* State (if domestic applicant): MI
* Country (if international applicant):
* School Type: public/half day magnet school for Math, Science and Technology
* Ethnicity: Caucasian (Arab-American)
* Gender:M
* Income Bracket: $30,000+
* Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Eldest Son of Nine Children, Arab-American </p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<pre><code>* Strengths: Essays, ECs, Leadership, Well-Roundedness
* Weaknesses: Test Scores
* Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: They loved my essays and even called to tell me how much they enjoyed them. I am also the eldest son of nine children, and happen to be Arab-American. Plus, they have that whole low income initiative now.
</code></pre>

<p>General Comments: It takes hard work, and a bit of good luck. I wish you all the best</p>

162

<p>this thread makes me cry :'(</p>

163

<p>it surprises me that some people with 2300+ sat scores and 'excellent ECs' are rejected or waitlisted while people with lower scores are in</p>

164

<p>Well, that's why scores are not the sole aspect of application-review. As widely known, the top schools are aiming for diverse classes. An applicant with a 2150 and an applicant with a 2350 are really very similar on the issue of brilliance. Who knows, perhaps the first applicant took the SAT in the middle of AP week, didn't take SAT prep courses, only took it once, and had just as great of ecs as the latter. Would you turn a more favorable applicant down merely because another candidate happened to get a higher score (by 200 points-not that much of a difference once you are above 2000)? Also, the first applicant may be a world-class writer who has won muliple writing awards but is not flawless in math. There are so many variables and applicants that you cannot be surprised that someone with slightly lower scores is taken over another with slightly higher scores. The whole process would be negated if diversity were not achieved. Why take all who kids who got a 770 on math, a 790 on writing... then a homogenous population is achieved where all students test and learn similarly, thus not motivating and driving their peers by teaching them other ways to learn/study, etc.</p>

165

<p>Well said.</p>

166

<p>There is a whole thread about what matters besides scores on the Parents Forum: </p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377882%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377882&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

167

<p>It is nice day!</p>

168

<p>"^shows that you don't need perfect test scores!:</p>

<p>True, but her ECs are very extensive and are a strongpoint of her application.</p>

169

<p>How did this guy get accepted?</p>

<p>A friend of mine in toronto got accepted with these stats:
650 CR, 700 M, 750 W
US: 590 WH: 600 L: 560</p>

<p>Hese a good person and im pretty sure he wrote pretty good essays etc.
But i mean, is the subjective stuff really THAT improtant?
And he was an int'l, sooo shoodnt it b harder?</p>

170

<p>What was his race? If he was an athlete, legacy, or URM, I can see him getting accepted.</p>

171

<p>Umm, Multiracial, football MVP (good but idk if good enough to get recruited)</p>

172

<p>I really have no clue how you all can claim 600 would be a low score in a section of the SAT.</p>

<p>"Above a reasonably good level of mental ability, above that indicated by a 550-600 level of S.A.T. score, [...] the only thing that matters in terms of future impact on, or contribution to, society is the degree of personal inner force an individual has."</p>

<p>Wilbur Bender, former Dean of Admissions, Harvard University.</p>

<p>Source:
gladwell</a> dot com - getting in</p>

173

<p>Wilbur Bender was Harvard's Admission Dean from 1952-1960. Things have changed a great deal since then. </p>

<p>The mid 50% Math SAT score range for students who entered Harvard in 2007 was 700-790. The mid 50% CR score range was 700-800. That means only 25% of matriculating students scored below 700 on either section. It's a virtual certainty that the percentage who scored 600 or less was very low. College</a> Navigator - Harvard University</p>