<p>you have to remember that CC people are like applicants on steroids. i know people locally who have gotten into Harvard (were at or near top of their class, pretty good but not 2300+ SAT, and fairly good EC’S). You DO NOT have to cure cancer to get in!</p>
<p>I would echo what other posters have said. My S had a combined SAT of 2230 and a 3.9 GPA – no hooks. He was admitted to Harvard, but there were two students in his class with higher test scores and grades who were rejected. My sense is that Harvard and the Ivies in general set the bar very high, but that once you reach a certain threshold the admissions decision is almost entirely subjective – not in the bad sense of being random, but in the good sense of being holistic and of looking at everything you’ve accomplished. I do think, based on my son’s experience, that the essay is an extremely important part of the equation.</p>
<p>collegeinfo – the real problem with trying to predict is that Harvard receives enough overqualified applications to fill the class 4 or 5 times over so your luck depends on how admissions views your application when they read it. There is an element of luck involved in being admitted. You sound like a great applicant and like someone who has the wherewithal to be very successful in life. Do not define yourself by what school you go to; define yourself by what you want to achieve. There will be many roads/colleges which can help you achieve your goals. And Good Luck to you.</p>
<p>Yup, everyone at Harvard is extraordinary. They proved it by getting into Harvard :). </p>
<p>Don’t believe everything you read on CC, but don’t be deluded into thinking that a. getting into Harvard means you’ve already succeeded; or b. everyone would, and should, go to Harvard if they only could. Harvard, honestly, truly, is not the pinnacle of excellence: don’t ignore the many equally fabulous schools in focussing on Harvard. If you investigate its program and decide it’s what you want, apply, but do it because you think Harvard would be good for you, not to find out if you would be good enough for Harvard.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the helpful comments. :)</p>
<p>Oh and I have 14 other schools that I’m applying to(I’ll try to cut down the list soon, though). I just reeeally like Harvard’s Neurobiology concentration and summer neuroscience research opportunities. I realize there are other fantastic schools, too! I was just curious about Harvard since it’s my first choice.</p>
<p>Just wanted to chime in on a fact (haven’t been on collegeconfidential in a while)</p>
<p>Even though many people claim that the interview process is unimportant (only purpose is to see if the person is a regular human and not another Virginia Tech), I would actually state that this is not true. Harvard, due to its holistic perspective, takes everything into consideration. From the extracurriculars, GPA, SAT i/ii to the essays, everything is considered. I’m a student who received two interviews, and I’ve always wondered why this was the case. After reflecting about it, I realized that my interview in general was horrible, from the interviewer that I had to how I managed it. My interviewer was rather displeased with his experience in Harvard, and I believe this reflected onto the report to the school. Thus (due to the mismatching image of myself from the info Harvard had to the interview), an admissions officer interviewed me during the second round.</p>
<p>All of these things that people said are accurate (about reaching a specific mark and such), and I believe that it is how you portray yourself (with the things you’ve accomplished / did) that really makes yourself an individual from the morass of other applicants.</p>
<p>Great post! It’s very comforting to know that they take everything into account during the admission process :)</p>
<p>It’s funny how a disgruntled alum would put time out of his schedule to interview applicants! :)</p>
<p>JB</p>
<p>The truth is that the alumini who volunteer typically have kids in high school ;-).</p>
<p>Of the five people I know who are going to Harvard, none are extraordinary.</p>
<p>@JoonBug812: I completely agree that it’s absurd that he’ll volunteer time off to interview me. He seemed really disappointed with his experience, and made me doubtful about Harvard (even when I have an older bro attending the same school). But, when I talked to the admissions officer and such, along with the people that are in the class, that completely changed my mind (: what was funnier is that my interview for Brown was actually more Harvard-edged, since he found out about where my brother was attending. He graduated from Brown undergrad and Harvard grad school, thus he told me more info about Harvard than my first Harvard interviewer xD</p>
<p>@HarvardParent: O____o really? that’s horrible! :x</p>
<p>@I V: I can believe you on that fact. I am also not an impressive applicant, with sub par SAT I and II scores and no national titles.</p>
<p>I think that people go to Harvard not as much of the things they do and their achievements but rather who they are, as a person. I suppose those admissions officers just have a way of looking at your potential in a way that no other colleges (except for maybe other Ivy Leagues) can. Besides, the easiest way for Harvard to get extraordinary graduates is to accept extraordinary applicants in the first place. </p>
<p>Well, that’s just me. In the end, I think Harvard’s admission process is just so complex that even the people here at CC can fully explain it. I guess that’s just the nature of the Ivy Leagues; there’s no single miracle equation. It’s so much more than that. </p>
<p>Knowing that, I think we should strive for the best inside ourselves and apply anyways, even if the odds are slim. Collegeinfo, I saw your threads from a while ago and it seems like that you should do fine. We certainly aren’t the best around CC, but I certainly hope that we’re not the worse; I’m in the same boat as you, and whatever they think of you, they’ll probably think of me as well.</p>
<p>Harvard admissions assembles a class, and they are after an interesting mix. The last thing they want is a campus full of students who all got 800’s and resemble one another in abilities and interests.</p>
<p>Harvard students are just regular people. Some may even seem a little immature, or conventional: Ivies draw kids who have played by the rules. I think your view of Harvard students is a bit distorted. It does not matter if you haven’t gotten deeply into neurobiology yet- that is why you would go there!</p>
<p>Try to relax, apply to schools that interest you, and don’t pin your hopes for college, or life, on one school. Make sure to really look into other schools that could be a good fit.</p>
<p>I personally like what Columbia is doing, i.e. interviewing applicants over the phone by current students. On the other hand, our local Harvard Alumi are a group of interesting people :-).</p>
<p>Thank you all for the replies!</p>
<p>I’m not setting all my hopes up for one colleges…I can have a favorite, right? 
(There are just sooo many aspects of Harvard that fit my dream college, including great financial aid, a fantastic neurobiology program, and bottomless research opportunites.) </p>
<p>@HarvardParent, I wasn’t aware that that’s how Columbia does interviews! …pretty cool twist to traditional interviews, in my opinion. :)</p>
<p>Depends on how you interpret “extraordinary”, what might be extraordinary to some might be like a piece or cake to others…</p>
<p>To your original question: probably not.</p>
<p>Good point. I meant people who are Intel(or another well-known competition) winners, have published papers/authored a book, worked at a national lab…y’know, things like that (or they are recruited athletes, URM, or first-generation applicants)</p>
<p>Extraordinary isn’t exactly the word I’m thinking of… just people who have done unusual things. </p>
<p>To reword my question, do people with solid stats and meaningful day-to-day accomplishments/activites get in?</p>
<p>Haha, I can’t really answer your reworded question since I am really unsure of myself too XD you see, I am another Harvard-dreamer, so I’d hope that’s the case but I really don’t know…</p>
<p>Having a group of only “extraordinary” individuals makes the class… well, more ordinary. Yes, many Harvard students have not won national and international awards, but that does not mean they aren’t deserving of a spot at Harvard. Just because the opportunity to win these awards and receive these accolades have not presented themselves doesn’t mean they are inferior to their classmates who have won such awards. </p>
<p>As others have said, CC isn’t the best place to be sampling information on accepted students because there is a very limited number of people posting (relative to the class size) and people tend to embellish or underplay their resumes.</p>