First of all thank you so much for taking the time to read this chance thread, because I know there are a ton! Next year, I will be a junior. I’m a white male. I would appreciate if you could provide any tips or suggestions to strengthen my application, as well as chance me for Harvard, Rice, Princeton, Notre Dame, and Stanford. Right now Harvard is my #1.
SCHOOL
-rural public in Maryland
-297 students in class
-15% free lunch program
-95% white
-Top few get into top schools
ACADEMICS
-4.0/4 GPA
-5.69/6 QPA
-Ranked 2 out of 297 in class
-Have not taken SAT yet, but 99% on both PSAT’s taken (9 and 10)
-Have taken two classes at local community college
-AP: 5 for Gov, have not gotten back scores for computer science, world, stat, and human geography.
AWARDS
-high honors for CTY
-ranked #1 freshmen to watch for spring sport season (9th)
-Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track Regional Team wins
EXTRA-CURRICULARS AND LEADERSHIP
-County Student Council: Charity Director (10th-)
-School Student Council: Treasurer (10th-)
-Class Student Council: Vice-President (9th-)
-Varsity Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track (9th-)
-Formed and am the president of the **** club (holding name for privacy) which holds an annual benefit run for it’s organization. First year raised $5,000, second year raised $6,500. (9th-)
-Vice-president of the Model UN team (9th-)
-Additional EC’s: Fellowship of Cristian Athletes and state student council member
SERVICE
-The previously mentioned run has gave me over 200 service hours.
-Started a drive to give an aging out gift to students in my county growing out of the foster care system. ~75 hrs
-Volunteer at a hospital ~50 hrs
ADDITIONAL INFO
-Not a legacy to any of those schools
-will apply to Harvard EA
-brother went to Notre Dame
-~100k income
-white
-male
Harvard is “the school” for lots of kids. The real question is: are you the “right applicant” for H? The problem with the standard chance format is it misses all the extras a tippy top can look for. Do you know what H wants to see? That’s important. And what possible major, how do classes and activities relate to that?
You have the same chance that all superior applicants have, that is to say very slim. Harvard is a reach for everyone, unless you are the President’s daughter.
@rhandco I’m a sophomore right now, but I’m done sophomore year on Wednesday. Also, sorry for the confusion but all the EC’s that have a (9th-) mean that I started in ninth grade and am still continuing to do them. I should’ve been more clear!
@lookingforward I think I wanna do something in the business field which is why I have a lot of the student council, and I have taken the two community college business courses. Thank you very very much for your response!
What do you mean by high honors CTY? Did you participate in the CTY programs or are you referring just to scoring high on their Talent Search? I’m trying to figure out why the previous post states you dumped track. Did you state that elsewhere?
@lostaccount I got high honors for the talent search. Im sorry for the confusion, when it states (9th-) that means that I started 9th and have continued it on, I should’ve made that clearer.
What will help is the ability to articulate your interest and show the right activities.
Not sure 200 hours on an annual charity run is going to be seen as ongoing community involvement.
In his earlier threads this year, OP said he was a freshman and now he is a rising junior. It’s hard to give someone advice if the information they are posting about grades and ECs may be “projections” about what they hope to achieve. The only advice that I would have at this point is to try to use your summers productively doing something you care deeply about (I think the word passionate is way overused).