Is it all over? 30 ACT... PLEASE HELP :)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>I have a 30 ACT and 720, 640, and 630 on SAT II.
I want Harvard so bad that I nearly fainted when I sent my application.</p>

<p>I have amazing everything else. I have multiple presidencies (including Student Council President), Two V Presidencies (including National Honor Society), I am all state in Radio Competition, I have been a band member since 5th grade (made a National Band, first chair since freshman year), I am county fair queen, etc.</p>

<p>I am even a first generation Afghan American, fluently speak Pashto, and on top of all of this, I am the first woman in my family to get any education period.</p>

<p>Its just these stupid tests. I cannot do better. I keep freaking out when I get to the centers because I know my future rests upon this.</p>

<p>I sent an EA application. Should I just give up?</p>

<p>Please Help Me....</p>

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<p>hmmm,
well the rest of your application looks pretty good, and you are a URM. The test scores are obviously a weakness on your application but I wouldn’t say they are bad enough for you to be a forsure reject. But I can’t say forsure</p>

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<p>The application was already submitted and now is the time to wait and see. You will know the result by Christmas. Test scores are not everything and they are only part of the overall equation. There is no hard number in the public domain for Harvard, but the admission rate for people with the 600-699 range of SAT scores is only slightly below average for Yale (4-5% vs 7%).</p>

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<p>I know, I know. I just cannot take it…
I am going nuts. Maybe if I knew I had no chance, I could breathe easier…</p>

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<p>But thank you for your replies. :)</p>

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<p>How is an Afghan American an URM?</p>

<p>How were your essays? I think your essays could really help someone like you.</p>

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<p>Both were pretty good I think.
One was about me being the first woman in my family to get an education and stuff. It also sort of explained how my parents got here, but only for a short paragraph
The second was about my father being a translator for the military and how while he was away in Afghanistan, I had to step up because my mother, who was just recovering from thyroid cancer, could not handle the responsibilities of being a single parent on her own.</p>

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<p>well those sound like great essays. I think the fact that you are first generation (& first education ever for the females!) will cause you to be considered. That said, you probably shouldn’t want Harvard “so bad” as that isn’t a good plan for anyone, considering the acceptance rate. Good luck!</p>

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<p>okay :slight_smile: thank you very much for your help. I really appreciate it.
And okay. I will be applying to UChicago and WashU as well. With a last resort of Mizzou. :)</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, I don’t think you are being very realistic. Four years ago, my brother’s kid got almost perfect SAT scores, and still did not get into Harvard. He had gone to a top private high school. Harvard’s acceptance rate is less than 10%. </p>

<p>So even if you were a superstar, it would be very unlikely you would get in.
You call your ECs “amazing”, but compared to the super-human ECs some kids on CC have, yours are not really that “amazing”.</p>

<p>You didn’t give any information on your gpa, so you have not really given everyone enough information to opine on your situation, but even if you had a perfect 4.0 unweighted, your SAT scores are not, in my opinion, close to what is needed. In fact, even if you had a 4.0 and perfect SAT scores, you still might not get in, because the whole world wants to go to Harvard. The admissions rate for super-human candidates is still probably at only 25%.</p>

<p>I think you are setting your sights way too high. No harm in applying, but be sure to apply to some more realistic choices. There are plenty of top schools besides Harvard.</p>

<p>You call the SAT a “stupid test”. It has been my impression, however, that the SAT and ACT do a very good job of identifying truly top candidates. I am always amazed when I see some kid on CC say they are valecdictorian of their class, but they only have a 31 ACT. And then they explain this by saying that they are a “bad test-takers”. How do you become valecdictorian and become a bad test taker?. If not for standardized tests, how could a college compare an “A” grade at a small high school in Iowa to an “A” grade at a big high school in New York City? Many kids who in the middle of their high school class at top private high schools would probably be in the top 5% of a regular public school.</p>

<p>I think you should post a new message, and give all your relevant stats and information, and ask everyone what schools they think you might have a more realistic chance of getting into.</p>

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<p>I have a 4.48 weighted. and I am 1 of 55
And they are stupid. I worked my butt off in high school and just because of these tests, I cannot achieve my dream. Yes, I take other tests, but none of them influence my future as directly as the SAT and the ACT. Therefore, they do not give me all that much anxiety. Thank you for your honest opinion though.</p>

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<p>Oh and I have never gotten a lower grade than an A. There. Relevant information.</p>

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<p>Oh and I was a participant of Missouri Scholars Academy. Only 330 kids in the state get in per year and thousands apply.</p>

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<p>Harvard application has been considered as the most tough and difficult because nothing is left for consideration like your gpa, test score, personality and so on. I think no one can give you an answer for sure. However, my opinion would be on the bright side. What’s more, you have already sent your application. So why not just wait and let your mind go easy.</p>

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<p>okay alienware, i think i will do just that. I just need to let fate take its course, ya know? gosh… lol :)</p>

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<p>If you had posted this earlier, I would have suggested you go take the SAT tomorrow morning and rush the “scores” to Harvard.</p>

<p>It’s possible to get in with a 30, but 31-34 range gives you a decent footing that you lack.</p>

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<p>tarakn12:</p>

<p>While I realize you are not a “fan” of the SAT, your answer to my question kind of proves my point that standardized tests are not “stupid” at all, but necessary and even critical tools in the admission process. In fact, you are a “textbook case”. Why do I say this?</p>

<p>You are #1 at a tiny high school. That means you might have been a “star”, even if you had gone to a gigantic high school, but on the other hand, you might also be just the smartest of a very small group of kids. Who knows?</p>

<p>How can Harvard possibly compare you to a kid who is #18 in a class of 600 in a rich Boston suburb??? It is comparing apples and oranges. However, if you and the kid from Boston, for example, both took an AP exam, which is a standardized test, that would tend to even the playing field. That is why standardized tests are necessary.</p>

<p>You are the star in your tiny universe. And that is good. But your standardized test scores indicate that you might not be “Harvard level” smart. You may well have gotten a false sense of security by being #1, and the star in your tiny universe. The SAT results have likely demonstrated that your true level is not that of Harvard. And there is nothing wrong with that. It just means that you are not in the top 0.3% of all high school applicants. </p>

<p>So while there is no harm in continuing to apply to the Harvard and Yales of the world, I agree with the other posts that you should also be looking at schools like Wash U, Michigan, and even University of Missouri. I would apply to a LOT of top schools, because the acceptance rates at the top schools are so low. What one might feel intriguing about your background, another might not care a bit about. It really is a crapshoot. For example, my brother’s kid got into Cornell, but was waitlisted at Syracuse. EVERYONE dreams of going to Harvard. For 99.7% of the people, that dream is not going to happen.
Wherever you wind up is likely where you belong. And if you “only” get into Wash U, for example, you can try and prove Harvard wrong, and get all A’s at this “lesser” school, and then try and transfer, or apply to Harvard for graduate school. So even if you don’t get in undergraduate, there is always a chance to get into graduate school there, after you have first become a star in a bigger universe.</p>

<p>By the way, if English is not your first language, you should let the colleges know that. In my opinion, it would be virtually impossible for a kid to get over a 700 in CR if English was not his first language.</p>

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<p>tarakn12: Harvard looks for students who have uber-high SAT/ACT scores AND have great potential – think Yo-Yo Ma, Ben Bernanke, Henry Kissinger, Natalie Portman, Conan O’Brian, Jim Cramer, Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg etc. </p>

<p>Quick question: Do you realistically fall into that category with a 30 ACT? If the answer is no, you need to politely move on. That doesn’t mean that will not be successful in life, it just means that Harvard may not be the place for you. Ultimately, you want to enroll in a college that will enable you to perform at your optimal potential – think Warren Buffet, who applied to Harvard and was rejected.</p>

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<p>Gibby:</p>

<p>Well said. You might have also suggested to her that she not call the test “stupid” just because she didn’t like the results.</p>

<p>She blames the test for ruining her dreams of going to Harvard. And that she didn’t do better on the test because she had “anxiety”, realizing its importance. Doesn’t that apply to every kid? </p>

<p>She also talks about her “amazing” ECs, but I didn’t find them so amazing, especially to the kids here on CC. </p>

<p>I think that being #1 in a tiny high school may have given her an inflated view of herself, which the SAT has exposed. </p>

<p>30 is still a good score. Just not Harvard level.</p>

<p>She acts like being #1 in a tiny high school gives her some sort of presumptive right to go to Harvard, that the SAT results have now wrongly trampeled on.</p>

<p>You were right to point out that Harvard is really for almost super-human intellects. They reject many people with perfect SAT scores.</p>

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<p>English is not my first language, it is one of my three, and I got an 800 on W and a 740 on CR. It all depends on when the student came to the U.S., I think.</p>