<p>Please don’t listen to all the negative comments. It is so easy to criticize someone while hiding behind a computer. You sound like a love, accomplished young lady. I wish you all the best. Good luck, Harvard would be lucky to have you.</p>
<p>Also, to the people criticizing your ECs–they’re interesting. NHS blah blah blah yes Harvard gets 30,000 of those out of 35,000 (exaggeration) (I wasn’t one of those I forgot to fill out the NHS membership form haha). County fair queen and radio are both not usual things for a Harvard-caliber applicant to do, and so even if they aren’t that “prestigious,” I think they will help quite a bit. Again, maybe not Harvard, but if you cast a broad enough net you should definitely be into at least a couple T25 universities or T10 LACs.</p>
<p>I just got this message from my sources inside White House and in CIA…</p>
<p>The world is sure to End in 2012, so Harvard has decided to let you(me and all the other applicants) die somewhat happily. They have decided to send acceptance letter to each and every applicant (coz world will end before our classes start in Sep,2012). </p>
<p>Other colleges are doing the same too. So, You are automatically accepted…</p>
<p>I am an alumni interviewer. Every year I interview a range of kids, but there are always amazing superstars. Really, truly, unbelievable rockstars. I’ve worked at top high schools, but every year there are a couple that just blow me away. </p>
<p>Olympic medalists, kids who’ve discovered things, written books that sell well, raised tens of thousands for causes. They are so smart and so articulate, I could talk to them all day.</p>
<p>I’ve kept a scorecard, in the last 8 years Iinterviewed 7 kids I thought were off the charts, Harvard must haves, even compared with my 2350 plus/4.0 USAMO, RSI, TASP, national awards kids. Of the 7, 2 got in, one
off the waitlst.</p>
<p>80% of those I interview have top grades and scores and are very impressive people.</p>
<p>OP, don’t curse the tests, they’re not what foiled your Harvard acceptance. Probably the first thing that did was being born to the wrong parents. If three generations of your family attended Harvard your
chance would have been much better. If your parent had become president you’d be a shoo in. And for your absolute best shot you should have been given athletic genes, a great athlete would get in with your scores.</p>
<p>In these days of sub 6% admission, it takes great grades and score, but so much more for those without a hook. You could be president of everything at your high school and have perfect stats and you aren’t Harvard materiel today. </p>
<p>So get over it, there are lots of great schools.</p>
<p>oh God. Seriously. When did Harvard become Mount Olympus? Snooty kids with snooty parents who make their children get snooty perfect grades at snooty perfect private schools are not all that attend Harvard. If that were truly 100% of who was at Harvard today, I would not regard it as a good school, nor would I ever wish to attend it.</p>
<p>As multiple current Harvard students have said, it takes test scores and grades that show that you are both intelligent and a hard worker. But it takes character to get you in, character that comes out in the holistic review process that Harvard will be using. So if your essays and ECs and courses and hometown and letters of rec portray you as an interesting individual, then that is what counts. Forget all the hurtful BS that is being thrown at you on here. Honestly I am not saying you will get in, but I am saying that I have no idea as to whether or not you will get in, and I can bet that most the naysayers on here have no idea either. Sit tight and see what happens. Good luck!</p>
<p>Valedictorian of Peace</p>
<p>Lol Waverly I have no idea if I got in yet. 
And to everyone thank you so much for your kind words. You truly made my day. :)</p>
<p>Maybe I’m fooling myself, but I’m also one who believes that Harvard is NOT Mt Olympus & Harvard students are NOT gods or God’s chosen.</p>
<p>There are plenty of regular kids that get in every year. Take a look at the stats… if every admitted student had perfect or near perfect SATs, the 25-75% would be 780/800, instead of the 700/790 (approximate) that it is. That means that not only did 50% of the students score in the 700s, 25% scored under 700.</p>
<p>If every kid who got into Harvard was a brilliant, perfect, amazing student whose accomplishments are unattainable by virtually everyone else on the planet, who would want to go there?</p>
<p>I know that things have changed a lot since I was there, but honestly… the best thing about Harvard to me then (& I believe) now, is that the students are amazing… amazingly diverse, interesting, interested, and accomplished. But real… some real *******s, some really terrific.</p>
<p>While its absolutely true that most (on paper) “perfect” students don’t get admitted, over the years I’ve interviewed I’ve seen interesting (non-perfect, not hooked) kids get in. (And of course, everyone knows that the odds are against you in both cases!)</p>
<p>And I have no idea how Admissions would know how someone is a third generation legacy. Honestly, beyond the common app’s biographical information on ma/pa, there is no special application legacies complete that chart a family tree. </p>
<p>I totally agree with the statement “You could be president of everything at your high school and have perfect stats and you aren’t Harvard materiel today” but I don’t think that rules out those who are NOT president of everything and who do not have perfect stats.</p>
<p>OP, Harvard and those other top schools ARE A REACH FOR ALMOST EVERYONE!!!</p>
<p>e.g., Brown rejects 80% of Valedictorians</p>
<p>But you did the best thing: you applied to a school that you really want to go to.</p>
<p>The kids who are “Harvard material” are the ones who can realistically see themselves there . . and you fit that profile whether you get in or not.</p>
<p>It’s just sad that a 30 is considered a bad score to a lot of people these days. That’s like the 95th percentile and you call that “bad test-taking”? I really think people need to realize that ACT scores aren’t everything and that a good score does not compensate for hard work and good study skills. Harvard’s standards are unrealistically high. Maybe you should apply to some colleges that will actually appreciate your achievements.</p>
<p>Taz, you seem to be new here. You’ve just committed a newbie kind of error: you replied to a conversation that’s been dormant for months. By now, the original poster is in college somewhere–at Harvard, actually, according to her other posts–and she hasn’t posted a word on College Confidential since last March.</p>
<p>Before you reply, please check and make sure that the conversation you’re adding to is still going on.</p>
<p>FloridaDad…I truly think your attitude is horrible. You are basically picking on a kid on these forums, telling her she’s not good enough and that her ECs aren’t as “amazing” as she thinks they are. Calm down. You are the first parent on these boards that I thought was a complete bully, and I actually registered for an account just to tell you so!</p>