Ivy League Admission suggestions

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>What should I do to improve my chances? </p>

<p>None of the seniors this year got into ivy leagues, but 2 seniors from 2 years ago got into Harvard and Yale.
My school only offers 7 AP classes. By the time I graduate, I would have taken 6 APs.</p>

<p>User Name: nhsharvard
Gender: M
Location: California
College Class Year: 2012
High School: Public
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 4.00
GPA - Weighted: 4.527
Class Rank: top 5 students
Class Size: 504</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>Bad SAT score: 1640(Writing: 490)</p>

<p>Practice ACT: Composite-27</p>

<p>English: 20
Math: 28
Reading: 31
Science:28</p>

<p>SAT II U.S. History: 720
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 640</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars: Debate Club, Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band(possibly, All state honor band next year), Honor Band, Nature Club, CSF, APUSH Club, GATE, Boys State, NSHSS, Junior Statesmen, Academic Decathlon</p>

<p>Leadership positions: School Site Council Member, ASB Sophomore Class Treasurer, Band Council Treasurer(next year), CSF Honorary Officer</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work: Library, 2 years, Teacher's Office(21 hours), Conference(7 hours), Tutoring (2 days/wk); Next Year: help improve math tutoring program and start language arts tutoring program</p>

<p>Honors and Awards: 9th grade: 3 Band awards, Renaissance program award 11th place, honor band award
10th grade: 5 band Awards, Renaissance program award 2nd place, honor band award
11th grade: band awards, Renaissance program
College Summer programs: Concurrent Enrollment(at Fall), Bridge, ACE Program(Spring and Fall)</p>

<p>Colleges of Interest:</p>

<p>College: Harvard University, Choice #: 1, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Yale University, Choice #: 1, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Stanford University, Choice #: 2, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of California - Los Angeles, Choice #: 3, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply</p>

<p>Desired College Characteristics: Selective</p>

<p>Location type:
Size: </p>

<p>Area: East Coast, West Coast
Importance of cost: Secondary</p>

2

<p>harvard doesn't have ed/ea anymore... it's all just regular decision.</p>

<p>secondly, your scores are a little low... but still apply!!!</p>

3

<p>Would 30+ ACT scores, 700+ SAT subjec test scores, and tutoring and volunteering at my school's library be enough to go to Harvard?</p>

4

<p>well, i would say 32+ ACT scores and 750+ SAT 2s. And tutoring and volunteering definitely won't help, but you never know.</p>

<p>but like i said before, still apply</p>

5

<p>Are there any things that I can do senior year to help improve my chances. </p>

<p>I know that I can take the ACT, but what else should I do this year?</p>

6

<p>i would say just bring up your test scores... and i just reread my last post, i meant that tutoring and volunteering definitely won't hurt.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
Would 30+ ACT scores, 700+ SAT subjec test scores, and tutoring and volunteering at my school's library be enough to go to Harvard?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You can't just cherry-pick the highlights and expect that admissions will do the same. If you belong to some group that a university is desperate to find (athletes in certain sports, Native American from a reservation) the school will look at a three-quarters empty glass as half full. Otherwise, they will not blind themselves to the unexceptional parts of the application and focus only on the strongest points. </p>

<p>Your high school sounds far from competitive. Probably the best hope for admission to your top choices is to demonstrate that you exhausted all the options available at your high school, and that no more could be expected due to low family income or other external factors. If your high school is not too bad and periodically has students admitted to the top 5 universities, students who place high in academic competitions, lots of applicants to the top universities... in other words, if you are not the best applicant in years from your school, then unless special factors are present (URM, etc), you are in that part of the pool where admission is at well below the overall rate of 8-10 percent.</p>

8

<p>From what I know, only 2 people in the last decade got into Harvard and the ivy leagues. They got in 2 years ago. I'm barely starting to form a Acad. Decathlon for next year. There aren't any academic competitions my school participates in, except speech competitions.</p>

9

<p>If you are the clear standout in your class, or part of an exceptional bumper crop of standouts (like the 2 people who Ivied the other year), the chances improve. If teacher letter compare you favorably to the Ivy matriculants from your school, that could be useful. Otherwise it is down to intangibles or special admission factors (athletics, race, etc).</p>

<p>Retaining or increasing your class rank will be influential, not because schools are fixated on your exact position on the list, but because there are some standard categories such as top 2 of class, top 5 of class, top 1 percent of class, and you are at the boundary of some of those. If a different and lower box has to be checked in filling out your summary sheet, that puts you in a somewhat worse light, even if your high school record is perfectly respectable. That's even more true coming from a non-competitive high school.</p>

10

<p>I'm the current valedictorian for the rising Senior class.</p>

11

<p>That's good and helpful. By "standout" I meant: are you head and shoulders above the rest of the class, or unusually good compared to the typical valedictorian of your high school.</p>

12

<p>It depends. I would say yes to your first point, but maybe to your second point(I don't want to be too conceited). I think the Senior that graduated this year didn't get into ivies because of their test scores. Most of the top 10 scored around 630-680 in each SAT test. I think my 720 might help even out some things. They didn't do well on the ACT.</p>

<p>I think I might do well on the ACT instead. The 2 people that went to the ivies weren't the valedictorian(s), but they were in the top 10. I think their test scores and essays put them over the top.</p>

<p>I've taken community college and Cal State Univ. courses. I might take an online AP this year. Most people in the top 20 take 1 college class. By the time I apply, I would have taken around 4-5. My school only offers 7 APs, so there's not that much of an opportunity to take a variety of APs. I can't take AP Spanish because I took French(no AP French), so I've been taking all of my French at community colleges and CSU sacramento(distance ed.).</p>

<p>Hopefully, my personal statement will go well. I haven't read Harvard's supplement yet, but I think I might write about my goal to improve education, my passion for music, something about ambition, or a stituation I was in.</p>

13

<p>k, well, I am gonna give you a reality check, because I think it's necessary.</p>

<p>If you want to have a legitimate shot at Harvard, you need at least
2350+ SAT I
750+ SAT II's</p>

<p>Why do I say you need such high scores? Because your EC's are not impressive at all. If top 10 students at your school receive scores in the 600s on the SAT, colleges won't take your GPA/rank that seriously. The awards you have gotten and the clubs you have joined, for the most part, seem like resume fillers. (especially those clubs. the only thing noteworthy is your musical involvement, but that's about it)</p>

<p>You may want to ask yourself a question, "why do I want to go to an ivy league?" I am just speculating here and I can be completely wrong, but judging solely from your extremely low scores (for ivy league), you do not seem like you would be comfortable in an ivy league school. In my opinion, you seem to be wanting to go to their schools just for the prestige. I can see this from the schools you have listed. Harvard, Yale, and Stanford?! Those are absolute top universities in the nation. Also, you have put "desired college characteristic" to be selective. It just shows that you want the glory of getting accepted to a top school, which I would say is very shallow. I mean, many of the kids at those schools, without even studying, pull off 2100~2200 SAT no problem. They wouldn't be able to get 1640 even if they tried. Do you really want to put yourself into a school that may not be of your level? </p>

<p>I know my post is quite harsh, but seriously, I thought you needed a dose of reality as well. At this point, there is absolutely no hope that you would get into any of those schools (even UCLA is doubtful).</p>

14

<p>Well, look at it this way. Harvard admission is something attained by, let's say, about one person per thousand in the high school population. What is the one in a thousand (two graduating years) or one in two thousand (last 4 classes) level of test score attainment in your high school? If two people per 10 years got in, that's about right; see how their grades and scores compare to what you might be able to present as a way of assessing the chances.</p>

15

<p>Thanks. I'll ask one of my school's counselors about it. She helped them get into ivy league schools. She said that she could help me with the process. This year's graduated Seniors didn't get in, but that won't stop me. The 2 people that got in were URM, but I think higher test scores and good essays will help me.</p>

16

<p>Two people in 10 years is consistent with the general admission rate for Harvard, but two URM in 10 years means the admission rate of "unhooked" applicants is more to the point: competition for about half the total number of spaces. So at least statistically, best scores in 6 to 12 years from your high school sounds like a good estimate of what's needed to make it more than a lottery ticket. Alternatively, scores of 700+ across the board would show that you are comparable to the national pool from all high schools. Having exhausted local opportunities would be an important point.</p>

17

<p>I'm going to try to get over 32 and 700s to at least get a chance. So far, I only have a 720 for US History.</p>

<p>I might retake Math II and take either French, Biology, or Lit. </p>

<p>I don't think I'm URM because I'm Filipino.</p>

18

<p>"If you want to have a legitimate shot at Harvard, you need at least
2350+ SAT I
750+ SAT II's"</p>

<p>Ehh...that's a little extreme. </p>

<p>In general, scores over 700 would be a good goal. There are some exceptions of course.</p>

19

<p>Unfortunately, I have to also guess that your chance is pretty slim. There's nothing especially compelling about your extracurriculars, and to be perfectly frank, your SAT is bad enough that your ACT may not conceal it... it's as if you have an academic requirement that you can pass with either Chem or Bio, and you get a D- in Chem and a B+ in Bio. The D- doesn't go away... if I were you, I'd retake it. And look into more attainable schools as well... other UCs, liberal arts colleges. But you seem to be very hardworking and I have faith that you'll be able to improve your application quite a lot by senior fall. :)</p>

20

<p>I heard that colleges look at the highest ACT or SAT score.</p>

<p>I'm planning to take the actual ACT. I'm currently studying for it.</p>

<p>I'm not planning to take the SAT unless my ACT score is not in the 30s.</p>

<p>I don't think they will care about my SAT score, if I have a much higher ACT score because my A average and weighted GPA would support a higher ACT score. Some people score higher on the SAT, while others may score higher on the SAT.</p>