<p>my best friend is graduating next year from a pretty good highschool (about 310 on newsweek's best highschools), and he wants to apply to harvard. i know he has a pretty good GPA, and is ranked in the top 15 of his class (out of 630). would it help his chances if his dad makes over $600,000 a year? could it help if he gets recommendations from former alumni of the school (he did internships for them) who have become extremely well known in the technology industry? could it help if he gets a recommendation from the minister of arts and culture in india (he did a 2 hour show where he sang for charity, minister was there)?</p>
<p>could any of the above truly help his chances?</p>
<p>No. Family income does not effect your application. All I have to say though is that your friend is ****ing lucky that he does not have to worry about paying a cent towards his college education.</p>
<p>well, since im still a freshman, i feel it is best to put the most attention to his application. ive known him for about 10 years, and he is certainly the type of person who belongs at Harvard. i really hope that his dream comes true!</p>
<p>as for me, my dream is to go to harvard as well!</p>
<p>well many things effect Harvard's app. It mainly depends on his GPA/Class Rank/SAT Scores. Do you live near Boston or in a different state? Also does your parents make 600k a year too? Cause if they do then scholarships and financial aid will be nonexistant for you lol</p>
<p>i live in the bay area of california. my dad doesn't make that much, but more around $300,000. i will not require any financial aid. would being from california help?</p>
<p>wow you guys are wealthy. umm being from california wouldnt help but it wouldnt hurt. since harvard is not a state school your location in the U.S will really not factor into acceptance at harvard.</p>
<p>I think the only time family income would impact the admissions process for you (positively) is if you're really poor. Colleges will see that you come from an economically disadvantaged angle and might not have had the same resources to succeed. </p>
<p>But no one should count on that for admissions. I'm sure it doesn't count for that much.</p>
<p>I don't know where pml is coming from, but getting into Harvard mostly doesn't depend on GPA/class rank/test scores. As long as they are good enough for him to be competitive - which, according to Harvard, applies to ~85% of applicants - they look to extracurriculars and rec letters and other stuff.</p>
<p>I'd say yes to the app from the alumnus and no to the app from the Indian official. The alumnus, in addition to being powerful and influential, knows your friend personally, as the friend did an internship under him. He can speak to your friend's qualities, motivation, leadership, intelligence, etc. However, the Indian official saw your friend sing for two hours. He doesn't know anything about your friend personally. What would he write about, his singing ability? The minister's rec would be very impersonal and stale, which would not impress a college.</p>
<p>@briefingsworth, don't you think that someone who leads the arts and culture part of the government writing a recommendation on how well he sang carry weight? since it his area of expertise, he could truly understand the true potential and skill of him.</p>
<p>also, what would colleges prefer? a 3.67 freshman GPA to a 4.33 sophomore GPA or a 4.0 freshman GPA to a 4.17 sophomore GPA?</p>
<p>^ This is like the question" Is it better to get a A in an easier class or a B in a harder class?" The answer is "get an A in the harder class." So, what is the moral of this. Have a high GPA both years. However, if you HAVE to pick, I would say the 3.67 than 4.33, nice upward trends look pretty good.</p>
<p>Don't overestimate the influence of an alumnus rec. My grandfather is a retired prof from Harvard who gave my sister a rec and, while she was competitive, she didn't make it in.</p>
<p>the thing is that freshman year, they both took the exact same classes. all honors possible. but sophomore year, the one with the nicer upward trend took more APs than anyone else in his grade. do upward trends carry weight? anyone else have opinions on which is favored?</p>
<p>Upward trends are wonderful, but as much as colleges love to see improvement, they love even more to see a steady 4.0. A large AP course load is excellent, so long as he took all the AP tests and scored above a 3.</p>