Low ACT - Applying 4 years after high school graduation?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

I’m a first-generation foreign applicant with (unusually) exceptional academic credentials who graduated high school some four years ago. During this time, I’ve been primarily involved in running the family business, traveling the Middle East/Asia and undertaking advanced academic research in a humanities field which has been published.

I recently took the ACT, and received a composite of 29 (with a 31 and 32 in English and Reading respectively). I’ve seen the Common Data Set for Harvard, and am aware that my composite score falls below average. Considering that Standardized Test Scores are said to be interpreted in the context of the rest of the application, and all other things being equal, do you think the fact that I’m a foreign national who has been out of school for 4 years may give me some leeway.

I’ve taken SAT Subject Tests in Literature (720), World History (790), and Math-|| (720) as well.

2

First off, a 29 ACT is too far below Harvard’s 25th percentile score of 32 to be considered a competitive applicantl (sorry).

Secondly, as an international student, your odds of admission to a US college are not the same as a domestic student. Please go to: http://www.hio.harvard.edu/statistics. From the pull-down menus, select STUDENTS, HARVARD COLLEGE (the undergraduate school) and YOUR COUNTRY. Whatever the number, divide by 4 to get an idea of how many students Harvard admits per year from your country. As you can see, it’s not very many. Students need to be at the very top of their game to get admitted to Harvard. Is that you? much depends then on what you have done for the past four years and what you have achieved. Beyond that, it’s really any guess as to how you will fare.

3

I second gibby. If you’ve gone through the most recent common data set, you’ll have seen that assuming a class population of 1600:

=> 160 (10%) incoming students would’ve had an ACT score of less than 30 (URM’s and recruited athletes predominantly we can assume)
=> 240 (15%) incoming students would’ve had an ACT score in the range 30-32
=> 800 (50%) incoming students would’ve had an ACT score in the range 33-35
=> 400 (25%) incoming students would’ve had a Perfect ACT (36)

AS you can see, with your current stats, your chances are slim to none…