<p>Has anyone ever heard of someone mediocre getting into Harvard? Like someone who has a decent GPA (3.9+++) and is ranked in the top 3 of their class but they have absolutely no EC's and just a few leadership positions???????????????????????????????????? I am really kidding myself. Don't worry, I know. I just thought I'd waste $65.</p>
<p>Yes. But her family has been apparently donating $$$s for generations.....
plus she did EA and was a multi generational legacy....</p>
<p>no more EA.... ;)</p>
<p>I've seen lots of people apply to Harvard who are you describe (and would be considered "excellent" in most college application pools, but are mediocre by H standards). None got in.</p>
<p>yeah i know im hopeless i should have done so much more stuff, oh well, it's off to the University of Florida for me!</p>
<p>Considering you're a Keane fan? You're in!</p>
<p>Yes, I have an example of a "mediocre" chid getting into Harvard - my son.</p>
<p>He just started as a freshman at Harvard this month.</p>
<p>He has no absolutely no legacy connection to Harvard, never made a donation.</p>
<p>He went to an average, public, suburban high school that send on average maybe 1 kid per year to an Ivy (250 sized graduaion class).</p>
<p>On the plus side, he did very well on his SAT's, was class president, and was #3 in his class.</p>
<p>On the negative side, he never played a sport and did no extracurriculas other than marching band and jazz band.</p>
<p>I read all the newspaper and magzine articles profiling super kids who are rejected from Harvard and other Ivy's. I don't get it, it didn't seem impossible to get into Harvard to me.</p>
<p>But I have a theory on how admissions works at selective schoools that I think worked in my son's case.</p>
<p>Overall, I think anyone who is remotely qualified should apply to Harvard. It worked in my son's case.</p>
<p>BTW, this is my first post to collegeconfidential. I have to find a college for my second child soon. I wish I'd found this site when my son was applying.</p>
<p>ODOTG, Greetings from a fellow H parent and welcome to CC! Your son does not sound mediocre - Class President, excellent SAT scores, marching and jazz bands! As has been said on CC many times, college admission is a crap shoot. Someone at Harvard saw that your son was a "fit" and he was accepted. I fully agree with you in that anyone who is remotely qualified should apply.</p>
<p>I know that you must be very proud of him. How is he doing so far? Are you going to the Parents Weekend at the end of October?</p>
<p>And to the OP, please take a look at the thread that has the stats of some of the 2011 CCers who were admitted/rejected. This thread will give you an idea of the type of students who were admitted.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback and greetings back to you.
Yes, my son is happy so far, especially since he started classes this past week. The moving away from home for the first time, taking placement exams and "shopping classes" was new to him but, as you know, the support system at Harvard is pretty good so everything worked out.
Yes, I agree with what you said about college admission being a crap shoot and I tell all my kids' friends that they should apply if they are remotely qualified.
We currently have a scheduling conflict for Parents Weekend so I don't know if my wife and I can go, but we'd like to.
Believe it or not, even though I searched, I couldn't decipher ODOTG or find the stats on the Class of 2011. Can you help me out?
Best regards.</p>
<p>OGOTG is the first letter of each word in your username. This forum uses some abbreviations.</p>
<p>The class of 2011 decisions is the first thread in the Harvard University forum.
It reads:</p>
<p>IMPORTANT: Improved</a> Harvard 2011 RD Results Thread</p>
<p>Boy do I feel dumb................</p>
<p>Yes, some kids who are 'just' bright and high achieving do get in, but it's a somewhat random draw - remember, between legacy, athletes, URMs, international only abut 40% of the slots are available for 90% of the applicants. The reason outcomes look random is because they actually kinda are. My daughter is now a sophomore at Harvard, and looking at all the kids I know who applied but didn't get in, if they weren't in one of those buckets, it really wasn't easy to predict who would be in or out, if they had stellar scores and grades, and 'standard strong' ECs</p>
<p>Ailey, I would appreciate it if you could tell me how you arrived at your statement that, "abut [sic] 40% of the slots are available for 90 % of the applicants."</p>
<p>MSMDAD, that's my estimate based on the stats I have read - that at Ivies the size of Harvard or the top small liberal arts colleges, one has about
15% legacies
15% recruited athletes
12-15% URMs
10-12% International students
I rounded up to 60% to cover all of those because there are also the Intel winners and other kids who are clear admits leaving, as I said, about 40% of the slots for all the bright high achievers out there who don't fall into one of those buckets</p>