My Chances at Harvard?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I am going into my Senior year. Here is an overview of my schooling:</p>

<p>I got A's and B's in Elementary school. I joined Beta Club in 5th grade and am still in it. I also started playing the violin in 5th grade too and I am still playing the violin. I was in Gifted and Talented in 4th and 5th grade.</p>

<p>In Middle School I was in the highest Honors classes. In 6th and 7th grade I made grades 96+. In 8th grade I made all A's on some report cards and A's and B's on others. The lowest B I made was a 92. 6th-8th grade I was in Yearbook and in 8th grade I was in Scrabble Club.</p>

<p>In all of High School I continued in the highest classes offered.
Freshman and Sophomore years:
Sports:
In my first two years I was in Color Guard, and Track. I was also on a Swim Team (not affiliated with the High School). In my Freshman year I did Cross Country (plus CG and Track). And in my Sophomore year I did golf (again, along with CG and Track.
Clubs/Academics:
Clubs I was in during my first 2 years: Beta Club, Book Club, KEY Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, FFA (sophmore year only), Mu Alpha Theta (Math
Honor Society), and Model UN
I made All A's.</p>

<p>I was accepted into the Governors School of Science and Mathematics for my state. Its the last 2 HS years.
There I've made all A's, too, and continue to be in all Honors classes.
The varsity sports I was in were swimming, golf, and track. The intramural sport I was involved in was archery.
The clubs I was involved in were Orchestra, Beta, National Honors Society, Spanish National Honors Society, French National Honors Society, Future Business Leaders of America, and Art Club. Societies (more flexible meetings) I did were Hip Hop Dance Society and Tea and Shakespeare Society. I plan to do the same clubs and sports in my senior year.</p>

<p>Oh and I took Spanish 1 in Freshman year, Spanish 2 and French 1 in Sophomore year, Spanish 3 and French 2 in Junior year, and I plan to take Spanish 4 and French 3 in my senior year.</p>

<p>So how much of a chance do I have to get into Harvard? (or any Ivy league)</p>

<p>My dream university:
1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Princeton</p>

<p>As for standardized testing, I took the SAT in 7th grade, and decided in HS I would take ACT.
I took ACT in sophomore year and scored 27. I took it at the end of junior year and got 30.</p>

2

<p>Your act is too weak and you don’t seem to have enough, or any for that matter, leadership positions or volunteer hours. Try studying over the summer for the act, I am sure that if you get it up 4 or more points you would have a tremendously better chance.</p>

3

<p>I do volunteer. KEY club is all volunteering. The club plans and goes and volunteers. Also, Beta Club requires 20 hours of volunteering each school year.</p>

4

<p>First off, not one admissions director – at any college anywhere – cares about what you did in elementary and middle school. Do not mention those items on your college apps.</p>

<p>Secondly, as sraval1002 mentioned, your ACT is below Harvard’s 25th percentile. See page 8 of Harvard Common Data Set: <a href=“http://www.provost.harvard.edu/institutional_research/CDS_2011-2012_Final.pdf[/url]”>http://www.provost.harvard.edu/institutional_research/CDS_2011-2012_Final.pdf&lt;/a&gt;. Ditto with YP – so all of your dream schools are big reaches for you. Just be sure to apply to a good number of target and safety schools. Best of luck to you in the admissions process.</p>

5

<p>^ I second. That. DO NOT under any circumstances mention, middle school, heaven forbid, elementary school. That would be a HUGE no-no.
Besides that, I would try and raise your ACT to at LEAST a 33+. (but then again, ST tests are not everything). Also, I could not really find a passion in your list of ECs, try and develop a passion and pursue it and attain a leadership role.
Successful Admissions to Harvard= Hard work+ Essay+ Grades+ Letters of Rec+ ECs+SAT/ACT+ hook (if you have one)+ luck+ more luck</p>

6

<p>I wouldn’t consider Key Club and Beta Club volunteering, since they are your ECs and kind of require it. By volunteering, I think people mean going out of your way to do something you enjoy and help others, not as part of a club. For example, volunteering at a daycare center for people with Alzheimer’s. </p>

<p>Personally, I wouldn’t consider volunteering for a club “volunteering”. If Beta Club requires 20 hours of volunteering, then that means you’re doing it because it’s MANDATORY, not because you WANT to. Your ACT is extremely low, so a long shot there.</p>

<p>No admissions officer will care about elementary or middle school. (Lucky for me lol. At my elementary school, everyone who did all of the homework and got nothing wrong would get a B+. Only the rich kids who could afford “extra credit” would get A’s). So don’t mention anything before 9th grade in your app under the work/etc.</p>

<p>You have no hook.</p>

<p>Also, many people mistakenly believe that HYPSM only look at “well-rounded” people. Noooo. Just do what you’re passionate about. Your ECs are really spread out, very capricious, and to me, it seems like you lack dedication because (if I read correctly) you join a bunch of different clubs but never stick to them. </p>

<p>Harvard isn’t going to care if you were in every single club at your school. Anyone could do that. Harvard is going to look for unique people, people who fulfill their own potential, follow their own desires, and devote themselves to what they want to do, not what people make them do. If you force yourself to join every single club your school offers (hyperbole, but yeah, you get my gist) then Harvard will notice, and it /will/ count against you.</p>

<p>So yeah. Do what you like, and quit the clubs that you could honestly care less about.</p>

7

<p>Also, remember. Academics are, in a way, a core requirement for applying to Harvard. In other words, a person who scored a 2400 and had a 4.0 GPA throughout high school has a much better chance of getting into Harvard than a person who got a 2.0 GPA and scored a mere 1500 on the SAT. In other words, you should try to do the best you can academically to have a shot at Harvard.</p>

<p>However, this doesn’t mean that you will get guaranteed entrance into any college of your choice with those academics. A LOT of people can be smart. In some schools, there may be tens, hundreds of people who get straight A’s, or mostly A’s with only a few exceptions. If you look at the statistics for the SAT, many people score above a 2100 on the SAT or above a 30 on the ACT. While academics will help you boost your chance of being considered, it’s not enough to get you in. You have a lot of competition. What helps admissions officers differentiate between two people with the exact same test scores and academic strengths?</p>

<p>Extracurriculars, passion, YOURSELF.
I’m not an admissions officer, but I know that they highly prefer people who have fun and enjoy themselves over people who force themselves to do everything they do. If you join a ton of clubs that you despise being a part of, then you’re doing the wrong thing. Contrary to popular belief, high school is about having fun. Sure, you need to be strong academically, but you have to enjoy yourself. Find what you enjoy doing, and go for it. </p>

<p>For example, if you love writing, and take initiative in going for what you want and quit all clubs that you may have joined just to be with your friends or make your parents happy. Going along with my example of a person who enjoys writing:
If there is a school newspaper, join it. Apply for an internship with your local city newspaper. Create a writing club at your school. Volunteer to tutor elementary schoolers so that they can improve their reading and writing skills. Go to your city’s library (or libraries if your city/town has more than one) and talk to the librarian/etc about starting something there, like a club or writer’s workshop. Dedicate your time to things you enjoy doing, so that when you look back, everything will seem worth it. Be yourself. It won’t only be helpful to your chances at Harvard, but it will also help the development of character and self-appreciation. :slight_smile: Plus, you won’t feel antipathy toward the world for making you suffer so much. </p>

<p>Your college application shouldn’t be something you build up and mold to appear worthy. Your app should come naturally (okay really bad wording buuuut…). </p>

<p>To say this huge blurb in three short words:</p>

<p>Yeah, be yourself. o3o</p>

<p>But I’m not even in college yet, so how should I know how the admissions process works LOL.
asdfklasdfklasdf; brain asplosion, it’s off to journaling about this for meeeee 8D</p>

8

<p>^ i dont think you are going to get any better of advice. Well done @gomdorri</p>

9

<p>As stated before me, never, ever mention elementary/middle school. Ever. </p>

<p>Standardized tests have to be higher. ACT should be 34+ since you haven’t solved cancer with your EC’s. Have you taken the subject tests yet? Or any AP’s? </p>

<p>It’s good that you were on all of those varsity sports teams, but are you really good at one of them? Captain-good? That would really help…otherwise, it just tells Harvard you’re trying to pack the resume. </p>

<p>All in all, good luck with admissions! Oh, and don’t forget to enjoy yourself :)</p>

10

<p>WAIT-Harvard just looks at your high school transcripts right? RIGHT?</p>

11

<p>Yup. I think they care if you placed top 10 in the nation in the Spelling Bee in elementary or middle school, but probably that is the only thing they care about from pre-high-school. Definitely not transcripts. (I think my middle school “high school level classes” might have factored into my high school GPA, but they didn’t go on my transcript. Since they didn’t make a difference to my rank, since we didn’t have rank, I never bothered to figure it out.)</p>

12

<p>OK COOL! HAHA! I actually did place in the top 10 in the scripps national spelling bee!</p>

13

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<p>You’ve got a weird opinion of what is most important about your elementary school career, then :P</p>

14

<p>Out of curiosity, have you found out whether you got in or not?</p>

15

<p>Well, since you got A’s and B’s in elementary school, I think you’re a shoo-in for Harvard.</p>

16

<p>^bahahaha. but seriously. Scrabble Club, beta club, and As and Bs in Elementary school and middle school?! ahhhh it blows my mind…thank god you posted this on CC so we could tell you to NOT put this on your app. Oh god, i can’t even think what the harvard adcom would do if they saw that. yikes. but other than that-improve standardized tests, FOCUS on some ECs and highlight them and do them well. show passion and interest. you want to come across as someone harvard would want and would want to say, “yeah, that person graduated from harvard”</p>

17

<p>Haha StudiousMaximus. That might be one of the funniest things I’ve heard all day. I love how you’re all ribbing him about how he posted his elementary grades.</p>