Hi guys, I’m an 18 years old high school senior from Israel.
I wanted to ask you, what do you think my chances of getting into Harvard.
I did not do the SAT yet, but let’s say I got a good grade in it. in Israel the grades are going from 0-100 when below 55 its f. I don’t know the equivalent grades to the American system. I got an average of 89 while I have 93 in physics and 100 in electronics and 100 in math. I’m going to finish my major in applied mathematics next year. I love to help my friends getting ready to their math tests I believe math is an important thinking tool. I have built with a partner a quadcopter without autopilot, I created the algorithm myself (I wanted to use my knowledge in math to create something). I’m currently working on a smart home automation product which is cheaper and believe better than the products out there. so that is basically what I do, what do you think?
Are you planning on taking a gap year, then?
Without an SAT score, it’s too early to ask for chances, as it’s impossible to know if your stats are within Harvard’s range. Please ask again after you have taken an actual test.
FWIW: the average SAT score of accepted freshman at Harvard is around 2250 – so your score needs to be that good!
In addition, in a recent survey of Harvard freshman, more than 50% of students had a 4.0 GPA, which translates to a 95+ average on a 1-100 scale. Yes, Harvard is that competitive. As such, your 89 average on the same scale seems way too low for Harvard (sorry).
But my major doesn’t count? And the only reason my average is like this because I have 55 in sports
Harvard admits all students as Liberal Arts majors. As student’s don’t choose a major until their sophomore year, for the purposes of admissions, your major or intended major doesn’t count. The good news is that many college’s look at an applicant’s academic courses and re-calculate their average not including grades from sports, gym, music, arts, or health. That said, about half of an applicant’s academic index rating comes from test scores, so without an actual SAT score, it’s too early to ask for chances. See: http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index/
I dont get it, why my high school grades count more then my major?
And yes I would have a year gap.
That’s one of the differences between US and European Universities. In the US, most colleges do not admit by major, therefore your high school grades count more. That’s just a fact, which you will have to accept if you will be applying to US colleges. See: http://www.internationalstudent.com/study-abroad/guide/uk-usa-education-system/
While I’m unfamiliar with the education system in Israel, I’m inferring that the OP is referring to their HS major, not their prospective college major. @gibby is correct that Harvard doesn’t admit by intended major, but how it views HS majors of international applicants is a separate question, one I cannot answer.
Yeah, I mean, not many high school students do their major along their high school studies in Israel. I know that every academic facility here would be amazed only by that achievement. and not only that I managed to do more stuff. My teacher told us that our quadcopter project is clearly a project on a university level and not high school level. I want to get the feeling from you guys if I’m the type of student, Harvard is looking for, if my achievements are bad? good? great?
Are there a lot of 19s years old with a major in Harvard?
You’re still not understanding. The goal of Harvard is to bring in students who may or may not have proven fields of accomplishment (like your “major” and your copter work). But Harvard values overall academic achievement and potential. Have a look at the Harvard Decisions thread to see some info of those accepted and rejected (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1752941-harvard-university-class-of-2019-rd-results.html). Frankly, your not knowing Harvard’s academic goal to impart the Liberal Arts tradition to its students is a major hindrance. I fear you may be inquiring about Harvard solely because of its name/reputation but with little understanding of its mission and what it looks for in viable applicants.
Harvard just got done rejecting 30,000 of the world’s best students. You asked for your chances – here you go. Less than 5% even if you are SPECTACULAR.
“Are there a lot of 19s years old with a major in Harvard?” Like post #4 states, Harvard is perfectly content to allow its students explore anything before declaring a major in their sophomore year. Like others have said, the US differs from other countries in that it values the time allotted to students to choose and decide for themselves.
Actually, since the poster is international, it’s even less than that, as international admit rates are ~ half of the overall rate. So we’re talking about 2.5%. However, all of this remains moot without looking at standardized test scores.
MIT rejected a student who built his own nuclear reactor in his garage. Now, that kid was certainly focused, goal oriented, and made great achievements during his high school years. He also probably had a major in mind when he applied to college. If people like him (and these people in this article) are rejected, the odds of acceptance are not great for anyone: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704211704575139891390595962.
@gibby I would be very careful at assuming that all GPAs are considered equal (especially for British-patterned schools) to American ones. Assuming the OP is not at an international school, there is no way you would know if his GPA is “too low”
@Zaprez: Israel’s grading system is very similar to many US high schools using the same 0 to 100 scale. The major difference is that in many US high schools a grade below 65 is failing. In a recent Harvard freshman survey the average self-reported unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale was 3.93 with fifty-four percent of students reporting a perfect 4.0. Here’s a handy GPA to 1-100 conversion scale: http://shs.seafordbluejays.org/ourpages/auto/2013/10/4/32298393/GPA%20Conversion%20Scale.pdf
All of that seems to be moot, as the OP was including a grade of 55 from gym (sports) in his or her calculation, which many college’s disregard.
@gibby if that is so then I stand corrected. I had thought that the OP’s school might have a grading system similar to South Africa, the UK, etc, where an 80% equates to an A or something of that sort.
I don’t know if this helps the OP but I know one guy from here in South Africa who had similar “technological” ECs and in order to give them the recognition they deserved, he entered them into the national expo (got gold!). He’s at Harvard now. Of course, he had great SATs and Public speaking achievements to suit that passion.
Just throwing this out there…