NEW: Harvard Chances?

[IxnayBob]

@DrDean794

And the letter from my mother was actually a suggestion right off of the Harvard College website.

You don’t have a link, by any chance, do you? I find this hard to imagine.

ETA: All a quick Google found was “Recommenders should write like proud parents talk.” That’s not at all like saying that a parent should write a LoR.
ETA2: I mistakenly didn’t read to the end of the thread before posting, so my question seems jarringly behind the times Apologies

[davenmame]

I find the question about the mom writing a letter of recommendation to be interesting. My son is homeschooled, and as his guidance counselor, the directions on the common app give me the opportunity to write his letter of recommendation as guidance counselor, which I did for a variety of reasons. What I find interesting, and the op might find interesting too, is that the only school who was not going to accept this letter was an ivy school. The only reason we know they questioned it was when my son checked his portal for that particular school, it showed that the guidance counselor recommendation was not yet submitted. After a phone call and an explanation of why we preferred to go this route, they agreed to accept it. That being said, when a school has so many applicants who are so very qualified, they have no reason to really consider a mom’s recommendation. As with my son, I doubt your mom’s recommendation will help your cause.

[gibby]

Here’s what Harvard says about recommendations from their website: https://college.harvard.edu/frequently-asked-questions

Who should write my recommendations?
Teachers who know you well and who have taught you in academic subjects (preferably in the final two years of secondary school) typically will provide us with the most valuable testimony. Whenever possible, teachers should tell us about your non-academic interests and personal qualities as well as academic potential.

Nowhere on Harvard’s website does it say anything about parents writing recommendation letters. @DrDean794: PLEASE PROVIDE A LINK SO THAT ALL OF US CAN SEE!

[Gourmetmom]

Harvard housing does ask for letters from parents to help them place students in the best roommate/living situation freshman year. Perhaps the poster heard about this and confused the two?

[gibby]

^^ Maybe. But, with a 3.6 unweighted GPA (90 on a 1-100 scale) and a 29 ACT, there are just too many other well-qualified academic students from low-income families that the OP is going to buried by the competition. The OP is assuming that their low-income status is a hook, but it’s only a hook if that low-income student is at the top of their class. For example: David Boone and Dawn Loggins, two recent admits who were homeless before attending Harvard, were straight A students in high school with top test scores.

[CaliCash]

I said that objectivity would be compromised. She instead explained the financial circumstances that hindered me from being able to hold a reliable transportation method for sports and clubs. That is why there are no ECS for my freshman year and sophomore year. I set up a carpool system with my neighbor and my mother speaks of that.

This is for you to write in the additional info section of the common app or for your guidance counselor to write.

From the Dean of Admissions at Harvard in 2009:

"In situations where it is likely that teachers and counselors might not know the student well enough to be able to write informed recommendations, students should still have these recommendations sent, but might consider asking others who know them well, including supervisors of extracurricular activities, employers, representatives from community organizations, clergy, or summer program coordinators to send an additional recommendation. Students might offer any recommender a brief resume of interests and activities. But it is wise to refrain from sending large numbers of extra recommendations or mounting a letter-writing campaign, especially if the school has already written effectively.

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/harvarddean-part3/

[ricck1]

There are many students with mediocre grades and scores at Harvard. They, not to sound prejudice, are generally the athletes or VIP kids. Unless you are one of these, your chance otherwise with average scores is slim.

[gibby]

^^ You do sound judgmental, but I suppose it all depends on what you consider “mediocre.” According to the below article, the lowest GPA an athletic recruit can have at any ivy league school is a 3.0 or a B average. Athletic recruits outside of football, basketball and hockey, probably have GPA’s that are equal or higher than the OP’s 3.6 GPA. So, while a 3.6 GPA may be okay for someone who can compete at a Division 1 level sport, academic applicants need to have higher GPA’s. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/sports/before-athletic-recruiting-in-the-ivy-league-some-math.html?pagewanted=all

[notjoe]

@ricck1‌,

“There are many students with mediocre grades and scores at Harvard.”

First, it depends on what means by “mediocre.” If by mediocre one means average, well, the average SAT in the US is something around 1550 or a little less. I doubt there ae “many” students at Harvard with an SAT of 1550. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there aren’t any. Even if one interprets mediocre as plus or minus a standard deviations, that’s an SAT score in the low-to-mid-1800s. There aren’t many Harvard students with SATs that low. There are a few, but not many.

Ditto on grades, although it’s a little tougher to define mediocre or average when it comes to GPA.

There aren’t many at all. Check out Harvard’s Common Data Set, or the the Crimson’s survey on incoming freshmen. There are few folks with mediocre grades and scores.