<p>That’s encouraging, silverturtle. :). Anyway, I googled the archive of Harvard’s FAQ page for internationals for last year, and this was what I found:</p>
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<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions Applying: International Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“Redirect Notice”>Redirect Notice)</p>
<p>Sliver of a hope even now, maybe!</p>
<p>I think the two Math subject tests technically were accepted as two but they were frowned upon when submitted together because of obvious reasons.</p>
<p>Hopefully they will understand the context of my education, though.</p>
<p>Referring back to people taking two Math SAT II’s…math is my weakest area, therefore I have taken/plan to take all humanities-based SAT II’s: Chinese, World History, Literature, and Spanish. With the exception of Spanish (I think 750 is a rough estimate for this test), I stand to score 770+ on each of the above.</p>
<p>However, since I’ve already tested for a foreign language, should I plan not to take Spanish w/o listening? I speak Chinese as a first language, therefore it seems Spanish would be considered a “different type” of subject test. Also, should I throw in the Physics SAT II?</p>
<p>Is this even the appropriate place to ask?</p>
<p>Is it advantageous do you think, if one does more than 2 subject tests?</p>
<p>Say you do something like 20 AP subjects (obviously 20 being a random big number I’ve chosen for example purposes), but choose to do only 2 SAT subject tests, would they prefer you did more SAT subject tests?</p>
<p>Given that they know you do a breadth of different subjects in greater detail at AP, I would assume that doing only 2 SAT subject tests would not be a problem (or someone who has done more SAT subject tests than 2, but does less AP tests, would not be at an advantage).</p>
<p>^ Doing well on four tests, for example, is better than doing well on two. But, you’re right, the admissions officers will see from the applicant’s 20 AP scores that they are capable of doing well on many of the Subject Tests even if only two are sent. In contrast, I will not have completed many AP’s by the time I apply, so I intend to take several Subject Tests in an attempt to compensate.</p>
<p>silverturtle - In your opinion, what number of AP tests qualify as “many”? Does this count include the AP classes attended in senior year?</p>
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<p>It depends a lot on circumstances. At some schools, taking ten by the time one finishes junior year is par for the course if you’re a top student; at others, however, it is rare to have completed even one or two before senior year. Admissions officers do really consider context, though perhaps not to a fully compensating extent. </p>
<p>Although we have quite a few honors courses, my school makes it impossible to take AP’s before junior year unless one attends expensive summer programs to get ahead (which I was unable to do). Even during junior year, most top students (i.e., the top 4-5% of the class) usually take only one or two. Another student and I are taking four AP’s (Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology in my case) this year as juniors, and we are the first juniors in the school’s history to do so. Next year, I intend to take many challenging courses, however: Calculus BC (over the summer), Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, AP Spanish, AP U.S. Government, AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP Human Geography, and AP Physics. (These are all the AP classes my school has, save for German and French.)</p>
<p>silverturtle - I see…my situation is somewhat similar. While my school offer 23 AP courses, ironically enough, it’s impossible in practice to take more than 15 due to graduation requirements and course prerequisites; for people involved in ECs, that number drops to around 12 or 13. In fact, I have friends who are willing to graduate without high honors (due to not having completed all the non-weighted, required credits) in order to attain a higher GPA by college application time.</p>
<p>Anyways, even if you are a few AP courses short of the average 13-14 at the top institutions, I am absolutely sure you’ll be fine. =) Is Harvard your first choice?</p>
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<p>Thanks. I sure hope so.</p>
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<p>I haven’t honed in a single top choice yet, but it is certainly among my top couple choices. It is uniformly strong academically, has an excellent and far-reaching reputation, and offers financial aid as generous as any school’s in the country. My choice is also partially dependent upon what I choose to study: if, for example, I choose to pursue a non-science or engineering field, MIT will no longer be very viable, though they do have some strong programs in a couple other fields.</p>
<p>About Harvard’s academic strength…oddly enough, I’ve actually heard Harvard professors, though excellent in their respective fields, are not very available to students after class (for help, advice, etc.); that is, they’re much more wrapped up in research than in teaching. Having said that, I’ve only heard this through people on the Internet who <em>claim</em> to attend the school; I haven’t verified with friends that I know go to Harvard.</p>
<p>^I heard that too. But also not from anyone I know who goes to Harvard. They’re my sister’s friends though, so it’s not like I really talk to them that much. I asked my interviewer, and she said that it might be a problem if one had a “big” concentration, like, I dunno, maybe Econ or something, but since she had was concentrating in a subject, Anthropology, in which few other students concentrate, she received a lot of personal attention.</p>
<p>All the APs in our school are offered to seniors only (we have mandatory prerequisites) and I fought my way to take a few APs. But I do have a problem to classify whether one subject is self-studied or not. I am taking Economics now so it will appear on my transcript; however, the curriculum is not designed for AP (I am in a small rural town in Canada) so I have to self study a lot (75-80% of PR). Should I classify it as self-studied?</p>