<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I:2350
[</em>] SAT IIs:800 Math IIC 760 Chemistry 750 US History
[<em>] ACT Didn't take
[</em>] GPA:3.96 unweighted
[<em>] Rank:9/274 Unweighted
[</em>] Other stats:Siemens Finalist, Intel ISEF Finalist, USAMTS Bronze Medal, AIME, USABO Semifinalist, USCNO (National Chem Olympiad) Semifinalist with Honor, National Scholastics Writing Gold Key Awards, Concertmaster, President, Assistant Manager of Flowershop, a bunch of other stuff with leadership, created a string program to help poor kids learn classical music after a riot that was declared a "State of Emergency" I also submitted a paper to the Concord Review. Many string summer camps and Concertmaster at Interlochen Fine Arts Camp and also Indiana University String Summer Camp. Also performed on National Public Radio with Rachel Barton Pine.
[/ul]Subjective:[ list]
[<em>] Essays:Lighthearted but cliche
[</em>] Teacher Recs:One was excellent he told me, the other I don't know
[<em>] Counselor Rec:She likes me
[</em>] Hook (if any):None really. I thought being from a small town and traveling great distances to pursue my passions was something standout but I guess not.
[/list]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country:MI
[</em>] School Type:Public... underfunded
[<em>] Ethnicity:Asian American
[</em>] Gender:Male
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses:Supplement rec was really awesome. My essay wasn't really standout and didnt show enough about me I thought. Plus, I didn't write the optional essay to tell more about myself.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied:I don't know. The deerrals had to start somewhere. I tend to think Harvard takes the legacies during EA and more middle class people RD. Just a hunch. Plus, maybe Harvard wants to know how Intel STS turns out for me.
[/ul]Other Factors: I don't know General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: Congrats to all the people accepted and good luck to the people deferred. To the people rejected, don't be too down on yourself.</p>
<p>SAT: 800V 790M 750W
SATII: 800MathIIC 800SpanLst 780Lit
GPA: 3.96UW, 4.65W
Top decile
6 AP tests, all 5s</p>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<p>Essays: Gripping personal narratives, intense, original
Recs: One "best student ever" and one "among the best"
Counselor Rec: no idea
Hook: double legacy</p>
<p>Location/Person:</p>
<p>State: MD
School Type: Extremely competitive Public school. 10%+ to Ivys this year
white/hispanic
Gender: M
Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: community service work in argentina, semifinalist in national shakespeare competition, Competitive table tennis player, everything theatrical...</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: CR: 740 M: 800 W: 770 (single sitting)
[</em>] SAT IIs: Math II: 800 USH: 770 Physics: 730
[<em>] ACT: N/A
[</em>] GPA: 3.93 (UW) 4.5 (W)
[<em>] Rank: 1 out of 787
[</em>] Other stats: AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Semifinalist, AIME
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: didn't write optional, common app was pretty good
[</em>] Teacher Recs: one amazing, one don't know but pretty sure was good
[<em>] Counselor Rec: mediocre, counselor doesn't know students
[</em>] Hook (if any): sadly, none
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Texas
[</em>] School Type: Large Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: Strong Stats/Not as strong extracurriculars
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: No Hook
[/ul]Other Factors: State Quiz Bowl JV Champions, State Tennis Championship Division General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: Congratulations to everyone who got in! Time for me to go apply to some more colleges. Exciting stuff.</p>
<p>hmm according to epodunk.com, my town is actually 8:
Location State %irish
Spring Lake, NJ borough 39.4
Milton, MA town 38.4
Pearl River, NY populated place 38.0
Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ borough 36.5
Point Lookout, NY populated place 36.1
Braintree, MA town 35.6
Collingdale, PA borough 35.3
Marshfield, MA town 35.2</p>
<p>[ b] Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT I: 2240
[ *] SAT IIs:Chem 780, Math II 750, Bio 700
[ *] ACT: 34
[ *] GPA: 3.97
[ *] Rank: 8/ 500ish
[ *] Other stats: viola, academic bowl, golf
[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Essays: procrastinated, so not particularly well-written
[ *] Teacher Recs: both probably good
[ *] Counselor Rec:excellent
[ *] Hook (if any): URM
[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country: California
[ *] School Type: public
[ *] Ethnicity: black
[ *] Gender: female
[ *] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: pretty well-rounded/ idk- i've never had any national recognition, state for music
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied:no idea
[ /list][ b]Other Factors:[ /b]
[ b]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:[ /b] I still can't believe it. Despair not, deferred/rejected... you'll be fine, I'm sure of it!</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2350 (M 800, CR 800, W 750)
[</em>] SAT IIs: Chemistry 760, Math IIC 750, Spanish 730
[<em>] ACT: N/A
[</em>] GPA: 3.9ish UW (i think...school doesn't give us cummulative GPA)
[<em>] Rank: school doesn't rank
[</em>] Other stats: National Merit Semi-Finalist, AP Scholar, 3 5's on APs (school limits APs)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: pretty good
[</em>] Teacher Recs: awesome
[<em>] Counselor Rec: great
[</em>] Hook (if any): editor of a national high school literary magazine?
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: TX
[</em>] School Type: private
[<em>] Ethnicity: asian
[</em>] Gender: female
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: strength - well-rounded academically, 4 significant leadership positions, strong extracurriculars; weakness - no strong hook, perhaps too well-rounded and not enough "passion" in one area
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: just didn't stand out, i guess
[/ul]Other Factors: General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: had a supplemental rec from a harvard faculty member who taught me in a summer program, interview was great...but in the end, things happen for a reason</p>
That is not what I meant...We think they deferred the science people because there are many science competitions coming up in january and feb (eg intel sts). So Harvard wants to wait for those comeptition results. Do not get me wrong...Harvard is still the best college and I will try my best to get in!!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Good luck Crimson. I was a bme engineering applicant and acceptee. I've never done any Intel STS level research. You guys are amazing, but the fact is the number of people who have done high quality research are numerous. Just add up the number of smart people who work with equally awesome labs as yours, RSI (which I believe more than half get accepted early and rest get in regular), etc). Harvard definitely picks a lot of you guys, but it’s a very diverse school (not a science and technology oriented school like MIT) and has to fill all its departments.</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: Verbal: 800 Math: 680 Writing: 780
[</em>] SAT IIs: Lit: 800 Math I: 660 US History: 730
[<em>] ACT 32
[</em>] GPA: 3.95? One semester of 1 class was a B.
[<em>] Rank: 15ish
[</em>] Other stats:
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Each essay was only about 350 words. The main essay was four sentences long. They were weird.
[</em>] Teacher Recs: Didn't see either. One of the teachers that I asked actively disliked me. He actually scowled when I asked him to write it. But I think he uses a template for recommendation letters and just substitutes peoples names in. The other one was fine.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Pretty good, but I had to edit the grammar and spelling for her.
[</em>] Hook (if any): I think they liked the essays pretty well, my interviewer mentioned that. Also, I bet that the area that I'm from is under-represented.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Kansas
[</em>] School Type: large public
[<em>] Ethnicity: white
[</em>] Gender: male
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: School offers 2 AP courses, both of which I'm taking this year, so I had no AP tests. Lots of dual enrollment, though.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: I'll speculate again that there wasn't much competition in my geographic area. Also, I'm involved in drama, vocal and instrumental music, as well as writing (freelance and at school), all at relatively high levels. Plus National Merit Semi-Finalist, all that jazz.
[/ul]Other Factors: General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: </p>
<p>Congrats to all those who were accepted, and I look forward to seeing you next fall! To those who were deferred: I hope to see you next fall as well. I didn't think I saw anyone on this thread that was rejected outright.</p>
<p>Physics08: WOW you make me feel so much better about being deferred, because after reading your stats, i see that even you got deferred--i had similar stats to yours (although not as good) and also got deferred. i was an ISEF 4th place grand award winner, and a Siemens Semifinalist, and worked in a "high-profile" lab in NYC for 2 years. i also had some other stuff relating to my work on my school's literay magazine, mock trial, other awards, volunteering, etc. i agree with your thoughts on intel STS, which i also entered. theyre probably waiting to see if we do as well in STS as we have done in the other compeititons. good luck with that in january!!!</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2400 (Math - 800, CR - 800, Writing - 800)
[</em>] SAT IIs: Math Level 2 - 800, Literature - 800, Molecular Bio - 750, Chemistry - 770
[<em>] ACT: didn't take it
[</em>] GPA: 4.0/4.0
[<em>] Rank: my school doesn't do rankings
[</em>] Other stats: Siemens Regional Finalist, 2nd place Chemistry Texas State Science Fair, 2-time AIME qualifier. President of NHS, math club, and science club at various times throughout high school, and founded a school book-exchange club last year. AP scores: Human Geography - 4
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: One was serious and one was more lighthearted. I liked them a lot, so I'm glad the admissions panel did too. :)
[</em>] Teacher Recs: One was from a teacher, one was from a college professor. I did have an excellent extra rec from my research mentor, who did his grad work at Harvard.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Er, I know it was positive, but how positive I don't know.
[</em>] Hook (if any): Hmm, not sure. The only outstanding "award" is that in 7th grade I got the highest SAT score (1550) out of 55,000 participants in the Duke Talent Search, and that was a looong time ago. I have intense interests in both math/science and the humanities, which perhaps is unusual, and I spend A LOT of time and effort on extracurricular stuff.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Plano, Texas, but I actually live away from home in Denton, Texas
[</em>] School Type: public, math/science oriented
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese), along with about 25% of my school, haha.
[</em>] Gender: Female
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses:
Strengths - I actually place little faith in scores and numbers and spend enormous amounts of my time getting involved and taking leadership positions in what I love to do, which includes music, literature, math, science research, volunteer work--just about everything--so I'm pretty well-rounded. I also have outside hobbies that are sort of quirky/unique and include collecting hats, reading palms, and following Project Runway obsessively (and yes, I included this information in my application, lol).
Weaknesses - I'm Asian, from a mostly-Asian math/science academy, and have math/science awards and officer positions. I practically scream nerdy Asian even though I'm not.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: I personally think my essays carried me. I also have a lot of leadership stuff and extremely diverse interests even though my awards tend to come from the math/science side.
[/ul]Other Factors:
I'm so wildly overrepresented I have no idea how I was admitted. There's hope for all my fellow math/science-y Asians! And I didn't even win Intel, Siemens, or IMO. :P General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:
If you were admitted: I can't wait to meet you at prefrosh weekend! From what I've read here, you guys are really really interesting people. :) If you were deferred: The admissions process is such a crapshoot sometimes. You guys sound so amazing you're gonna do great no matter where you go!</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2250
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800 Math IIC; Physics 770; Bio 720 (Freshman)
[<em>] GPA: 4.42 Weighted
[</em>] Rank: Not Ranked, but top 5 or 6%
[li] Other stats: AP Scholar with Distinction; Princeton Book Award; Summa Cum Laude Latin Test, etc</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Excellent main, second was 20 minute effort but ok
[</em>] Teacher Recs: Excellent
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Excellent
[</em>] Hook (if any): Recruited athlete</p>
<p>[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] School Type: Large Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: Excellent academics combined with athletic recruitment makes for a very strong candidate. Might be perceived as weak in other EC's, but the sport is very time consuming.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: Coach wanted her and she is above the Harvard median AI. </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:
Princeton Legacy, father & grandfather, little sad to see her move on, but ecstatic about Harvard nonetheless.</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT I: Verbal: 760 Math: 800 Writing: 710
SAT IIs: Chem: 760 Math I &II: 800s Phy: 720
ACT 34
AP: 7 AP courses completed with six 5s and one 4, two more college classes taken.
GPA: 4.0 UW, 5.15W
Rank: 1/409
Other stats:
Subjective:
Essays: About volunteer work at low-income housing community center and reserach experience at Governor's School. Conselor really liked them.</p>
<p>Teacher Recs: Both wonderful. One from history teacher, the other from Science teacher about my role in Science Olympiad.</p>
<p>Counselor Rec: Outstanding, covered every area, emphasized on personal quality, almost 5 pages long (single spaced).</p>
<p>Hook (if any): I had an excelent interview with a professor in a university that employed my parents..
Location/Person:
State or Country: NC
School Type: large public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: Lots of student government leadership and "most likely to make a difference" (senior superlative). President of three clubs (Math, Science Olympiad, Quizbowl) and captain of three academic competition varsity teams. Many regional and state awards. Two major community service involvements. National Merit Semi-Finalist, piano player...</p>
<p>Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: I was just lucky, everything went right this time, conselor really supported me in every way.</p>
<p>Other Factors: Harvard is by far my first choice.</p>
<p>tiger - I have a question. Does your high school normally send kids to Ivies? I live in NC as well, but my school has only sent one kid to Harvard in all of its 50 years. So...I was just wondering. :)</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2300 (780 CR, 800 M, 720 W)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800s on Math I and IIC and a 730 on Physics
[<em>] ACT: 35
[</em>] GPA: 4.4 weighted, 3.9 unweighted
[<em>] Rank: 7/445
[</em>] Other stats: Tons of math contest awards and state finalist for a business competition.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: I wrote about growing up overseas. In particular, I wrote about getting lost in Tokyo
[</em>] Teacher Recs: Amazing, my math teacher said I was his most talented student in his 25 years of teaching and had potential to make the IMO.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Very good, pretty much gave adcoms the idea that I was a unique individual
[</em>] Hook (if any): I won a national math contest.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: FL
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Black
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: I grew up in Japan. I'm good in all subjects but it's still noticeable that I'm most talented in math. Stood out at a public high school.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: At this point I'm just happy I got in! But seriously, my essay was amazing.
[/ul]Other Factors: Interview went well. General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: YEAHHHHHHHHHH!</p>