<p>Wow, I like how all the "nationally-ranked" scientists are bunching up together to bash Harvard admissions. You guys are all extremely smart and talented people, but so are the admissions officers. Trust me, you guys will all succeed no matter where you go, particularly if it's not Harvard.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>He never stated that as fact. That's why he said "if".<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>He stated as a fact that he was losing respect for Harvard - all based on theories and opinions of people who have no way of knowing what they are talking about.</p>
<p>NO G8--We're not bashing Harvard (at least, I'm not, most of us aren't), we're just a bit baffled at why in so many cases, really great awards (and no, forgetting myself for a second, I mean zogoto and others) were deferred.</p>
<p>These deferrals don't really baffle me. Doesn't this happen every year? Thousands of well-qualified students apply to Harvard every year and are rejected. Harvard has a mission to create as diverse a class as possible and students with great achievements in areas like history, art, and writing are rarer than those with math and science. </p>
<p>Maybe the applicant class this year was very strong in math and science. Harvard can't take everyone like this; the deferrals have to start somewhere... and it just happened that some RSI (or w/e) and Siemens people got left out.</p>
<p>You people just don't seem to get Harvard admissions. Harvard only cares about academics to a point and adter that, they look towards EC's, recs, and the essay to make their final decision. Someone who has a 3.8 GPA and a 2200 SAT is viewed equally statswise by Harvard adcoms as someone who has a 4.0 GPA and a 2400 SAT. Furthermore, Harvard receives so many qualified science/math applicants that they can basically pick and choose who they will accept from this pool based on other factors like recs, essays, etc.</p>
<p>BTW, don't fool yourself by thinking you were deferred because you were a "scientific allstar" and that Harvard will pick you up in the RD round. Realistically, you have about a 5% chance of getting into Harvard in the RD round after being deferred. So, its even more of a crapshoot now.</p>
<p>My advice to deferees: Forget about Harvard and make sure that your RD apps, especially to your state/safety/match schools, are solid and show that you are genuinely interested in attending.</p>
<p>Life is unfair. Get over it.</p>
<p>I like the decisions made by Harvard this year.</p>
<p>"Someone who has a 3.8 GPA and a 2200 SAT is viewed equally statswise by Harvard adcoms as someone who has a 4.0 GPA and a 2400 SAT."</p>
<p>I do not agree with this.</p>
<p>I do agree. Look at the SAT scores of those accepted to MIT, Harvard,Pton, and Penn. Most of them are in the 2100s.</p>
<p>This year, it seems like SAT scores are a bit lower. A lot of sub 700 people have gotten in. So, scores aren't everything.</p>
<p>Yes, may 2300s got deferred as well. I also noticed that most aceptees had gpas of 3.7-3.9, not 4.0s :)</p>
<p>I have to comment because the cockiness of some of the above is misleading to me. They make it seem like they deserve Harvard, like they are auto-admits. I find it discerning to say the least. I doubt they deferred them just because, there's always a reason behind it.</p>
<p>Yep. Shows you that academics aren't everything. I think I may have been deferred because in my essay, I sounded like a smart ass. But, it was still humorous. And, I'm nice. So, maybe they wanted to give me another chance to send stuff in? I think I'll send something to the Crimson editor because I'm pretty good at journalism. Anyway, I have backups and such just in case. I'll still defer a year at any institution, anyway... need a little break.</p>
<p>Gurl Next Door--Things like Siemens, RSI, and USAMO are more than just academic things like SAT scores. Especially the first two, which are research things, and research is certainly an extracurricular. So when you hear that scores aren't everything, it's because they're looking for more than just scores on a test, they want to see genuine passion, and with some of the research students, they have about as much passion for their fields as you could ask for. Don't equate the things people like zogoto, etc., are getting (such as in his case RSI) with something like high SAT scores...</p>
<p>well you can't just automatically assume the "academic all stars" don't have amazing ECs other than math and science.</p>
<p>NSM was saying that H can get many math/science people in RD.</p>
<p>She said many EA people had passions in humanities and arts....</p>
<p>i think....</p>
<p>Are you joking? Look around this board. Most of the acceptees has over 2300 SATs. Harvard does have its reasons to defer godly applicants (good luck in RD)</p>
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[quote]
Are you joking? Look around this board. Most of the acceptees has over 2300 SATs. Harvard does have its reasons to defer godly applicants (good luck in RD)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No they dont.</p>
<p>im actually a math/science person who got in...
i entered siemens but didnt get anything-
im really in shock right now. i had no hook and i have no idea why people who were so much better than me didnt get in. im not a urm or a legacy either...
confusion.
good luck to you all in the rd round.</p>
<p>This is a somewhat offtopic question towards zogoto, GuitarMan, spydertennis (if he is ever unbanned), and any other person who has done research. I was wondering how exactly you got involved in research (by contact through a professor, an internship, etc.). It's a bit too late for me to do anything now, but I wrote a paper describing my perspective on nanotechnology and I would like to test some of the conclusions I drew.</p>
<p>It takes a lot of work, and dedication. Some people do summer programs, such as RSI and Garcia. That's probably the easiest way. There, you just apply and if accepted, you go to the research institution (usually some university) to work with a professor who probably has a few students, and a project specially suited for HS students. Otherwise, you can contact a mentor on your own. That's how I did it. After about 13 months of searching for a mentor (at first, before I took physics, it was very difficult to get a mentor in a field like astronomy!!). Just go around e-mailing and calling professors all over the place until you find someone interested. I like this better because of the greater independence, but you'll be able to get just as great projects and publish papers and everything by doing a really great summer program such as RSI.</p>