<p>Sorry I didn't know NY wasn't in NE. That doesn't matter, since the STS statistics come from NY anyway. So my argument still holds.</p>
<p>I know, I know ;) And to be fair, even though I placed behind winners from two other regions, those were just two people, and my region probably was the most competitive (although the West is certainly up there, I think). I think Harvard knows that, though, and if not, I can't think of a good way to slip it in a letter...</p>
<p>Your adcom probably didnt'realize that. Siemens is so new.</p>
<p>Grr. Well, not quite sure what to do about that now, lol. There's just so much that could have gone wrong, I guess. Maybe I'll move to Wyoming next month :p</p>
<p>jesus stop cluttering this thread with your garbage, you didnt get into harvard, end of story, quit trying to prove how a science program you did makes you more superior</p>
<p>We're not trying to prove that, we're just having a discussion about the merits of different competitions. We're not talking about how doing any of them make us better. So before you post, try reading a little bit ;)</p>
<p>That being said, I really do think this is the wrong place for this conversation :p So I'm going to go anyway, IM me later zogoto ;)</p>
<p>well maybe you should try reading the THREAD TITLE</p>
<p>OK, we got into a conversation that stemmed from discussion of the THREAD TITLE and now we've realized how off-topic we've gotten, and I just told you we are going to stop. Are you just looking to pick a fight?</p>
<p>WWP, sorry I have to interject. 1. Ok, if it bothers you so much, we will take this elsewhere. 2. It is important to figure out WHY one got deferred. That is a big challenge in Adam's case since he is such a damn awesome applicant. And 3. Why are you posting on this thread? You were not following it or discussing other topics on this when we "hijacked" it, so why do you care?</p>
<p>Zogoto, speak for yourself, if I'm a strong applicant then you should be an auto-admit ;) hehe.</p>
<p>WMP, by the way, I saw your post in the other thread, so you got accepted....well, congratulations!! Looks like you're pretty excited for Harvard so enjoy it ;) And hey, hopefully we'll see you there next year...</p>
<p>There is so much animosity on this thread and the Harvard Class of '010 hasn't even been completely assembled yet. I shudder to think of how crazy competitive Harvard is going to be when all you overachievers are going to fight over each other for that perfect class rank or whatever.:p</p>
<p>OK, come on, that's not fair ;) I was ranked 18th in my school (hey, speaking of reasons I was deferred :p) and the people who get accepted are accepted because they're passionate about what they do, not because they're (mostly) crazy overachievers!! I see very little animosity here ;) Some people are a bit down but I don't see much animosity towards the accepted!</p>
<p>Right, to get back to the original purpose of this thread.. (I'm new here.)</p>
<p>*Decision: Accepted *</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2390 (V 800, M 800, W 790)
[</em>] SAT IIs: Math IIC - 780, Physics - 800, Chemistry - 760
[<em>] GPA: around 98.2 out of 100 (unweighted)
[</em>] Rank: unranked (but actually among the top 3 out of 562)
[<em>] Other stats: AP's: 5's on French Language and European History. This year taking AP Micro & Macroeconomics, Calc BC, US History, and English Language.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: main essay was good, although I wasn't completely happy with it (it was about a place -- I felt that I didn't talk about myself enough); optional essay was about why I am thinking of studying engineering, it was sort of creative
[<em>] Teacher Recs: very good, I'm guessing (didn't read)
[</em>] Counselor Rec: amazing? (didn't read)
[<em>] Hook (if any): International student (though I've lived in the US for 7 years); finished 9 grades of Russian school, then got into one of the best high schools in NYC; have traveled a heck of a lot... would these count? I'm guessing they don't have too many Russians.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: NY
[<em>] School Type: public (specialized science high school)
[</em>] Ethnicity: Caucasian (Russian)
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: I didn't think my interview went that well (it was my first interview ever, and although I tried to prepare for it there were a couple of times when I didn't know what to say right away. Nevertheless, my interviewer was extremely nice and I think she liked me anyway.) Strengths were, I guess, the recommendations & the whole 'not being the average American' thing.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: Probably because out of the 7 people who applied from my school, I had the highest stats by far. (One more girl out of the 7 got in, the rest were deferred.) Although, after spending an hour reading this whole thread, I now feel terrible, because so many people who deserve this more than I do were deferred. I still don't know how this happened.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other Factors: National Merit Semifinalist, NYState Scholarship for Academic Excellence, Columbia University Science Honors Program, several classes at a local CUNY college. Extracurriculars: Key Club, Russian Cultural Society (treasurer, vice-pres), Photography, Readers' Society (secretary), Habitat for Humanity, math tutor, volunteer at a home for the aged
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: The admissions process is definitely messed up. Sure, I'm ecstatic, but at the same time I feel guilty. I really really hope that most of you who were deferred get in regular decision. And, if not, you'll get into other great schools, because you all have amazing qualifications! Congratulations to those who were already accepted!</p>
<p>"Although, after spending an hour reading this whole thread, I now feel terrible, because so many people who deserve this more than I do were deferred."</p>
<p>Don't say that :) Congratulations!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to finish up the Stanford app and go to sleep, night all.</p>
<p>Hehe, thanks! But, seriously.. I'm mostly glad about not having to spend all of my winter break filling out applications. I think I will still apply to MIT, though, just because that place and the people there are amazing, to say the least. And my MIT interview went much better than my Harvard one did.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2400
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 Chemistry
[<em>] GPA: 4.0 UW, something a bit higher for weighted
[</em>] Rank: 1/343
[<em>] Other stats: 15 AP 5s (National and State AP scholar)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: I thought they were quite strong. They weren't masterpieces of eloquent prose, but I felt that I really communicated my voice and dreams in both the common app and supplemental essays. The supplemental essay, in particular, was very raw and emotional.
[li] Teacher Recs: I had three recs. One was from a chemistry teacher, and it was a "best in 30-year career" sort of thing. </p>[/li]
<p>Another was from last year's english teacher, which worried me a bit; he liked me, and I was a decent student in his class, but I wasn't exceptional by any means. I suspect that he talked more about my personality than my classwork, which usually isn't good, but might have been better in this case. </p>
<p>My final, and probably most important, rec was from a math professor I worked with at a local (reasonably prestigious) college. I think that he was extremely positive; this rec may have gotten me into Harvard.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: This rec consisted mainly of 3 long quotes from teachers/administrators who didn't send recs themselves. They were all "best-in-career" too.
[</em>] Hook (if any): hmmm, RSI doesn't seem like a hook anymore. I really don't know.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Oregon
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: Strengths: scores, high school record, essay, 3/4 recs; Weaknesses: not incredible ECs, 1 rec may not have been as strong
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: I dunno, there probably wasn't one main reason - it was just the overall application.[/ul]</p>
<p>Other Factors:
Siemens Semi, All-State musician, other minor stuff</p>
<p>General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:
This process is insane, and I can't believe how many amazing people have been deferred.</p>
<p>LOL Matt forgets to add that he was awesome enough to get into Harvard without even sending in his CollegeBoard SAT Score Report!</p>
<p>Actually, personality is probably at least as important as classwork in teacher recommendations.</p>
<p>i am however bashing harvard. f-u-ck harvard.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Last year, of the 300 semifinalist, 81 were from LI, and 151 from NY in total.
[/quote]
Yet another reason some of you were deferred. Of the 151 from NY, probably over 100 applied to Harvard. Harvard would never fill that much of the EA class with very similar applicants. The bottom line is the competition was tough.</p>