<p>
[quote]
My prediction is that a much larger number of SCEA deferreds will be accepted this year than were accepted last year.
[/quote]
Why? 10 char</p>
<p>Byerly, why do you think so?</p>
<p>Probably from looking at the stats of people on here?</p>
<p>It could also be based on the number of SCEA applicants there was. Remember, about 4,000 ended up applying (about 200 less than in previous years). I am shocked to see how many strong candidates were deferred. I'm ok w/ being deferred. I'll just do my best to make my application as strong as possible for their further consideration. I'm applying to some other great schools (Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, etc.), so I'm not going to let this put a damper on my college application process. <em>sigh</em> 10 more schools to apply to in very little time :( And hey.... I'm still in the running... and so is everyone else who got deferred! I wonder though - was I a polite defer or a realistic defer? Guess I'll have an idea about that in April! Well, good luck to all of you! Good luck especially to all my fellow EAers who got deferred!!!</p>
<p>-Jon :)</p>
<p>Hazhulkhen: I don't see how the score record would hurt. It just means that it's one less thing to worry about -- the admissions officers would focus on other things.</p>
<p>Byerly....your comments ....all music to my ears..</p>
<p>Several reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Last year was uncharacteristic in that Harvard accepted a relatively small number of early applicant deferreds. I wouldn't be surprised to see the number double or more this year, while the number originally accepted EA/SCEA declines for at least the 4th year in a row.</p></li>
<li><p>I think Harvard - rather uniquely - is trying to de-emphasize EA. Admittedly, it is easier for them to do this, because their overall and RD admit rates are so high.</p></li>
<li><p>They seem increasingly committed to achieving a class with economic diversity, and the early pool is not yet overflowing with candidates from the lowest income quadrant, despite heavy recruiting efforts.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>i can't believe i'm deferred. 4.5 gpa and 2200+. My anti-hook is my azn status.</p>
<p>Zogoto: To be honest I think they deemed you too strong an applicant. I think they just want to make sure you are truly serious about attending. I'd send in notes, whatever. They know your stats will bring you into most schools, and perhaps they expected that this view was also one you happened to share. That is the only reason I can come up with to be honest. In your post, at the end, you said PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED or something. To me that says you expected an acceptance and so it makes me wonder if that "view/attitude" somehow showed itself in your application. Please correct me if I am wrong about any of this! I think you should write them a letter and emphasize your desire to attend and they will find it hard to say no.</p>
<p>just to give hope to the people with low scores</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 610V; 690M; 640W
[</em>] SAT IIs: French w/ Listening (480); Math 2C (690); US History (770)
[<em>] ACT
[</em>] GPA: 4.45 - 4.0 (unweighted)
[<em>] Rank: top 2%; class of 472
[</em>] Other stats: AP US History - 5
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: emotional & uplifting
[</em>] Teacher Recs: didn't read - neither teacher has ever written a rec for an Ivy League before - 1 of the teacher was a 2nd year teacher (taught me in her 1st year)
[<em>] Counselor Rec: didn't read - 2nd year counselor but she still knew me pretty well despite the large number of students
[</em>] Hook (if any): live on my own; asian not interested in science; geographic location; crappy school; 1st person in family to go to college
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: southern VA
[</em>] School Type: large & rural - no one has ever made it to an Ivy League, most drop out/go to community college; only top 50% take SAT (avg 961)
[<em>] Ethnicity: SE Asian - Vietnamese
[</em>] Gender: female
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: essays / College Board hates me - in all fairness, I only took the SAT I twice & the SAT IIs once. As for the French SAT score, I have taken French for 5 years and have always been top in my class. Unfortunately, French is not considered to be my school's top priority so a French 5 at my school is equivalent to, at most, French 3 at other schools.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: the adcoms are in the holiday spirit
[/ul]Other Factors: jobs take up a big part of my ecs. I worked 3 jobs in the summer - 2.5 (newspaper carrier is the .5) during school year (~40 hrs/week)
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: I was really afraid of posting my stats bc it was so undeserving compared to everyone else's. To those who got deferred/rejected, my best wishes go to you guys, but you probably won't need it. I know you'll succeed wherever you will be.</p>
<p>MusikAznGirl you are an inspiration to those of us who are not like zogota</p>
<p>I wonder, were Siemens national finalists maybe deferred for the same reasons as the RSI students? Our #1 and #2 individual winners got in today, as did our one of our #3 team members (who was the highest placing team applying EA). #3 individual (me), #5 individual, one of the #5 team members, and one of the #6 team members were all deferred. And even besides myself, I look at the stats of these people compared to those of some of the acceptances today and wonder how they didn't get in. Is it possible they're just "saving us" for RD, or maybe for some of us, there's a similar situation to zogoto's?</p>
<p>Wait a minute, zogoto, the more I read about you and a few of your compatriots, the more I think something else is happening. It appears (although you as an insider must have a better grasp of this) something went amiss with RSI and Harvard admissions this year. Could some interesting politics have been played out?</p>
<p>There's nothing between RSI and Harvard that I know of. It turns out it was just a little less than average: we had a 60% EA rate.</p>
<p>And no, I thought I would not get in, but for a different reason. Another kid from my school is about as strong as me or possibly even stronger (RSI alternate, too, with a 2400 and stuff). No one ever gets into Harvard from my school so I figured his getting in would stop me from getting in. However, we were both deferred. That makes me think I was rejected on my own merit. </p>
<p>I also want to know my weaknesses so I play them down/cover for them on other apps. A lot of times, I have to leave out important awards/leadership roles since there aren't enough lines, so I could switch some out?</p>
<p>Decision: ACCEPTED</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 800 M 670 V 670 W
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800 Physcics 800 Math IIC 780 Chem 760 BioM
[<em>] ACT: did not take
[</em>] GPA: around 4.0 UW
[<em>] Rank: not available
[</em>] Other stats: 5 on ap calc ab, bc, physics c M, E&M, Bio, Chem, 3 on ap lang
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: ok, but not great (wrote them the weekend before 11/01 @@)
[</em>] Teacher Recs: did not read, good i suppose
[<em>] Counselor Rec: good (i think)
[</em>] Hook (if any):
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Taiwan, US Permanent Resident
[</em>] School Type: private, small, 46 in my class
[<em>] Ethnicity: asian
[</em>] Gender: male
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: strengths - ap scores, versatility (music, varsity basketball, drill team...) weakness - no national competitions
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: decent interview, well-roundedness
[/ul]Other Factors: emails from a minority recruiter
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: congrats to all others who got in! im so excited!</p>
<p>back from a really good dinner...</p>
<p>dha, zogoto, guitarman, spyder - You guys are amazing and its a shock that all of you were deferred. Don't lose hope and get in RD. I hope to see you all at Harvard next year.</p>
<p>I am sorry to burst everyone's bubble but everyone seems to think that good people getting deferred signifies some great injustice. FIrst of all there are many thing stats don't tell about a persons chances, most people who apply to harvard have great stats. Second of all, it seems like many automatically assumed they would get in, rather cocky condiering it is harvard. All of you will do great no matter where you go and I'm sure I'll be eating these words when I get my Yale EA decision on Friday.</p>
<p>I really don't think many applicants made "cocky assumptions". There may be other schools where they could do so, but Harvard is not one of them</p>
<p>*Decision: Deferred *</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: Math - 700, CR -740, W - 660
[</em>] SAT IIs: French w/ listening - 770, Bio E - 750, Math 2c - 800
[<em>] GPA: 95% on a percentage scale
[</em>] Rank: my school doesn't rank
[li] Other stats: </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: super
[</em>] Teacher Recs: fabulous
[<em>] Counselor Rec: glowing
[</em>] Hook (if any): "Most Outstanding Grade 11 Student" at my school, which sends 2-3 people to Harvard a year</p>
<p>[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Canada
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: white
[</em>] Gender: female
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: great ec's and recs/test scores and being an international
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: Too many people applying a) from my school and b) from Canada... of the people I know at my school applying - one is a legacy and another has a 97% average and gets recognized on every science/math contest</p>
<p>[/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:
Maybe it's a sign I should stay in Canada? Whatever happens, I'll still make sure to have fun at uni!</p>
<p>*Decision: Deferred *</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 760R 740M 630W (W is low)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 730US 730Lit 670IC (IC is low)
[<em>] ACT: 32 & 33
[</em>] GPA: 4.19
[<em>] Rank: 1
[</em>] Other stats: Student Delegate to Board of Education, District Advisory Council Cabinet Member, Consultant to Asian Heritage Street Festival (50,000 estimated attendees), Mock Trial President (San Francisco Champions), State Assembly Certificate of Recognition for community service, San Francisco City Certificate of Honor, $10,000 Margaret O'Donnet top S.F. student leader award, School JSA Founder/President, JSA Norcal Speaker Pro-tempore, school Populist Party founder/president/editor, California Scholarship Federation President, DonorsChoose student board member, Lifetime California State Arts Scholar for Theater Arts, Tutor, School Site Council Secretary, Parent Teacher Student Association Executive Board Member, Student Admissions Officer for School, Williams College Book Award, numerous other awards and events attended. One random one is Prom Prince.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Truly, I wrote from my heart. One about how I changed, another about my gov't experience.
[</em>] Teacher Recs: My teachers did the very best for me, and I am soo appreciative.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: He's been so good to me, he considers me one of the best, ever.
[</em>] Community Recs: San Francisco Superintendant, former Board of Education President, Partner at Law Firm,
[<em>] Hook (if any): Deferred
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: California
[<em>] School Type: Public Arts Magnet High School
[</em>] Ethnicity: Chinese
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: Strengths: I had great community and support from other people. I think that I just was not able to show my individuality and my capabilities on my own. Plus I had two relatively low scores, and the rest were only acceptable. I did well on my ACTs though. I also truly think that although I have great ecs, I was caught up in the impression that many people with so many ecs have no personality, or that they only do it for college. Maybe my greatest asset is my weakness (for Harvard), which is scary.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: [/li][/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:
I guess, thinking back, I wish there was somehow that I could express how much I love everything I did. I sent in a resume, but I think that list just told them that I did a lot of stuff, and didn't tell them the passion behind doing that. I hope that in explaining my passion, I might be looked at in a different light. I really am proud of everyone that made it, and of course I sympathize with everyone who didn't! How can they make such harsh decisions? I hope everyone doesn't lose hope, I lost hope for a while and cried a little bit, but I hope to pull myself back up, and maybe they'll see that. I wish every deferral the best of luck, I hope we all get into a top college of choice!! </p>
<p>Even though I'm a 'lurker', I'm attracted to this board because everyone seems largely so friendly!</p>