<p>Thanks @matrixsurgeon. I agree that letters are a much better way to find out! I don’t think I could put myself through another couple of days though, especially since I’m on the west coast and would be one of the last people to find out. </p>
<p>@TheW8iskillingme Ahh that stinks. But maybe it’s good you took a break, and then can go back to debate in college. It is an amazing thing! I also lost my partner this year because he graduated and went off to get a college debate partner and do awesomely without me and stuff. haha.</p>
<p>@Jhsu320 Well I’m homeschooled, and I’ve done almost every event in the Christian homeschool league. Team Policy, Parli (ours is more similar to NPDA than BP), LD (values), OO, persuasive, Dramatic interp, Humorous interp, Duo interp, Open interp, Apologetics, Extemp, Impromptu…this year, I’m doing five speeches and two types of debate. There’s a reason speech and debate is really my only EC. :P</p>
<p>@rundancelove Atleast you’ll find out before me. International here.</p>
<p>I never had a chance to do debate in HS. Maybe I’ll try it in college, along with mock trial, model UN, and theatre. :D</p>
<p>I want to try theatre! I want to try a lot of things actually! I’m just excited for the opportunity to start over and discover more about myself!</p>
<p>Yesss you all must do theatre. I am a stage manager for a professional company and for my school productions, and I basically help run the theatre programme at my school. It has taken over my life in the best way possible. (I wrote about this for my required supplemeny essay.) At the end of every show, the cast picks me up and brings me out onto the stage, chanting my name to a very confused audience. It’s horrible but amazing at the same time. If you don’t want to act, AT LEAST do stage crew or something. Theatre creates such awesome bonds; you won’t regret it. :)</p>
<p>Yeah, I really want to try new things in college. Definitely be active in a lot more sports. </p>
<p>I had a lot of leadership positions in high school, which was great and awesome, but it really limited my chances to explore and try new activities. </p>
<p>@LAMuniv I wrote about theatre too! I wrote about this Shakespeare program I did, and being selected as Hamlet my senior year and how playing the role affected me personally etc </p>
<p>@TheW8iskillingme oh my god, I have a Shakespeare obsession, haha. Hey, if you know Hamlet, do you happen to know the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard?</p>
<p>Does being an international student decrease my chances or increase them (diversity, etc.)?</p>
<p>@chocolatechipcu Depends on where you’re from. Some people insist that East Asian internatoinal students don’t have any harder time than the U.S. students, but logically, that doesn’t make sense. Harvard or other Ivys always keep international student population within 10% of the whole student body, and they will probably watch the regional distribution to keep the diversity. But there are so many people applying from East Asia (so that some countries can’t even offer interview in spite of a big alumni population), so apparently, you might have harder time getting in if you’re an East Asian. But if you’re from the region that doesn’t have a good amount of population to represent itself (for a random example, the polynesian islands), you might have a better chance. Of course, it’s never gonna be the golden ticket to Harvard. </p>
<p>@humanities2014 I am from Mexico, specifically Mexico City. I’m not really sure if there are many applicants from here- so far, I know two applicants. The thing is, I am worried because both of them got an interview, and I didn’t, even though I have higher stats than them. I know that stats aren’t everything, but I thought I had a very strong application and I worked very hard on it and my essays were very strong and emphasized my URM status. I honestly thought I had an amazing application, I put a lot of time into my essays and I’ve had a really good record all throughout high school with many APs, community service, extracurriculars, etc. But then why didn’t I get an interview? 
Am I doomed? </p>
<p>Interview assignments should be random. Actually, as far as I know, many schools assign interviewers before they even open the admission package. I don’t know if Harvard is the same, but there’s a good possibility that it is. And the school said that the interview assignment is not an indicator of acceptance, and they wouldn’t be giving a false information just to comfort some students. </p>
<p>Nobody knows who’s doomed except for the admission officers… Cheers, we now have three days until the Ivy Day! </p>
<p>@humanities2014 Well, according to anecdotal evidence and a history of interviewers telling international applicants this, in countries with limited interviews (Mexico) they choose only the strongest applicants to interview, since those are the ones that always end up getting in in the end. There apparently have been some cases of international students in countries with limited interviewers getting in without an interview, but apparently they are very, very rare.
AHHHHH why can’t Thursday just come….
Either way, thanks for the information! Haha just freaking out to myself. :S</p>
<p>So I have a very odd application, and I wanted your guys opinions on it. I had absolutely no interest in going to Harvard until senior year rolled around. But I decided hey, why not? So here’s my stats: 2nd In class (out of 40), 3.6-3.7 GPA, taken AP US, AP Gov, AP economics, AP English, AP psychology (all courses offered at my school) and gotten As in all of them (didn’t have the money to pay for the ap exams). I got letters of recs from my ap English, ap psychology, ap us, Precalc teacher, and a personal letter of rec (all saying that I have enormous potential and I’m a strong student), I have 3 years of computer networking/IT work. I’m head drummer in jazz band, marching band, normal band. I held president/vp/secretary in NHS, student council, senior/junior class, and I was in Drama for two years (that’s all the EC that my school offers short of chorus). I donate my time and effort in community by helping them with computer related stuff, helping churches and playing soccer every weekend in the community. I bell rang for the Salvation Army and the NHA (200+ hours). I’ve made my confirmation at church. I played soccer my sophomore year. I gave a presentation to the board of education at my school on the proposal of using Google apps (was approved), I also built a homemade interactive smart board for $10. I was #1 in the world at rock band for almost two years too. I also wrote my essay on how I wanted Harvard for the opportunities not the prestige (which my teachers loved) and my common app essay on abnormal acceptance (I’ve received letters from colleges I’ve been accepted into saying it was the best they’ve ever read).Now here comes the interesting part. 1560 on the SATs. However when I had my Harvard interview I told her I didn’t have SAT prep courses available, no help or a private tutor. Upon telling her this, she wrote it all up and seemed impressed with however I worded the SATs being a disappointment but not a failure. I then told her that I was the only guy going to college in my class and she became very ecstatic. Long story short when I left the interview, her final words to me were “you are clearly going to do something great with your life, I’m going to write you a glowing letter of recommendation”. I’m also a legacy. So here’s my question, do you Harvard will truly live up to “holistic” admissions or will the SATs completely kill me? I know of at least one person with 1600s at Harvard already. (sorry for the poor structure of this post). </p>
<p>I really should have proof read that first lol. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You have an hour to go back and revise it!</p>
<p>@musicjunkiiie
You have a pretty good record, but it’s true that your SATs are low. However, the fact that you’re a legacy helps (as long as it was one of your parents who attended Harvard for undergrad- otherwise, I’m not sure how helpful it is).
Are you really the only one in your grade going to college? Where are you from, if I may ask?
The truth is that Harvard really does practice holistic admissions- I think that in general, acceptances really come down to a “feeling” that admissions officers get about an applicant. They don’t want to fill their entire class with 4.0 valedictorians- they want a diverse class of passionate, dedicated, talented students who have potential. These days, with the low acceptance rates, it is very hard to predict whether or not someone will get in. In your case, don’t lose hope!! Harvard officers may look past the SATs if you have other amazing personal qualities. You just never know what they want this year, so no one knows for sure if they will get in or not. Just stay optimistic, there really is a chance that you got in this year. You never know. :)</p>
<p>@chocolatechipcu Thank you very much for your optimistic words, it makes me feel slightly less unqualified haha 
I’m expecting a rejection, but maybe something strange will happen and I will get wait listed or accepted. And to answer your question I am from upstate New York. I’m pretty sure we have more cows than people in my town lol</p>
<p>@Musicjunkiiie I know that feel (with the cows); I attend school in a city about an hour away from me, but I come from a small farming community… there’s a buffalo farm down my road, haha.</p>