Official Harvard RD Decisions - Class of 2010

<p>i'm still waiting too.</p>

<p>Decision: REJECTED</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 640 W 700 M 740 R
[</em>] SAT IIs: 770 MIIC 730 Chem
[<em>] GPA: 4.4 W 3.95 UW
[</em>] Rank: N/A
[<em>] Other stats: N/A
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: Good?
[<em>] Teacher Recs: Good?
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Good?
[<em>] Hook (if any): I pursued my goal of majoring in CS very seriously with extra classes, self-teaching, etc?
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: NorCal
[<em>] School Type:Public ~ Way too competitive
[</em>] Ethnicity: Indian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[/ul]Other Factors:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars: not much
[<em>] Why I think I was rejected: Not that great stats, not much EC
[</em>] Other thoughts: I'm all good. Got into 7 other colleges incl. Cornell, UC Berk, UCLA, etc.
[/ul]</p>

<p>DECISION: Wait listed</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<pre><code>* SAT: 2140 (770M, 710 V, 670W)
* SAT IIs: 730 Chem, 690USH 770 IIC
* GPA: 3.8 UW 4.3 UW
* Rank: 4
* Other stats: 5 on 4 Ap test, 4 on one 3 on one
</code></pre>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<pre><code>* Essays: good i'm assumming
* Teacher Recs: one awesome letter, one pretty good
* Counselor Rec: good
* Hook (if any):
</code></pre>

<p>Location/Person:</p>

<pre><code>* State or Country: CA
* School Type: Suburban
* Ethnicity: South Asian
* Gender: Male
</code></pre>

<p>Other Factors:</p>

<pre><code>* Extracurriculars: Robotics, Rocket club founder, guitar clubs
* Why I think I was accepted/deferred: good essays, and reccomendations
* Other thoughts:
I can live with it, i would rather go to MIT , had no intent of going to harvard
</code></pre>

<p>Decision: REJECTED</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[li] SAT: 2140 M-740 R-730 W-670[/li][li] SAT IIs: USHistory-740 Chemistry-770 MathIIC-680[/li][li] GPA: **3.98[/li][li] **Rank: **9/229[/li][li] **ACT: **31 [/li][li] **Other stats: Took 5 APs up to this point, 4 on four of them, 3 on one. This may have looked bad... was totally expecting at least 5's on three of them.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[li] Essays: Risky... I did them entirely on my own so maybe some errors, but people have told me they were "good" risks.[/li][li] Teacher Recs: Probably Excellent - my teachers love me and one says I'm one of the brightest he's ever taught = good sign for rec[/li][li] Counselor Rec: Probably very good -- I hope she mentioned I have the hardest schedule in senior class... would be rank 1 with weighted ;o[/li][li] Hook (if any): Very involved in church, leading everything - serving in National Presbyterian General Assembly this summer as Youth Delegate.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[li] State or Country: Oregon[/li][li] School Type: Public[/li][li] Ethnicity: Korean[/li][li]** Gender:** Male</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other Factors: Senior class president, senate president, tennis captain, model UN president, praise leader, bible study leader, Presby. GA delegate, newspaper editor, bowling team, tutor, NHS, soccer, ... yeah...
General Comments: Meh... my test scores could be better -- I was scoring 800's on practice Math SATI's and IIC's but couldn't pull it on test day. Oh well. Also took the ACT with 2 hours of prep total... could have easily pulled that to a 33-34, I think. Oh well.</p>

<p>Just came in... Rejected. <em>sigh</em> Oh well. Best of luck to everyone who is still waiting, and congrats to those who got in.</p>

<p>chidori you are an inspiration to all of us "low" GPA'ers.</p>

<p>Congrats</p>

<p>WAITLISTED...stats later</p>

<p>thanks jason ^__^</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted!!!!</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (by section): 800 Math, 800 Verbal, 770 Writing
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800 MathIIC, 800 Physics, 800 Latin
[<em>] ACT: N/A
[</em>] APs: All 5's= Calculus BC, Latin: Vergil, European History, Art History, Physics C, Latin Literature, U.S. History, Chemistry
[<em>] IBs: N/A
[</em>] GPA, Weighted and Unweighted: 4.0 UW, 4.77 W
[<em>] Rank: 1/89
[</em>] Senior Yr Courseload: Hard stuff!
[<em>] Number of Apps from Your School: ~10
[</em>] Other stats: National Merit Semi-Finalist, National AP Scholar
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] ECs listed on app: 4 Years Latin Honor Society; Vice-President 1 Year, President 2 Years
4 Years Girls Varsity Soccer; Captain 1 Year
4 Years Girls Varsity Tennis; Captain 2 Years
3 Years National Honor Society; President for 2 Years
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Internship at MIT
[<em>] Essays (subject and responses): Reflective, very good...?
[</em>] Teacher Recs: Great
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Great
[</em>] Interview (feel and general location): Low-key, friendly, we still keep in touch!
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] Optional Essay Submitted? Yes
[</em>] State or Country: California
[<em>] School Type, Average Stats of School: Private
[</em>] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[<em>] Income Bracket: Upper Middle Class
[</em>] Gender: Female
[<em>] Hooks: Siemens Westinghouse Semi-Finalist
[</em>] Strengths/Weaknesses: Who knows...
[li] Why you think you were accepted/wait listed/denied: Valedictorian, National AP Scholar, Siemens Westinghouse Semi-Finalist, Captain of two varsity sports[/li][/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: I'm still waiting for Princeton, but so far, I've been accepted to EVERY SINGLE COLLEGE!! WOOOH. Congratulations to everyone!!! :) :)</p>

<p>What is this all about????!!!!! I´ve been waiting for almost two hours and a half. No e-mail yet. This is crazy!</p>

<p>*Decision:Accepted *</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2370 (1570)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800 WH, 800 USH, 670 Math IC
[<em>] GPA: 97/100 UW
[</em>] Rank: 4/480
[<em>] Other stats: National Merit Commended Student; National Achievement Scholar
[</em>] Deferred?: Accepted Yale EA
[<em>] # of apps from your school: at least 3
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: 1 great, other average
[<em>] Teacher Recs: Outstanding
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Outstanding
[<em>] Hook (if any): URM with great stats
[</em>] Important ECs: NHS president, Quiz Bowl President/Captain, Varsity Volleyball, Varsity Basketball, History Club, School Newspaper
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: New York
[</em>] School Type: Private Catholic
[<em>] Ethnicity: African-American
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses:
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted:
[li] Is Harvard your #1 choice?: Yale probably still is[/li][/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: I had already gotten into Yale, Duke, UVa, and Emory, and am so exhausted with all this college crap that I was just like, "wow I got into Harvard, nice." Congratulations to everyone.
If you didn't get in, really don't worry about it. Back in December, I got into Yale and thought it would change my entire life. Really it means nothing.</p>

<p>*Decision: Rejected *</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2280
[</em>] SAT IIs: Lit 720, Math IC 720, Bio 770
[<em>] ACT: N/A
[</em>] GPA: 3.8/4.4
[<em>] Rank: 6/138
[</em>] Other stats: 4 in English and Composition, 5 in US history, 8 AP classes taken in total.
[<em>] Deferred?: RD applied
[</em>] # of apps from your school: 3, I think?
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: One really good one, the other was alright, I liked it personally.
[</em>] Teacher Recs: Stellar
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Supposedly good
[</em>] Hook (if any): URM status (I guess?)
[<em>] Important ECs: Best Debater on my Team, President of Chess Club, NHS member, Piano, the rest is insignificant
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: TX
[<em>] School Type: Small Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: African American
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: Good scores and good essays, for all-intensive purposes/Nothing resounding about my application, weak ECs since I didn't make any up when I applied =)
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted: Not sure. Considering URM status, I was fairly hopeful that I would make it, since applications from my region/school are generally weak.<br>
[</em>] Is Harvard your #1 choice?: Yale is, but if I got R'd from Harvard, I doubt Yale will take me
[/ul]Other Factors: I'm underaged by about two years, meaning I'm 15 right now. I think it ultimately worked against me. Having no car, and living in an area with no public transportation, I had to cancel an interview because my dad had jury duty, and couldn't bring me. I'm sure the adcom heard about that. Also, I have no work experience, since I've been too young to work up until a few months ago. At first, I thought it would be beneficial (you know, one of those prodigy kids who's 11 gets in every year, so I figured I had a shot too), but now, I'm almost certain it hurt me.</p>

<p>General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: I blame my school for my rejection. It has an extremely awkward block schedule, so that there's rarely enough time to take many AP classes (there's only 4 classes per semester instead of 7/8 like other schools), and there are no sports at all, so that's not even an option. An adcom probably saw my app and noticed the lack of anything even remotely related to sports, and thought I was lazy (even though I don't really have an option in that regard.) Also, because my Speech teacher was too lazy to get AP certification, AP Debate wasn't offered, and that probably destroyed my GPA more than anything else. I've taken about 5 speech classes, all of which served to lower my class rank and GPA. This is what I get for "persuing my interests." What a joke.</p>

<p>When I think about it, I can't see any way in which I could have improved my application. I could have taken all my tests over again (though it probably wouldn't have mattered, since tests are my strong point), but in terms of ECs, there's little else I could have done. I volunteer often, but my school offers so little opportunities.</p>

<p>I'm mad at the world right now. My dad is going to kill me when he finds out.</p>

<p>waitlisted</p>

<p>JohnDoe--Don't worry about it. Harvard is one of the toughest schools in the world to get into and thousands of truly amazing students get rejected--your dad has no right to get mad at you! Don't worry about it ;)</p>

<p>waitlisted here, too!!!</p>

<p>JohnDoe-
Your accomplishments for a 15 year old are incredible! If I were you, I would seriously consider taking a "gap year" if you can. Going to college, any college, as a 15 or 16 year old is a very tough task, both academically and also socially.
Good luck to you. Your dad should be very proud!</p>

<p>Decision:Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 1st try-660m,680v 2nd try-790w,790m,670w
[</em>] SAT IIs: 770 US History, 730 Biology, 670 Math
[<em>] GPA:4.225 w, 3.95 uw
[</em>] Rank: 13/808
[<em>] # of apps from your school:I's gues around 40
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: I guess good enough, I liked them
[<em>] Teacher Recs: great, I got to read them
[</em>] Counselor Rec: good but very bland
[<em>] Hook (if any): URM interested in biology/medicine
[</em>] Important ECs:varsity soccer 4 years, jack and jill 11 years
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Los Angeles, CA
[</em>] School Type: urban public but I'm in the gifted magnet
[<em>] Ethnicity: African American
[</em>] Gender: F
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: Many I'm sure
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted: URM helped but I still think mystats were great
[li] Is Harvard your #1 choice?: nope[/li][/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:
Congrats to all, for those of you waitlisted don't be too worried, I;m not going so theres at least one more spot for you. Good Luck to all and remeber, Ivies aren't everything (not even harvard)</p>

<p>reject. </p>

<p>they don't have to be "very sorry". they don't have to be "sorry" at all. why did their rejection letter have to be SO LONG? a penetrating pain.</p>

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 690M/690V/700W
[</em>] SAT IIs: 740 Physics, 740 Chem, 680 US History, 710 Math I, 690 Math 2
[<em>] ACT: 31
[</em>] GPA: 3.4 UW
[<em>] Rank: school does not rank
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: Good, I'd say
[<em>] Teacher Recs: excellent
[</em>] Counselor Rec: excellent
[<em>] Hook (if any): Homemade nuclear fusion reactor (see my website: <a href="http://www.brian-mcdermott.com)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brian-mcdermott.com)&lt;/a>, I was featured in a feature-length documentary movie about the "end of oil" and "energy of the future" which will air on TV or in theaters in the spring, had data subtantiated by professors at MIT and other universities.
[</em>] Important ECs: Fusion (see above), Dept. of Energy National Science Bowl (national ranking), National Ocean Science Bowl (2nd place nationally), Science Olympiad (captain), Amateur Rocketry (computer designed and simualted fuel and engines), Hiking/Outdoors, National Student Leadership Conference
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: MA
[</em>] School Type: public, 1300 students
[<em>] Ethnicity: white
[</em>] Gender: male
[<em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: Strengths-extracurricular achievement; Weakness-grades and scores
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted: not a clue
[li] Is Harvard your #1 choice?: It would have been if I had been accepted[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:
I'd actually be upset right now if I hadn't already been accepted at 6 peer institutions. The MIT waitlist stung a lot more than a Harvard rejection, the latter of which was essentially like getting a letter telling me that I didn't win the lottery.</p>

<p>[ size=+1][ color=blue][ b]Decision: ACCEPTED [ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT I (by section): 710-Math 700-Writing 680-CR (2090 incase you can’t count)
[ *] SAT IIs: 720- Bio(E) 720- MathI 720- MathII 710 US History
[ *] ACT: N/A
[ *] APs: Bio-5 Stats-5 English Lang.-4 US History-4
[ *] IBs: Not offered at my school
[ *] GPA, Weighted and Unweighted: 96/125
[ *] Rank: 1/160
[ *] Senior Yr Courseload: AP Calc AB, AP French 6, AP Lit, Engineering, AP Micro and Macro, AP Government
[ *] Number of Apps from Your School: Not quite sure, two or three others with higher test scores but not as good ECs, grades or reputation among faculty/in community (Basically they’re smart but socially akward).
[ *] Other stats: Tons of academic awards at my school in all subjects.
[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] ECs listed on app: Various leadership awards, Harvard Book Award, Musical Theatre lead, Student Body President, Yearbook EIC, founder of science team etc.
[ *] Job/Work Experience: Summer camp counselor
[ *] Essays (subject and responses): Summer on the Appalachian trail, I don’t know what you mean by response… my English teacher liked it. EC one about student council and working with the school board to get big policy changes. Personal voice.
[ *] Teacher Recs: I only was shown one, said I was “The best science student she’s ever had.” I assume the other was awesome (from my Student council advisor and teacher of two years who adores me). Also had a rec from my principal who adores me.
[ *] Counselor Rec: I assume it was good; she was pulling for me but didn’t know me fabulously.
[ *] Interview (feel and general location): Interviewer said I was the best interview he’d had in twenty years and that they’d be stupid not to accept me. We talked for four hours in a coffee shop.
[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Optional Essay Submitted? About how I love Biology and why but at the same time that I love to learn and have endless academic interests. (It was more interesting than it sounds)
[ *] State or Country: Maine. Yes it’s good for the geographic diversity thing but my school/county is the best in the state so it’s not like I’m from Hicksville where I’m the first kid to apply to an Ivy. At the same time the level of competition/college craziness here is still not nearly as high as elsewhere in the country. I didn’t know what IB was or what this Intel competition was until coming to this site. Nobody I know does research during the summer or anything like that; I think that there is something to be said for this sort of ignorance. Colleges end up liking kids who are somewhat in the dark about the whole process because you get the real person, not just the person who did things because they were caught up in the hype.
[ *] School Type, Average Stats of School: Great public school, 98 percent go to college, always have a ten or so kids at the top schools.
[ *] Ethnicity: White
[ *] Income Bracket: top
[ *] Gender: Female
[ *] Hooks: Maine perhaps, attended a semester school spring of junior year.
[ *] Strengths/Weaknesses: GREAT interview(See above)/Scores not great compared to rest of applicant pool
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/wait listed/denied: I think I was just genuine and real. (See Maine blurb) It just goes to show that you DON’T need to be a legacy national champion violinist researching a cure for cancer to be able to go to the top US schools. Also, if you (future applicants), like me, have strong grades and have been recognized by your school with awards etc., and are at the top of your class, but your test scores aren’t totally where you would expect (50 or so points shy), you can still get into these schools. THERE IS HOPE! The bottom line is that I was fun, real, a leader, and genuine, and they saw that and it made up for those less than par scores and non-prodigy status.
[ /list][ b]Other Factors:[ /b] I think I covered it.
[ b]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc:[ /b] I hope this helps future applicants. I remember looking at these threads last year and thinking, “If these people with perfect stats got rejected, how will I get in?” You are wonderful, let them know it! Other than that, I’M SO EXCITED! (Sorry this is so long too.)</p>