<p>I’m not an adcom so I can’t answer that question. Just focus on the things you can control. Don’t worry about “putting your best foot forward”, worry about just showing them who you are.</p>
<p>Thanks CPU! I’ve been working on my essays quite a bit. Trying not to over think it.</p>
<p>is a C+ on a transcript an absolute rejection from schools like Harvard, princeton, yale, and stanford? I took an advanced math class and just didn’t succeed. I’d consider myself good at math, but my teacher moved too fast and it was a hard class. other than this class, i have pretty good grades overall and am involved in a few activities that i am really passionate about.</p>
<p>Admissions are holistic.</p>
<p>Does anyone know the approx. acceptance rate for Harvard SCEA?</p>
<p>I think 18%.</p>
<p>18% is about right. It’s a little deceptive though, I think.</p>
<p>Does SCEA confer any advantage to a candidate? I know that some people will say no, but I feel candidate just on the edge my get the benefit of the doubt from an admissions officer when applying early… Thoughts?</p>
<p>Currently I plan on applying SCEA, but is there actually a disadvantage? I read somewhere on cc that there was…</p>
<p>I’ve gathered the acceptance rate is only slightly higher due to the high caliber of students applying at that time. There may not be very a distinct advantage for more normal applicants.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1184853-warning-harvard-2016-ea-applicants-read-important-message.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1184853-warning-harvard-2016-ea-applicants-read-important-message.html</a></p>
<p>As sketchy as the above post may appear, I’d heed the warning it sets forth. To put it in perspective, I thought I had what it took to be accepted, but I guess I thought wrong. So here you have my Harvard saga.</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred
Then
Decision: Rejected</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (single-sitting, one take)
[</em>] ACT: N/A
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Phys, 800 MII, 800 Chem
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on 10 APs, 6 self-studied
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2 utility patents regarding electrical engineering and inorganic chemistry technological advances, 1st place Moodys Mega Math Challenge, 3 publications, USAChO finalist, USAPhO semifinalist, AIME qualifier, US National History Bowl qualifier, national-level impromptu speaker and parliamentary debater.</p>
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Technology Student Association for four years (President), Model United Nations for four years (Undersecretary General VP basically), Student Government for four years, Science League for four years, Tennis for three years (Varsity captain), JV Basketball, JV Soccer, distance runner (Half and full marathons), heavily involved musician (piano 10 years, alto, tenor, baritone sax 6 years, drums played 4 years, was in a band)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Research positions at Princeton University and Rutgers University for four years. Tutor in SATs, math, physics, chemistry, and public speaking/debate.
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Help manage a local cultural school for younger children as president of the school, coach Dale Carnegie courses in public speaking and leadership, volunteer with a local physical therapy group.
[</em>] Summer Activities: Governors School, simultaneous research positions at Princeton and Rutgers, training for sports and distance running
[<em>] Essays: Pretty good, I thought
[</em>] Teacher Recommendations: Great
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Good, I hope we had a great relationship
[</em>] Additional Rec: Phenomenal
[li] Interview: Invited me to dinner with he and his wife after 2.5 hours of chatting about everything you could possibly think of</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Objective stats and academic honors/awards
[</em>] Weaknesses: Presumably subjective matters and the essays. It simply could not have been objective metrics.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Guess I just wasnt Harvards type.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]General Comments: Be really careful guys. I was rejected by Harvard, but ended up getting into all the other schools and programs I applied to, some of which are arguably more selective than Harvard (Jerome Fisher M&T at UPenn, Stanford for out-of-Cal students in metropolitan areas). I spent 5x more time on my Harvard application than every other schools combined, for basically no positive gain. I am a year older than you all I gain nothing by trolling you. Feel free to message me privately if you have any questions or concerns.</p>
<p>I’m not saying this is the reason why you were rejected, but the school I tried the hardest on for the application (spent the most time on, like you) rejected me (a top tier school, less selective than Harvard). I think sometimes people get their “favorites” and then try so hard to impress them and it backfires. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Wow Swingline… your admission result is surprising. Regardless, you are a stellar applicant so I’m sure you got into other great schools. </p>
<p>Scenarios like this are why numerous students think that admissions to extremely selective schools is a crapshoot. I mean, if 2400s and 4.0s get rejected, what could they possibly be looking for? But that’s just it. At the end of the day, an admissions committee subjectively makes the final decision, which is why students shouldn’t mold themselves into what they think admissions officers want, they should follow their own interests. Sounds obvious but I know that even after reading this, some will still try to mold themselves into the ‘perfect’ college applicant.</p>
<p>How’s everyone’s app coming along?</p>
<p>Harvard SCEA!
Columbia
Princeton
Duke
UChicago
Tufts
WashU
Scripps
USC
Fordham
UIUC (priority action)
Miami of Ohio (priority action)</p>
<p>I was wondering something. I am giving the SATs on October and November (subjects). Theoretically I could apply for SCEA. There is a risk of not doing well but that in any case should be minimized by then. To what extent would regular application put me in a disadvantage and in what ways? With whom would I compete in the regular pool and thus less likely to be admitted? Hope my assumptions aint folly
Thanks :)</p>
<p>Hello everyone!</p>
<p>So I was sending my SAT scores to Harvard, and the message came up that collegeboard recommended sending all the scores since Harvard was considering the highest section scores across all the test dates.
The best sections scores from my two test dates were highlighted in red.</p>
<p>Is that true? Do they really consider the highest section scores? I decided to send all my sat scores, in addition to my one and only act score. </p>
<p>Also, if you send them more than two subject tests, do they usually try to consider only a candidate’s highest scores?</p>
<p>^Yes and Yes.</p>
<p>I still haven’t figured out my Common App or my supplementary essay yet… 'Tis a problem.</p>
<p>So far it’s;
Harvard
Wellesley
Yale
Princeton
Oxford</p>
<p>And I’m still working on my safeties. So much to do!</p>