* Official Harvard University 2018 RD Decisions Only*

Nineveh · March 19, 2014, 7:36pm

Everyone,

It's getting close to decision day (7 days).

So, I thought I'd start one of these, copying the format from the SCEA thread.

Post using the template below, but add your own stats/details. Remember that more detailed responses will provide future applicants with more information.

Choose One:
[ b][ color=green]Decision: Accepted[/color=green]
[ color=yellow]Decision: Waitlisted[/color=yellow]
[ color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]**

[ b]Objective:**
[ list]
[]SAT I (breakdown):
[]ACT (breakdown):
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses):
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
[]AP (place score in parentheses):
[]IB (place score in parentheses):
[]Senior Year Course Load:
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/li][/list]

[ b]Subjective:**
[ list]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
[]Job/Work Experience:
[]Volunteer/Community Service:
[]Summer Activities:
[]Essays:
[]Teacher Recommendations:
[]Counselor Rec:
[]Additional Rec:
[li]Interview:[/li][/list]

[ b]Other**
[ list]
[]State (if domestic applicant):
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type:
[]Ethnicity:
[]Gender:
[]Income Bracket:
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/li][/list]

[ b]Reflection**
[ list]
[]Strengths:
[]Weaknesses:
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied:
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:[/li][/list]

chocolatechipcu · March 19, 2014, 8:31pm

Choose One: I WILL EDIT LATER, NO DECISION YET! Just wanted to get a little ahead and be ready to post for when it comes out
[ b][ color=green]Decision: Accepted[/color=green]
[ color=yellow]Decision: Waitlisted[/color=yellow]
[ color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]**

[ b]Objective:**
[ list]
[]SAT I (breakdown): 2110 superscore; 730 CR, 640 M, 740 W
[]ACT (breakdown): Did not take
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Spanish, 700 Math 1, 660 Biology Molecular, 640 US History, 760 Literature
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): My school has it out of 100 and does not calculate it unweighted. Mine is 93.994/100 WEIGHTED.
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school does not rank
[]AP (place score in parentheses):
English Language (5)
Comparative Government and Politics (4)
Biology (3)
English Literature (5)
US History (4)
Spanish (5)

[]IB (place score in parentheses): None- I’m taking one IB this year
[]Senior Year Course Load: AP Art History, AP Calculus AB, IB Psychology SL, and the rest are regular classes that are required to fulfill my course requirements
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Head of Upper School’s Honor Roll (all semesters of high-school thus far); National Honor Society; AP International Diploma; AP Scholar with Distinction; Outstanding Student in Social Studies (9th grade); Outstanding Student in English (11th grade); two Honorable Mentions in different years for art in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards[/li][/list]

[ b]Subjective:**
[ list]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Literary magazine (Editor-in-Chief); music (singing and self-taught at piano and guitar, have performed in various school events since I was 13, used to play in the subway, recorded a professional CD with my band in 2011); art (also a long-term activity for which I have won two Honorable Mentions in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards); independent writing of poems, stories, memoirs, etc.; Model United Nations (Moderator)
[]Job/Work Experience: None
[]Volunteer/Community Service: “Signs”, or a community service club for deaf and blind children in Mexico (Officer); Gamma Club Teacher, which is a club dedicated to teaching underprivileged children in Mexico for free; Habitat for Humanity; opportunity volunteering with the elderly and Red Cross; packing for food drives at school; etc.
[]Summer Activities: Traveling with my family, journalism camp at Boston University (although this will have no effect on my decision, since I didn’t put this anywhere in my application)
[]Essays: I wrote the Common App one about being in the car during long rides that I have with my family during family trips. The additional essay was about my move back from Boston to Mexico four years ago, and how I had believed that moving back to Mexico after 5 years of Boston was the end of the world. Then, how I realized that Mexico opened so many doors for me.
[]Teacher Recommendations: I had a lot of recommendations, since I think my counselor submitted an extra one that she was not supposed to (I hope that doesn’t affect my decision…). I only saw one of them (the one that I wrote about in the Additional Rec section), and the other three I’m sure were very good. One of them I know was stellar, since I had been my English teacher’s best student for two years in AP English classes.
[]Counselor Rec: No idea. She doesn’t know me too well, to be honest, so I hope she didn’t think I am a mediocre student…
[]Additional Rec: US History teacher, whom I have had a close relationship with since 11th grade. I was able to see it and it was wonderful, talked about how there are “very few students” like me in both academic and personal qualities.
[li]Interview: Did not get one[/li][/list]

[ b]Other**
[ list]
[]State (if domestic applicant): N/A
[]Country (if international applicant): Mexico
[]School Type: Private, American system, Large (around 200 people in my grade)
[]Ethnicity: Mexican-American
[]Gender: Female
[]Income Bracket: N/A
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, father went to Harvard for graduate school (don’t know if this helps)[/li][/list]

[ b]Reflection**
[ list]
[]Strengths: URM, lots of community service, multiple awards, some leadership, amazing essays that focused on personal aspects rather than academic ones
[]Weaknesses: test scores, GPA, not many national awards or honors
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: To be edited
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Williams, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Wellesley, Tufts, Cornell, and Dartmouth
[]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: To be edited
[/list] :-

Nineveh · March 19, 2014, 10:32pm

Hi again everyone,

I forgot to mention this in the post instructions, but you need to delete the spaces in the template, e.g. write [сolor=green] instead of [ color=green], to make the formatting work.

Also, good luck Chocolatechipcu

AimHigh2 · March 20, 2014, 9:56pm

Will decisions come out in batches or all at once?

LAMuniv · March 27, 2014, 10:04pm

[color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (760 CR, 740 M, 770 W)
[]ACT (breakdown): didn’t send
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): math II (610) chem (580) they’re atrocious, I know; don’t judge me
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School doesn’t report
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t report
[]AP (place score in parentheses): chem (4)
[]IB (place score in parentheses): School doesn’t offer
[]Senior Year Course Load: Ancient Greek, AP physics, AP calc BC, AP English lit, AP stats, independent study in Shakespeare’s Henriad (trimester), logic and set theory (trimester)
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None, unless the following count: Wellesley Book Award, International Thespian Society, National Honor Society, and semi-finalist in Smith College Poetry Contest, and Best Attorney award for my state’s mock trial championships[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): mock trial (founding member, captain, defense lead attorney, social media), literary magazine (managing editor (president)), Gay, Lesbian, or Whatever (vice president), math team, robotics (co-secretary), admissions tour guide for high school, student blogger on my school’s website, Disciplinary Committee class representative, piano, school musicals (stage manager), school plays (stage manager), International Thespian Society (co-founder and co-president)
[]Job/Work Experience: stage manager for college theatre company, seasonal sales associate at Brookstone, nanny, AP chemistry tutor
[]Volunteer/Community Service: writing tutor, editor, driver and dog handler for animal rescue transports, head of book department at charity thrift shop, volunteer assistant archivist for my school
[]Summer Activities: visited Scotland, stage managed, attended WPI Frontiers for physics
[]Essays: Common App - about being a germaphobe and trying to fix a vacuum. Extracurricular was okay and about stage management. Optional essay was about learning the importance of words, in an odd way. Both my optional and my CA essay were very good (I’ve heard)
[]Teacher Recommendations: honours physics/honours optics/AP physics teacher and litigation independent study/10th grade English/AP lit/Shakespeare independent study teacher. Not allowed to see them, but both should have been great
[]Counselor Rec: Again, didn’t see, but he likes me so I think it was good
[]Additional Rec: I don’t think I was allowed to send others
[li]Interview: Very good; talked for about 2 hours.[/li][/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): NH
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: private, co-ed, college prep, day school
[]Ethnicity: reported as “other”
[]Gender: F
[]Income Bracket: ~100k
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation[/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: extracurriculars, recommendations, essays, interview
[]Weaknesses: SAT subject tests, SAT I to some extent
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: weaknesses
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: accepted WPI (not going), RIT (not going), RPI (not going), University of Rochester, and BU (most likely going), denied Yale, Williams, Harvard
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Meh, I wasn’t expecting to get in anyway, haha. Congratulations to those of you who were accepted!!! :)[/li][/ul]

emmy95 · March 27, 2014, 10:09pm

[color=yellow]Decision: Waitlisted[/color=yellow]

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I: 770 Math, 760 English, 730 Writing
[]ACT: Did not take
[]SAT II: Biology M (780), Math 2 (760), Literature (710)
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[]Rank: 1/300 unweighted, 2/300 weighted
[]AP: Biology (5), World History (5), English Language (5), US History (5), Physics B (5)
[]IB: Not offered by my high school
[]Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Calc, AP US Gov, Honors Chem, Economics, Advanced Ceramics
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist [/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars: National Honor Society (Chapter Secretary), Cross Country/Track (Two year varsity), school outdoor club, two years of debate
[]Volunteer/Community Service: NHS, helped with huge community charity fundraiser for six years, volunteered at local food bank
[]Summer Activities: Traveling with family
[]Essays: Common App-wrote about struggling with living overseas in middle school and how it’s pushed me to challenge myself and accept change (failure prompt), Harvard Supplement-wrote about being interested in science and art as a child and how it led me to develop an interest in engineering
[]Teacher Recommendations: 1) AP English teacher from junior year who told me that I was her new model for a great student, math teacher whose class I’ve excelled in the past two years and know fairly well
[]Counselor Rec: I’ve known my counselor for almost my entire life and know that he really likes me, so hopefully his recommendation was fairly positive
[]Additional Rec: None
[]Interview: None
[/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): Idaho
[]School Type: Public
[]Ethnicity: White
[]Gender: Female
[]Income Bracket: Middle class
[]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female interested in engineering, from rural area
[/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: Grades and test scores, probably recommendations
[]Weaknesses: Extracurriculars
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think that my grades and test scores and probably recommendations and essays helped quite a bit but I didn’t have the amount/type of extracurriculars that Harvard looks for.
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: I’ve been accepted to Boston University, University of Washington (small merit scholarship), University of Utah (full-tuition scholarship), Mount Holyoke College (full-tuition merit scholarship, and Smith College and didn’t get in to Northwestern.
[/ul]

SteelTrapMindset · March 27, 2014, 11:22pm

Choose One:
[color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): 2200 770 Math 720 Critical Reading 710 Writing
[]ACT (breakdown):
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math II, 770 Biology-E, 730 U.S. History
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 12/547
[]AP (place score in parentheses): 5 AP U.S. Government, 5 AP World History, 5 AP Comparative Government & Politics, 4 AP Statistics, 4 AP U.S. History, 4 AP Human Geography
[]IB (place score in parentheses):
[]Senior Year Course Load: AP Chemistry, AP Physics B, AP Calculus BC, AP English Literature & Composition, AP Computer Science A, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, Writing Center
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction (Not really major)[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Mu Alpha Theta, History Bowl
[]Job/Work Experience: Math Tutor
[]Volunteer/Community Service: 220 hours from volunteering at homeless shelters, at the library, at my school, and outside of school at Key service club projects
[]Summer Activities: Shadowed at a hospital over the summer and took online classes
[]Essays: I guess they were good.
[]Teacher Recommendations: Didn’t look at them, but were probably amazing. 
[]Counselor Rec: Not sure, but should be good. I am in a huge public school, so my counselor might not know me very well.
[]Additional Rec:
[li]Interview: Didn’t have one.[/li][/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): Florida
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: Public
[]Ethnicity: Asian American
[]Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: < $30,000
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None[/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: Test scores, GPA, low income
[]Weaknesses: Asian American, lack of major awards
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: No national awards or hooks
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Duke (Rejected), Vanderbilt, USF (Accepted), UF (Accepted), Georgia Tech (Accepted), Emory (Accepted), Stanford
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Don’t expect too much going in…[/li][/ul]

leonarda · March 28, 2014, 12:31am

**[color=green]Decision: Accepted[/color=green]

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): Did not take
[]ACT (breakdown): C 35 M 32 E 35 S 35 R 36
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math I 790 Biology E 760
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/329
[]AP (place score in parentheses): Language & Comp. (5), APUSH (5), Microecon (4) Macroecon (4) Chemistry (2)
[]IB (place score in parentheses): None
[]Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit. & Comp, AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, Spanish V, AP U.S. Government, AP Psychology
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Honor, statewide math competition qualifying, nothing else really[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): NHS Vice President, Spanish Club Founder & President, Reaching Higher, Communications Camp, Travel Baseball.
[]Job/Work Experience: Technology Intern at my school for 2+ years, promoted to highest position a year ago.
[]Volunteer/Community Service: 60+ hours/year, notably running three blood drives for the Red Cross.
[]Summer Activities: Travel baseball, work.
[]Essays: Commonapp was great, brought several of my teachers to tears. My Harvard essays were good, but I did them all on the day the application was due. Honestly, I think that helped bring out raw emotion in my writing and made it all much stronger.
[]Teacher Recommendations: 10/10, 9/10
[]Counselor Rec: Not sure, couldn’t read it. Probably about a 6-7/10
[]Additional Rec: 10/10, it was from the superintendent of our school district.
[li]Interview: I think it went really well, we spoke for about an hour and a half, and I’m still in contact with the man about my future.[/li][/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): MI
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: Suburban/Rural Public, only sends a student to any Ivy once every five years or so.
[]Ethnicity: Caucasian
[]Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: >$30,000
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation, low income family, father died when I was a kid so single parent home, underrepresented area.[/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: Essays, tests, GPA, recs.
[]Weaknesses: Extracurriculars, major awards.
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I had a lot of emotion in my writing, I’ve overcome quite a bit in my life.
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Yale (WL), Dartmouth (WL), Princeton (Accepted), University of Michigan (Accepted).
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I’m really surprised I got in actually. I feel extremely honored and I can say that I’m very proud of my hard work. I am a story where I didn’t have “perfect” EC’s, grades, standardized tests, etc. and I still got in. Now to make my decision of where to attend…[/li][/ul]

Zzany1 · March 28, 2014, 1:12am

[color=yellow]Decision: Waitlisted[/color=yellow]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 800/760/800/12 first sitting
SAT II (subject, score): math II 800, chem 800, US history 790
Unweighted/Weighted GPA: 3.95, 5.43 (our school’s system GPA system is strange)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/180
AP/IB (place score in parentheses): 5’s: AP Euro, AP US History, AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, AP Human Geo, AP English Lang
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Spanish, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C, AP English lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Forensics awards? If they count?
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with distinction, some local athletic awards

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): debate, 9-12, VP, I compete at a national and state level; soccer, 9-12, Captain; NHS, 12, President, we have raised $7000 and led tutoring at out school; cell culturing and other lab stuff for science fair, other science fair stuff, volunteering, common stuff etc. etc.
Job/Work Experience: I worked at my pool for two summer, this most recent summer I worked 40 hour weeks and performed independent research in a lab, won the poster session at the end (UPCI)
Volunteer/Community Service: Tutoring, 10-12 grade, over an hour a day; volunteer at my parish, miscellaneous stuff (special Olympics, marathons, etc.)
Summer Experience: See work experience
Teacher Recommendation #1: Excellent, biology teacher, said I was one of the best students he has ever had, led my cell culturing research, my teacher for 2 years, 10/10
Teacher Recommendation #2: Pretty good? English teacher, had him for two years
Counselor Rec: 10/10, my deabte coach
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: Went well, we talked about everything from cities to philosophy to engineering.

Other:
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Pennsylvania
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): None

Reflection
Strengths: Test scores/grades, well-rounded extra cirriculars
Weaknesses: no major award like intel
Were else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: CMU, Duke (Pratt), Northeastern, Pitt, Alabama
Waitlisted: Harvard, Princeton, Wash U
Rejected: Stanford
What would you have done differently?: Nothing

satman1111 · March 28, 2014, 1:30am

[size=4]Decision: DENIED[/size=4]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2320 (760 CR 760 M 800 W 12 essay)

ACT: never took

SAT II: 800 math II 780 Biology M 770 US History

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/432

AP (place score in parenthesis):
Biology (5)
Calc. AB (5)
Lang. (4)
US History (4)
Psych. (5)

IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a

Senior Year Course Load:
Calc. BC
Physics C
Chem.
Stat.

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
*Swim Team (captain)
*Tennis Team (2nd singles)
*Boy Scouts (very near Eagle)
*math league (county champion)
*NHS
*Tri-M (VP)/ SNHS/ World language/
*Marching Band (we are known nationally - have marched in the Rose Bowl Parade/ Pres. Inaugural Parade/ many others) (lead mellophone)
*Woodwind Choir (1st Oboe)
*Jazz Band (lead Trumpet)
*play bassoon, french horn, and cello in my spare time

Job/Work Experience:
*full time at my local DQ during the summer/ part-time most of the school year

Volunteer/Community service: Lots through Boy Scouts and at local library

Summer Activities: Lots of work, went to Nat.l Boy Scout Jamboree, passion of modular origami

Essays: I thought they were pretty good. At least 8-9/10

Teacher Recommendation: Got to read one and it was really good, I’m sure the others were pretty good as well

Counselor Rec: Probably pretty generic, but still good.

Additional Rec: n/a

Interview: Went well. Not the best, not the worst.

Other:
State (if domestic applicant):

Country (if international applicant): NJ

School Type: Large public that sends a couple to Ivies/ top schools every year (though no one got into any elite RD school this year…)

Race(s) (White, AA, AI/AN, Asian, NH/PI): White

Hispanic (Y/N): N

Gender: M

Income Bracket: 75k

Hooks: none

Reflection:
Strengths: Test scores/ decent ECs as per the opportunities available

Weaknesses:

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/denied: see above

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/denied:
A: Rutgers (full scholarship)
WL: Penn, Cornell, Brown, Duke
R: HYP

General Comments:

mataxu · March 28, 2014, 7:05am

[color=yellow]Decision: Waitlisted[/color=yellow]

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): 800 Math, 800 Writing, 660 Critical Reading (oops)
[]ACT (breakdown): 36 Math, 35 English, 34 Reading, 29 Science
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math II, 720 Physics, 720 Spanish (no listening), 680 US History
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): ~10/450
[]AP (place score in parentheses): 5s on Psych, Calc BC (and AB sub); 4s on EnviroSci and English Lang; 3s on Comparative Gov, Macro, Micro, and APUSH
[]IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[]Senior Year Course Load: (all AP) Physics B, US Gov, Spanish Lang, English Lit, Stats, Chem
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Mock Trial (Captain), Leo’s Club (Community Service, President), Science Olympiad (President), Math Club (President), Badminton Team
[]Job/Work Experience: Total of 6 tutoring jobs
[]Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteer job over the summer at a Math Enrichment program (spent like 10 hours a day there), community service with Leo’s Club, Relay for Life every year, etc.
[]Summer Activities: Math Enrichment
[]Essays: Weak. I applied to Harvard on a whim, so I didn’t spend much time on those. I really regret that now, 'cause I fell in love with Harvard thereafter.
[]Teacher Recommendations: One of them was amazing, solid 9.5/10. Other one was fairly good, but not as good. More like an 8/10.
[]Counselor Rec: 7/10. We got a new counselor in November, so she didn’t know me, and I know she made a couple of factual errors.
[]Additional Rec: N/A
[li]Interview: Really well. I was the last interview of the day, so me and my interviewer talked for a lot longer than the fixed time, and she was really impressed.[/li][/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): California
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: Medium-sized public (~1900 students)
[]Ethnicity: White
[]Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: $200,000+
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college student. [/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: Interview and grades.
[]Weaknesses: Essays. God, I wish I could go back and spend more time on those. Also test scores. Those were pretty abysmal.
[]Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: It had to have been my interview that saved me from rejection. She told me at the end that I was the most impressive and unique student she had interviewed this year, and that she would do anything she could to get me into Harvard.
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Rejected: Caltech, MIT, Cornell, Princeton. Waitlisted: Harvey Mudd. Accepted: Cal Poly SLO, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Colorado State, Colorado School of Mines.
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I was actually extremely happy that I got waitlisted. I knew that getting in would be a longshot when I applied, so I’m just incredibly happy that they thought that I stood out enough to still stand a chance (as slim as that may be). I accepted the waitlist immediately, and I’ve been toiling for the past 6 hours about how I can convince them that I’m “Harvard material”. But my sincerest congratulations to anybody that has gotten in; you are all quite bright and talented! I really hope that I get to meet you guys next year, by some stroke of luck. And to all of you that got rejected, don’t feel upset. You’ll succeed wherever you go :)[/li][/ul]

magnificent6 · March 28, 2014, 8:26am

Decision: Deferred - to Rejected

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t send.
[] ACT (breakdown): 35 (36M, 34S, 34E, 34R, 12 essay)
[] SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 (Math II), 740 (Chemistry)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0. Weighted: 4.59
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
[] AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry (4), U.S. Gov (self study 4), English Language (self study 4), Spanish Lang (4), Biology (3)
[] IB (place score in parentheses):
[] Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs, 1 Honors, and 1 elective
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Commended, some other local awards.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): President of National Honor Society, President of Tutoring Club, President of Cultural Club, Founder/President of Technology Club, Work at consulting firm, research at university lab and published abstracts, section leader of section in band, tennis team, and a lot more.
[] Job/Work Experience: I have had 3 jobs. 1 or 2 pretty unique ones.
[] Volunteer/Community Service: Listed above.
[] Summer Activities: Research internships, work, volunteering, and intern at NPR.
[] Essays: Common app essay: 9.5. Harvard supplements: sent in a new one after getting the deferral, that was a 10. The one before: 8.5.
[] Teacher Recommendations: English teacher of two years: 10. AP science teacher: 9.5
[] Counselor Rec: probably better than any other recs she wrote, so in relation to other applicants from my school, probably 10. But, since it’s a public school, the rec probably doesn’t compare to some of the ones that private school counselors write.
[] Additional Rec: from research mentor, he doesn’t really know how to write a rec, but besides that: 10.
[] Interview: Went very well: 10.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: below 50k.
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: GPA, ACT, extracurriculars, Common app essay.
[] Weaknesses: AP scores, awards.
[] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: [li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted: Columbia, Cornell, Berkeley, UCLA, WashU, and Rice. Waitlisted: Northwestern. Rejected: Yale, Penn, Duke, Harvard, and Princeton. [/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
Idk, I didn’t really have any major hooks and was not really expecting to get accepted. Everyone has a chance, just apply to see what happens. For the ivies, make sure you spread yourself and do not apply to just a few schools, because they are so random.

Nineveh · March 28, 2014, 11:04am

[color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (First attempt, 800 CR + 720 M + 780 WR), 2220 (Second attempt, can’t remember details).
[]ACT (breakdown): Didn’t sit
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): US History (800), World History (800), Maths lvl 2 (800)
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school doesn’t rank
[]AP (place score in parentheses): N/A
[]IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[]Senior Year Course Load: Four A-levels: Further Maths, French, Economics, Additional Further Maths
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): No major awards but I have won some gold and silver medals in the UK Maths Challenge.[/li] [/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): French Debating Society (leader), Economics Society, Captain of team for major UK economics competition, writer for school’s economics magazine
[]Job/Work Experience: Internship at houses of parliament
[]Volunteer/Community Service: Spent a couple of weeks teaching at a school in rural Africa.
[]Summer Activities: Internship and teaching in rural Africa.
[]Essays: Really not that great
[]Teacher Recommendations: Probably quite good
[]Counselor Rec: Probably quite good
[]Additional Rec: Didn’t send
[li]Interview: Wasn’t bad but in retrospect could have been better[/li] [/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): N/A
[]Country (if international applicant): United Kingdom
[]School Type: Selective
[]Ethnicity: White
[]Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: Middle Class
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a[/li] [/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: Academics
[]Weaknesses: Extracurricular activities weren’t brilliant
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Weaknesses
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: In USA, I was rejected by Princeton and Yale, still waiting for Stanford. In the UK, I was accepted by Cambridge, the London School of Economics, University College London and Nottingham
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I didn’t expect to get in so I’m not that disappointed. I’ll probably go to Cambridge or Stanford if I’m lucky.[/li]
Best of wishes to all successful applicants.
[/ul]

Fermat67 · March 28, 2014, 1:14pm

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:

[] SAT I (breakdown): 2330 (800/800/730(8))
[] ACT: N/A
[] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 770 Biology E
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC, Chemistry, both AP Physics C, World, Stat (self), Bio (self), and Enviro (self) all 5s. 4 in Lang.
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp Sci, AP Micro, AP English Lit, Spanish IV, Band, Government, African American Studies, Creative Cooking!
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2013 USAMO qualifier, 2013 NACLO Semifinalist, coauthor on research publication.

Subjective:

[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Swimming (4 years, senior captain, 3-time state qualifier), Water polo (2 years varsity, senior captain, 5th place in state), Math Club (4 years, senior president), Quizbowl (4 years, B-team president, high placings at Nationals), Mu Alpha Theta,
[] Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard for 1.5 years.
[] Volunteer/Community service: 4 years of volunteering at local Chinese School. Distinguished service member, and received President’s Volunteer Service Award Silver Level.
[] Summer Activities: Science Center volunteering (FR), summer research at Washington University (JR/SR), partying (SR)
[] Essays: lol I just copy pasted this one from my other applications. I was already admitted early (Stanford/UIUC) so it wasn’t a terribly focused application.
[] Teacher Recommendation: Darn good (I imagine, didn’t read). Physics teacher I’ve had two years (SO/JR), Social Studies (FR/SR) and I often talk with them.
[] Counselor Rec: Darn good (I imagine, didn’t read). The counselor has seen and talked with me many times before.
[] Additional Rec: From my professor who was the PI in the research lab.
[] Interview: Most schools contacted me, and I just took them as they came. Didn’t really prepare, but people say I have an amiable personality, and I made sure to address my interests clearly.
[] Intended Major: Chemical engineering, nanoscience

Other

[] State (if domestic applicant): Missouri, USA
[] School Type: Public, middle sized, suburban. Generally send 1-2 to each of the top schools every year.
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: 75,000 - 100,000
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Reflection

[] Strengths: Commitment, breadth, and depth of extracurricular activities. I assume this translated into strong essays. Personality helped me throughout high school, and had an impact on rec letters, and maybe interview?
[] Weaknesses: Overall, I guess my “well-rounded” features weren’t spread so thinly to reveal any major weaknesses.
[] Why you think you were waitlisted: Probably lack of demonstrated interest in the school as a whole, despite demonstrated interest in subject field.
[] Where else were you accepted: Duke, UIUC, MIT, Stanford, WashU, Yale
[] Where else were you waitlisted: N/A
[] Where else were you rejected: N/A

General Comments: I’m not too down about Harvard, and got into my other top choices, so I’m already beginning to move on. I wish other waitlisted students luck!

ArielB · March 28, 2014, 1:14pm

[color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]**

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): 2130 didn’t submit
[]ACT (breakdown): 34 - 36S 34M 33E 32R 10E
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 chem, 760 m2, 730 us
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85, upward trend. C in alg 1.
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 1%
[]AP (place score in parentheses): Fives on chem, human, ab, lang. Fours on world, bio, ush
[]IB (place score in parentheses):
[]Senior Year Course Load: 5 AP’s and honors english
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Mu Alpha Theta (VP), Science Honor Society (Co-VP), NHS member, political science club secretary, engineering club secretary
[]Job/Work Experience: counselor for day camp
[]Volunteer/Community Service: helped plan a day of service for local teens, volunteered in Jerusalem
[]Summer Activities: Sleep away camp, 6 week program in Israel
[]Essays: Common app probably like 8/10. Supplement was around 7/10
[]Teacher Recommendations: One really good, not sure about the other one
[]Counselor Rec: regurgitating my resume
[]Additional Rec:
[li]Interview: 5/10 sucked[/li][/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): FL
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: Public
[]Ethnicity: H/W
[]Gender: M
[]Income Bracket:
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): H[/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: pursuing what I was interested in, tried to keep the BS level low in high school
[]Weaknesses: didn’t portray myself as a person that can change the world, not enough leadership, no summer science program or anything like that
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: 3.1% rd acceptance rate
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Waiting on stanford and tufts. Accepted to UF, cornell, and michigan. Rejected from penn and duke. WL at brown
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: If you want to get into Harvard you really have to play the system - the game that is college admissions - and be extremely lucky. I would have done nothing different other than apply to more top schools.[/li][/ul]

Ambitious19 · March 28, 2014, 11:52pm

^^^ sandmagnolia. Don’t take your anger out on URMs just because you got rejected…“sub-par minority auto-admits”? Racist much?

kidsteph · March 29, 2014, 12:17am

Sandmagnolia - my DS was rejected to 4 Ivies and MIT and he is an American Indian (from Canada). 2220 + 790+780 SATs and 97% average so far.

Prospector7 · March 29, 2014, 12:28am

@sandmagnolia

As painful as it is to be rejected by a college after 4 years of such hard work and high performance, the worst thing you can do is channel that pain into feelings of ill-will toward others. If this is any indication of how you are as a person, then I see no reason why Harvard should have been impressed with your character.

IBtracklete366 · March 29, 2014, 5:14am

[color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): CR 720, M 610, W 710 (2050)
[]ACT (breakdown): E 35, M 30, S 33, R 33, W 8 (33 overall)
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): US 730, M II 600 (awful, I know…), Bio-M 700
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7, I think?
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
[]AP (place score in parentheses): Euro 5, US 4, Bio 4, English Lang 3
[]IB (place score in parentheses): SL Physics 3…I haven’t taken the rest yet.
[]Senior Year Course Load: All IB
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Achievement Scholarship Program Outstanding Participant, All-American (T&F), AP Scholar/AP Scholar w/Honor (LOL do those even count as ‘major awards’?), Certificat de Reussite[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): AFJROTC (flight commander last year as C/2nd Lt., Personnel officer this year as C/Capt.) all 4 years, varsity track all 4 years (team captain this year? Not sure yet.)
[]Job/Work Experience: N/A
[]Volunteer/Community Service: All through JROTC
[]Summer Activities: Track
[]Essays: I thought they were good at the time, but I rushed them. I guess looking back they weren’t all that great.
[]Teacher Recommendations: One was really good (or so he said—I never actually read it.) and the other was probably quite generic.
[]Counselor Rec: Probably very generic as our school is enormous and I hardly interact with them…
[]Additional Rec: N/A
[li]Interview: All sorts of bad, hahahaha. I really had no hope after that fiasco. :P[/li][/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): CA
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: Public
[]Ethnicity: Black/Asian
[]Gender: F
[]Income Bracket: less than 100,000, I believe
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, but really nothing else unless being from a well-traveled military family counts?[/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: ACT score. Probably should not have sent in my SAT scores, but oh well. Also, my dedication to my ECs, although my interviewer was none too impressed.
[]Weaknesses: Interview, GPA, SAT Math II scores, lack of ECs…I could go on and on, haha.
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I didn’t fit what they were looking for, I guess.
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Rejected at Yale, Brown, Penn (UPenn, not Penn State), UCLA, and UC Berkeley (ouch…); Accepted at UCSD, UCSB, CSUSM, NAU; Waitlisted nowhere.
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I have to say, the Cal rejection hurt more than the rest… But hey, if they didn’t want me, why should I want them? I should’ve started my essays earlier, but it doesn’t matter now. There’s always grad school! Anyways, I plan on going to UCSD so no worries! To those who were accepted, congratulations!!! To those rejected/waitlisted, keep your heads up! You’ll do something great with your life no matter where you go. ;)[/li][/ul]

yangmaster · March 29, 2014, 10:44pm

[color=red]Decision: Rejected[/color=red]

Objective:

[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
[]ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 E, 36 M, 33 R, 36 S)
[]SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math II, 800 Chem
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
[]AP (place score in parentheses): AP Music Theory (5), APUSH (5), AP Micro (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Stats (4), AP Lang (4), AP CS (5), AP Comp Gov (5), AP Chem (5)
[]IB (place score in parentheses): none
[]Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calc, AP Lit, AP Bio, Spanish 5, AP Physics, AP Gov, AP Macro, Psychology
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar (if that can be considered a “major” award)[/li][/ul]

Subjective:

[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): 4 years on the boys’ high school swim and dive team, senior year NHS
[]Job/Work Experience: Kumon over the last summer, recreational soccer referee since freshman year
[]Volunteer/Community Service: volunteer at local library since sophomore year
[]Summer Activities: Swimming and programming
[]Essays: Actually pretty good. My “optional” supplement was a letter to a future roommate (which I reused from Stanford’s app).
[]Teacher Recommendations: I knew one of my recommending teachers since sophomore year and met the other at the end of junior year. Haven’t seen the rec letters.
[]Counselor Rec: Haven’t seen the counselor rec
[]Additional Rec: none
[li]Interview: Decent, but not stellar. The interviewer was nice, though.[/li][/ul]

Other

[ul]
[]State (if domestic applicant): MN
[]Country (if international applicant):
[]School Type: Public school that graduates ~800 per year
[]Ethnicity: Asian
[]Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: ~200K
[li]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None[/li][/ul]

Reflection

[ul]
[]Strengths: Objective stats
[]Weaknesses: No leadership positions, typical Asian applicant
[]Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Not impressive enough.
[]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted to U Minnesota, U Wisconsin, U Illinois, UCLA, USC; Waitlisted at CMU (SCS); Rejected from Duke, MIT (deferred EA), Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, UChicago (deferred EA), UPenn
[li]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Lol I never had a chance. I was competing against state champions and national award winners, and a typical, boring Asian applicant who does well in school comes to beat them to a spot at Harvard? Ha! I wish that were true. Well anyways, congrats to those accepted.[/li][/ul]

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