***Official Harvard University 2018 SCEA Decisions ONLY***

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2400
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800s on Math 2, Biology-M, Chemistry, and US History
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/300+
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): 5s on Biology, World History, Chemistry, Calculus BC, Statistics, and US History. 4 on Latin.
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP CS, Geographic Information Systems, AP Lang, AP US & Comp. Gov, AP Physics C, AP Human Geo, Vector Calculus (DE), Linear Algebra (DE)
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USNCO Semifinalist & Top 3 in state, 8th in the country as part of Team VA at the 2013 National All-Star Academic Tournament, 3rd Place at 2012 WACFL Metro Finals Debate Competition (qualified for NCFL), Regional Debate Champion, NMSF, and AP Scholar w/ Distinction.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
-Debate (Team Captain, 3 years varsity, numerous awards)
-Quizbowl (Team Captain, multiple national qualifications, many individual & team awards)
-Tennis (2 years varsity, team made regional semis twice)
-Math Competition Club (Founder and President, pioneered growth of my school’s math competitions from 1 in 2010 to more than 10 in 2012)
-Young Democrats (Vice President, recently volunteered for the governor’s race)
-Latin Club (President, conduct monthly meetings, nothing major)
-NHS, Mu Alpha Theta, and Latin Honor Society member
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:
-Counselor at a STEM Camp for kids (just one summer)
-Private SAT and School Tutor (about 1.5 years)
-Private Tennis Coach (one summer)
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: ~180 hours through debate, NHS, Mu Alpha Theta, and Boy Scouts.
[<em>] Summer Activities:
-High School Honors Science Program attendee (7 week summer program for rising seniors at MSU, highly selective)
-VA Governor’s Latin Academy attendee (3 week summer program focused on Roman culture & language)
-Summer@Brown (took a 2-week neuroscience course and earned a 97%)
[</em>] Essays: Fairly good. I had a lot of people read and comment on them. In my CA essay, I talked about my experience living overseas and how it impacted my view of change. My Harvard optional essay was a humorous piece that tied my music interests in with my unusual family dynamic (and used an extended drug addict analogy!).
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: Both were most likely very strong.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: She knows me pretty well, so I’m guessing it was above average.
[<em>] Additional Rec: I submitted a recommendation from my mentor at HSHSP. My counselor told me it was very positive.
[</em>] Interview: FANTASTIC. My interviewer was lovely and a great conversationalist. We talked for 1.5 hours about lasers, Vampire Weekend, living overseas, and other cool stuff. You could tell she was really rooting for me, and she told me she gave me her highest recommendation.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): USA
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Income Bracket: 100-150k (asked for finaid)
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Objective stats, extracurriculars, essays, and my interview.
[<em>] Weaknesses: Not much work experience, no “huge” awards.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I was able to convey myself as a person rather than just as a student. I also think my somewhat risky additional essay paid off.
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: UVA (Jefferson), Duke (Robertson)[/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:</p>

<p>It’s painfully clich</p>

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

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2320 (800 M, 800W, 12E, 720 CR)
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): 33 (not submitted)
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): 750 math II, chem, and us history
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesnt rank but about 1/25 lol
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): 5s on chem, language, world, us history, environmental science, 4 on studio art
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP calc AB, AP bio, AP gov, AP studio art, AP lit, honors hebrew, judaics (required)
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): national merit semifinalist, brown book award, paintings exhibited in a university gallery, ravsak national art award, ap scholar w/distinction</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): founder of a nonprofit organization HOPE which sends supplies to orphans in latin america (cliche lol) that also spread across the east coast, avid artist, won a national award for that/was exhibited twice, helped set up a 5k race for blindness, worked with mentally-challenged children and taught them to play sports and socialize, yearbook editor in chief, national art honor society vice president, extremely active national honor society member, varsity tennis
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: worked at a summer camp/in the office (answering phones, filing, etc)
[<em>] Volunteer/Community Service:see extracurriculars!
[</em>] Summer Activities: see work experience
[<em>] Essays: 9.5/10, i really loved them :slight_smile: one was about my dad’s death and how it changed my outlook on life and the other was about how i plan to use intellectual creativity
[</em>] Teacher Recommendations: very good! read one of them, she said i was one of the best students she ever had. i loved both of my recommenders lol
[<em>] Counselor Rec: my counselor likes me a lot lolol
[</em>] Additional Rec:none
[li] Interview: good! we talked about my activities and some academics and why i wanted harvard, it went really well :slight_smile: EXCEPT THERE WAS A FLUFFY DOG BEHIND US CAUSE WE WERE SITTING OUTSIDE AT A STARBUCKS AND I KEPT HEARING PEOPLE FREAK OUT OVER HOW FLUFFY IT WAS LMAO</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): FL
[</em>] School Type: private parochial
[<em>] Ethnicity: white
[</em>] Gender: M
[<em>] Income Bracket: low
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none, low income maybe?</p>

<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: test scores, essays, ECs
[</em>] Weaknesses: not enough academic activities?
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: honestly, i think i just showed my personality through in my essays. the second essay about intellectual creativity was written because i saw the admissions officers wrote that intellectual creativity defines harvard! i also submitted an art supplement and one of the pictures was a drawing of harvard yard lol, so that showed my passion to the school!
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied:
[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: CRYING</p>

<p>SO MUCH CRYING
I AM SO GRATEFUL
CRYING
congrats to all the accepted and good luck to the deferrals :)</p>

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): Did not send…
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): 35 (Eng 35, Math 36. R 35, S 35)
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses):Math II (800). Chem (740)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%, School does not rank…
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses):Chem 5, Phys 4, Calc BC 5
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Biology, Linear Algebra (at local college). AP Eng Lit, AP US History
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Siemens Semifinalist, Intel ISEF 3rd in Category, Regional and State Violin awards, Intel ISEF (big) Special Award Winner, Paper Submitted for Publication as First Author, Some Regional, State, and National Science Olympiad Awards</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Cross Country (Head Captain of a Multiple Championship team), CEO of Android Application Company (1,000+ downloads), Mu Alpha Theta (President), Science Bowl (Co-captain), Opinion Journalist for Local Newspaper, Scholars Bowl (Co-captain), Science Olympiad, Music (violin)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Worked at Research Company
[<em>] Volunteer/Community Service: 180 hrs working at local hospital
[</em>] Summer Activities: Research at local company, Research at Stanford last summer
[<em>] Essays: wrote about summer experience and about trip abroad. 150 word about quirky interest
[</em>] Teacher Recommendations: Math and Chem teachers probably awesome but did not read
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Probably great
[</em>] Additional Rec: From Research Mentor, amazing
[<em>] Interview: Thought it went really well.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): deep south
[<em>] Country (if international applicant): US
[</em>] School Type: Private
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
[</em>] Gender: M
[<em>] Income Bracket: High
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Being from the south
[</em>] Weaknesses: typical asian…
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Its like the lottery
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Yale, Princeton, Stanford, few others…
[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Really disappointed…</p>

<p>This is the most unreal moment of my entire life. I cannot even deal:</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2260 (690 CR, 770 M, 800 W)
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): 33 (don’t real like remembering the breakdown)
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 M2, 800 M1, 750 Spanish, 730 Bio M
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.67 (school only submits weighted)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): N/A
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): Full IB Diploma
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Full IB Diploma
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Latin Exam (Gold x2, Silver x1), National Spanish Exam (Silver x2, Bronze x1), National Achievement Semifinalist, National Merit Commended
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Key Club (Lieutenant Governor), Tutor at homeless shelter, MUN (head delegate), Latin Club (former President), Basketball (Varsity), Track and Field (Varsity), Science Club, Executive Student Council (Key Club Rep.), Quiz Show (Member)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Paid Intern for 2 summers at the Harvard Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, working on stem cell research
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: Tutor at homeless shelter
[<em>] Summer Activities: See Job/Work
[</em>] Essays: I didn’t think too highly of them, but my friends told me that they were good. And they worked, so yay!
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: I’m assuming they were pretty good!
[</em>] Counselor Rec: I’m assuming it was also pretty good!
[<em>] Additional Rec: N/A
[</em>] Interview: My interviewer said I “interviewed beautifully”!
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): MA
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): USA! USA!
[<em>] School Type: Charter
[</em>] Ethnicity: African
[<em>] Gender: XX, yo
[</em>] Income Bracket: ~$80,000
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Internship, SAT scores (kind of), lots of involvement, I also mentioned a lot of Coursera classes about Biology I took, which probs helped
[<em>] Weaknesses: SAT scores (kind of), nothing AMAZING, Essays?
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Because Harvard does not only take people who have cured cancer, etc. Harvard takes well-rounded people who love to learn too!
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: I applied to Princeton, WUSTL, Vanderbilt, UMass Amherst, Northeastern, and USC already. The only other one I’m applying to now is Brown. :)[/li] [/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I have never been so happy in my life. To those rejected/deferred, just remember this is in no way an indication of your worth as a student or person, and I am 100% sure you will all end up somewhere amazing, somewhere you truly belong. To those accepted, we made it ya’ll! I’ll see you guys at Visitas!</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): did not send
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): 34 (35 E, 34 R, 32 M, 35 S)
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): 700 Spanish and 710 in Literature
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.78 UW, 4.67 W
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10% but defs closer to the lower end of that range!
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): 4 in APUSH
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): 7 in Math Studies SL, 5 in Psych
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Full IB + AP Calculus
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): QuestBridge National College Match Finalist, QuestBridge College Prep, National Achievement Commended, Visitante Ilustre del Ciudad del Este, Paraguay (also awarded to the Cardinal of the Pope), Best Witness in Regional Mock Trial thing
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Diversity Club VP, Film Club President, I founded this Compliments’ Page for my high school
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Whaddup Wendy’s
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: I helped teach a close family friend’s developmentally disabled daughter how to read in Spanish
[<em>] Summer Activities: I went to a Summer Academy @ USC (for free) and another free trip to Paraguay through the Department of State-funded American Youth Leadership Program
[</em>] Essays: I wrote my Common App about how sacrifice has been a motif in my life, and my supplement about this really awe inspiring experience I had while in Paraguay
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: Good!!
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Really good. We are very close :slight_smile:
[<em>] Additional Rec:
[</em>] Interview: I actually didn’t get an alumni interview, but then out of nowhere this admissions officer called me and asked if she could interview me over the phone (This happened 3 days before decisions came out…).
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Colorado, but I was born in Kenya
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public. I am the first person to ever get into Harvard from my school!
[</em>] Ethnicity: Black
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Income Bracket: QuestBridge
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I’m 16, speak 4 languages, URM
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Strong essays & ACT score
[<em>] Weaknesses: GPA GPA GPA LIKE UHH NOT EVEN A 3.8
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I have no idea.
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: I might still apply to Yale, but I’m not sure.[/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Guys. I wanted to post my stats so that people see that it IS possible. I remember reading literally every decisions thread dating back to 2008 and getting completely heartbroken when I saw how many people had 4.0s and were STILL rejected. I would see some people who had sub-par stats and get in, but they ALWAYS had extremely high GPAs. I am proof of the fact that you CAN get into Harvard with a low GPA. The process is holistic, and don’t let ANYONE make you think that you aren’t a strong candidate. Anything can happen, honestly. I am so beyond stoked to be part of Harvard’s class of 2018. Go Crimson :)</p>

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] ACT: 35 (36 E, 36 M, 34 R, 33 S, 10 writing, first sitting)
[</em>] SAT II: Math II (800), Chem (800), Physics (790)
[<em>] GPA/rank: not calculated by school
[</em>] AP: BC Calc (5), Chem (5), Spanish Lang (5), English Lang (5), Music Theory (5)
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: Linear Algebra, Multivariable Calc, AP Physics C, AP Bio, Spanish 6, English electives, History electives
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Spanish Exam medals, AP Scholar with Distinction, Rensselaer Medalist, national and regional music composition awards</p>

<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars: Music composition, violin, varsity crew (captain), varsity squash, school sustainability committee (co-head), science olympiad
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: Teacher of weekly math class for inner-city students (4 hrs/wk for 2 years), hospital volunteering (50 hrs total)
[<em>] Summer Activities: Research at Yale medical school, 2 CTY courses, music festivals
[</em>] Essays: common app essay was great (drew parallels between neurosurgery on animals as part of my research and music), reviewed by counselor and english teacher, supplemental essays were good but not spectacular
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: AP Chem and Urban Utudies teachers, great but probably not exceptional, didn’t know them as well as other teachers
[</em>] Counselor Rec: excellent
[<em>] Additional Rec: excellent, research mentor at Yale
[</em>] Interview: 60 minutes, didn’t have a profound personal connection with the guy but it went very well
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State: CT
[</em>] School Type: Private
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: don’t know, but didn’t apply for aid
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: very solid testing and grades, as well as a wealth of extracurricular activities and some leadership positions, I also portrayed myself as being passionate and talented in both music and science
[</em>] Weaknesses: lack of a hook or exceptional ability in a given area, grades weren’t perfect, offer no diversity, minor but noticeable disciplinary infraction reported
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: while I was a very strong applicant, I don’t think there was any one aspect of my file that screamed “admit me”, and at the school with the most competitive admissions in the country the disciplinary infraction could’ve pushed me over the edge (I guess I’ll never know)
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Stanford, Northwestern, Chicago, Michigan, Yale, Columbia, Duke, USC, and some safeties
[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
Given the high improbability of admission (68% of the class was deferred), I’m going to chalk it up as a rejection and move forward with my plans. Congrats to everyone who got in!</p>

<p>Choose One:
Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): M 770, CR 650, W 700
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): None
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math 2 (800), Physics (800), Chemistry (710)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.29
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): **38/143<a href="%7E%2027%">/b</a>
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): Calculus AB, BC, Physics B, C –both, Statistics, Computer Science A (5), Chemistry, Spanish Language, Macroeconomics (4),
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): None
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: 3 Engineering classes (Biotech, CIM, and engineering design/development), AP English Lit, AP Studio Art: Drawing, AP Spanish lit, AP Biology, independent studies in mathematics.
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Independent studies in mathematics and physics (up to around studies in topology and quantum mechanics), Music club 9th & 10th, Drama club 11th & 12th, University Interscholastic League (Calculator App, Science, and Mathematics) all four years, Science Bowl 11th & 12th. No leadership positions.
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: No work experience
[li] Volunteer/Community Service: 20 hours of technology support for local senior citizens[/li][</em>] Summer Activities: Self-studies in mathematics and physics, University summer enrichment (dorm living while taking classes), Wolfram Mathematica Summer Camp,
[<em>] Essays: Challenged idea/belief topic. Wrote about my weakening faith as a religious person and finally becoming atheist. If I pulled it off without “offense,” I expect it to be above average.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendations: Very strong from my physics teacher and my recently retired calculus teacher.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: My counselor was replaced right before my senior year started, but we got along within a short period of time, so it was probably enthusiastic.
[</em>] Additional Rec: One from a research mentor from the Mathematica camp. Likely very enthusiastic.
[<em>] Interview: None offered.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): Living in Texas
[<em>] Country (if international applicant): I’m not sure, but I might have been classified as an international applicant from Mexico, regardless of my domicile in Texas.
[</em>] School Type: Public magnet school geared towards science and engineering. It’s small, rigorous, and very competitive. Varying quality of teachers though.
[<em>] Ethnicity: Hispanic/White
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: $80,000-$100,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I suppose URM. I also presented supplementary writing and applets as evidence of the math/physics studies I did.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Ridiculously ahead in my mathematics and science. I’m in my second year of independent studies in mathematics studying real analysis and topology. I am just about ready as a math and physics major.
[</em>] Weaknesses: I’m not at all a stellar student. My life/environmental science grades were low. Most of my history and English grades are abysmal. I barely passed APUSH and I even failed the second semester of an engineering class my freshman year.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Obviously, the difference between deferral and immediate rejection for me was my math/physics studies. Outside of that, my recs, tests, and my essay, my application was most certainly too dull for an acceptance.
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied: I have applied to UT Austin, MIT, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Stanford, and others.
[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:</p>

<p>Maybe I can say that my GPA wasn’t even a 3.5 and I wasn’t outright rejected by Harvard?</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2100, 650 800 650 (didnt send)
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): 34
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): 790 in chem 790 in math 2
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.931
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/355
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): three 5s, one 4, two 3s
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: 6 AP classes
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP scholar or somthing like that
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): wrestling, crew, math and science teams, debate, chess, kickin a$$
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: camp counselor, tutoring kids
[<em>] Essays: Bomb, wrote about how much i love my high school and the thug lyfe
[</em>] Teacher Recommendations: donno, but Im sure they were nice
[<em>] Counselor Rec: She said she worked hard on it
[</em>] Additional Rec: crew coach, im sure it was good
[<em>] Interview: yeah it was nice, it went good i really liked the guy! he was the first person i had ever met that went to harvard
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): PA
[<em>] Country (if international applicant): USA #1
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: M
[<em>] Income Bracket: 12,000 / year
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): pobre y apasionado sobre apredizaje
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Persona and essays, sports
[</em>] Weaknesses: 3 Bs, AP could have been better, I feel like I never won any huge awards
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted: I am optimistic, talked about how much I love america in essays
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Got into pitt, maybe ill apply to columbia and stanford
[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: </p>

<p>Yo I’m happy as can be right now. I dont know how it happened, but I sure am glad. All i want to say is that I just did the best I can on my application, I wrote the essays and rewrote until I was proud of them and knew I did my best. For future applicants reading, just remember that you cant do better that your best, and if you did your best you should be proud no matter what. I also was not planing on going to harvard, i love it and wanted to go I was very realistic about probably getting deferred. </p>

<p>When I got in I screamed and jumped for like 20 minutes then my mom took me to Micky Ds to celebrate.</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (M 800 CR 730 W 780 single sitting)
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): Physics (800) Math II (800) US (800)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/378
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): Latin (5) French (5) Chem (5) US (5) Comp Sci A (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): None
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP Euro, AP Lit, Econ, Stats, AP Physics C (Through MIT Delve)
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, 1st chair in All State Jazz Band, Harvard Book Prize
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
-Big Band (lead alto sax) - a bunch of awards at various jazz festivals
-Concert Band (first chair)
-Mock Trial (Captain) - went to state finals
-Math Team (Vice Captain)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: Tutored younger kids after school once a week
[<em>] Summer Activities: Neuroscience research, took physics at another local high school, volunteered at the Museum of Science
[</em>] Essays: Common App essay about my love for jazz, supplement about how summer research helped me to see science in a new way
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: Didn’t get to read, assume that they were great
[</em>] Counselor Rec: I still don’t think she even knows my name haha but she read me my rec and it was decent. Basically she rehashed all my extracurriculars and mentioned how I took initiative by learning physics on my own.
[<em>] Additional Rec: My research mentor who is a professor at Harvard Medical School
[</em>] Interview: Alright. Fairly standard, discussed academics, extracurriculars and “Why Harvard?” The interviewer was really nice although I was kind of worried because it only lasted about half an hour.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): MA
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public Exam
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: Middle
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Class rank, showed passion for music and research, additional rec
[<em>] Weaknesses: Interview, didn’t write the “optional” supplement, which I was worried about for a while after submitting
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My high school generally sends ~20 kids to Harvard every year, so that definitely helped.
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: BU (submitted my app before Harvard decisions came out), Stanford (my top choice if I get in and they beat Harvard’s financial aid, both of which are unlikely)[/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
I know that this may sound cliche and many people have said it before, but follow your passions. For me, my main passion was jazz and I think it really showed through my application. Also don’t worry about the little imperfections in your app. In hindsight I wish that I hadn’t been so high strung while waiting for results. Also, DON’T PROCRASTINATE. Congratulations to everyone that got in and even if you didn’t I know we’re all going to end up somewhere amazing!</p>

<p>Choose One:</p>

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 800 Math, 800 Writing, 730 Reading
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): did not take
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Biology M, 760 Chemistry
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): not available
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): Calc BC (5), French Language (5), U.S. History (5), Biology (5), English Language (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): not provided at my school
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs and 1 Honors course
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National essay contest finalist
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Swimming (4 year varsity, captain), French Honor Society (President), Student Cultural Ambassador to my parent’s country (VP of NJ/NY/PA branch), National Honor Society, Math Honor Society, Science Olympiad (7 years on the team, since 6th grade), Model UN team member for 3 years, art
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard, Teaching Assistant at tutoring center
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service:Camp counselor, Religious organization volunteering
[<em>] Summer Activities: Camp counselor, Lifeguard, art camp
[</em>] Essays: good, wrote about why I wanted to follow the career path I’ve chosen and my motivations (family problems), wrote about a volunteer experience during Hurricane Sandy for the EC one, and my struggles/success with choosing to become vegetarian for the optional
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: Pretty sure both were great, both teachers I asked really like me and I did well in their classes, was the highest grade in my class for one of them, 5s on both APs
[</em>] Counselor Rec: I expect good, we have a close relationship and he seemed pretty confident in my ability to get in (…lol…)
[<em>] Additional Rec: none
[</em>] Interview: excellent!! My interviewer was really great, we laughed a lot and it lasted more than an hour even though she set an alarm to get back to her kids/babysitter… said she would “make a case” for me in her report. We are still in touch!
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Jersey
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Huge public, 800 students/year
[</em>] Ethnicity:Asian
[<em>] Gender:F
[</em>] Income Bracket:<75,000
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: I submitted an art supplement comparable to an art portfolio for any top art school, AP scores, GPA (roughly 4.5 weighted)
[<em>] Weaknesses: nothing stands out
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I guess Harvard looks for those who are exceptional in one or two areas on top of being well-rounded… national champions/awards etc… the focus is straying more and more away from the merely well-rounded individual with good grades, and more towards kids that have, say, invented a vaccine. plus I’m Asian haha
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Rutgers, Pton, Yale, Brown, Duke, Wharton, Columbia, MIT[/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I surprisingly wasn’t that upset at all, though I thought I would be. I’ve come to terms with the fact that i’ll be happy wherever I end up… and just maybe my future bff is waiting at the school I do get into. Who knows, deferral isn’t the end of the world! Congrats to everyone who got in!</p>

<p>Guess the OP should post her own decision now :D</p>

<p>[size=+2]Decision: Accepted!<a href=“YAY%20no%20more%20supplements%20to%20do!!!”>/size</a></p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 2360 (760 CR, 800 M, 800 W, 11 essay), first try
[</em>] SAT II: US History (770), Lit (760), Math 2 (720)
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
[</em>] Rank: N/A
[<em>] AP: Lit (5), APUSH (5)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Spanish Language, AP Chem, Euro Lit (toughest English class), Advanced Dance, alternative unleveled math class
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Princeton Book Award, NMSF, NHS, National Spanish Exam gold/silver/bronze medals
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Dance, student government (co-chair of Student Council since grade 10), trumpet (performed in many recitals and community events and a quasi-member of my friend’s locally-known band), concert band (member of the band board)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: N/A
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: Coach at school’s writing center, math tutor at a local elementary school, mentor in school’s advisory program for underclassmen
[<em>] Summer Activities: Acting program at film academy (before grade 10), lead roles in school’s summer musicals (before grades 10 and 11), creative writing class at top university (before grade 12)
[</em>] Essays: I really liked the two essays I submitted, as I felt they were both highly original and revealed a bit of my sense of humor. I also sent in a creative writing supplement lauded by multiple college English professors (at Harvard and otherwise), so that was a likely factor in my acceptance.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: I didn’t read them, but they were from two teachers who really loved me; one rec probably explained how I stood out in class as almost the sole contributor, and the other probably showed how I overcame my struggle to do well and ended up being a dedicated learner and a leader in class.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: I don’t know him too well, but we get along splendidly, and I know he thinks highly of me.
[<em>] Additional Rec: Handwritten note from a noted Harvard English professor to the dean of admissions (unsolicited, I might add!)
[</em>] Interview: Brief, but great; he seemed highly impressed by my passion in all that I do and by my vast array of leadership roles in school.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): MA
[</em>] School Type: Public, 400 kids per class, highly ranked in state, kind of a feeder school for Harvard
[<em>] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[</em>] Gender: Female
[<em>] Income Bracket: $40,000-$60,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None :confused:
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Test scores, GPA, essays/supplement, leadership roles, uniqueness of being a female trumpet player
[</em>] Weaknesses: “Unoriginal” ECs, lack of APs (my school doesn’t offer many prior to senior year), lack of awards, no hooks
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Honestly, I think my essays and creative supplement pushed me through the cracks. They demonstrated both my love of writing and my vibrant personality quite well :slight_smile:
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Applied to Wellesley RD, that’s it
[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: AHHHHHH I’M SO HAPPY!!! My entire life everyone around me has expected me to go to Harvard, so getting in is truly a dream and a blessing. To any future applicants out there: don’t compromise your own values and passions for ANY school, even Harvard; I’ve never taken a class or participated in an activity just so that colleges would like me…and look where I am now! :rolleyes: I know it sounds clich</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown):2360 (790 CR, 760 M, 800 W)
[</em>] ACT (breakdown):N/a
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math 2 (800) Literature (760) Chemistry (750)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):n/a, but top 10%
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses):APUSH: (5), AP English: (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses):n/a
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load:AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP English Lit, Journalism, Ceramics
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):Cum Laude, National Merit, President’s Service Award
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):Editor in chief of school’s newspaper, which has won lots of awards the last decade. Varsity basketball. President of school’s “Green Club”
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:Work as student assistant at SAT prep place (not teaching, just administering tests, talking to parents, talking to kids, organizing, etc)
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service:265 hours through junior year, member of Community Service Board all 4 years
[<em>] Summer Activities:Freshman summer - Camp counselor
Soph summer - Camp counselor
Junior summer - Worked and did research at Green Chem lab optimizing a new type of solar cell
[</em>] Essays:CA was really lighthearted and funny (about a nickname I hate). Extracurricular was about my newspaper, and additional essay about my internship at the lab
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: I’m assuming they were great. At my school teachers only accept recs if they know they can do a good job for the student. Chose two teachers who love me.
[</em>] Counselor Rec:My school is small, so counselors do a really great job with recs. I knew my counselor too and she really went to bat for me.
[<em>] Additional Rec: n/a
[</em>] Interview: Really casual. We just talked for 45 minutes, some about harvard and some about what I do at my school. Neutral to positive
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Texas
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):USA
[<em>] School Type: private, all-boys
[</em>] Ethnicity:white
[<em>] Gender:male
[</em>] Income Bracket: <100k
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):none
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths:Really strong essays, and my leadership for 40 people on the newspaper, along with having the grades to be in Cum Laude.
[<em>] Weaknesses:Had a B which i thought would disqualify me. Only a 1-sport athlete.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:Well rounded and good overall. I feel like its such a crapshoot though. Cant believe it. Good luck to everyone!
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Applied to UT[/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
Really proud. Hope this process works out for everyone. Really humbled by this chance</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown):
[</em>] ACT (breakdown):30
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses):740 US and World history
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):4.37 weighted
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):4/309
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses):5 on 3 aps, 4 on 2 aps
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses):none
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load:ap calc bc, ab french, ap gov and comparative, ap bio, ap lang
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):none
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):SCA junior class treasurer and commitee chair for staff appreciation, Project in Ghana( serving villages and teaching about hygeine) , guidance helper, tutor, nhs, mu alpha theta
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Waitress at a retirement home for about 2 years
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: Library helper for one summer, Tutoring, Ghana volunteer with villages for a club
[<em>] Summer Activities:
[</em>] Essays:Great ; i loved my commonapp very discriptive and i wrote a additional essay about my goals: very thorough
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations:Great: i read one and it was awesome; they love me.
[</em>] Counselor Rec:Should be good; even though she’s new so she doesn’t know me so well
[<em>] Additional Rec:None
[</em>] Interview:AWESOME! I Loved it; he never asked the “why harvard” so that was good. Said he was favorable impressed
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant):VA
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type:public
[</em>] Ethnicity:black/ African-Ghanian
[<em>] Gender:female
[</em>] Income Bracket:<50,000
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Home country?
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths:God, essays, interview,recommendations, my volunteering and future goal ins ghana
[<em>] Weaknesses:Test scores were low but still good
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Because of God’s graceee!!! Great recommendation and essays.
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied:applied reg to yale, princeton, uva, richmond, duke[/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Be strong, let no one tell you what you cant or can do. If i did i would have never applied an gotten in! Congrats guys! and if you were deferred or rejected, know that you wiil excell were ever you go! Congrats again.</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t Send
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): 33 (35, 31, 35, 33, 9)
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): Bio (710) and USHist (690? I can’t remember)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/327
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): AP Psych (5), AP Biology (4), AP US History (4), AP Language (4), AP World (3; didn’t report), AP Statistics (2; didn’t report)
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Health, AP Lit, AP Cal AB, AP Physics B, AP Gov, AP Econ, a couple of electives
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): South Eastern Theater Conference Keynote Emerging Artist of Promise, National Merit Commendations, APA Student Award, Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Dance Team (co-captain), Yearbook (Editor-in-Chief), Mock Trial (Attorney, President), Future Medical Professionals Club (Charter Member, President), Community Theater, AP Psych Club, Mu Alpha Theta (President), National Honor Society
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: I babysit and tutor, but that’s not something I shared in my app
[<em>] Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteered with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight, an organization that raises money to send WWII veterans to the national monuments in Washington, D.C. Got a lot of press after the gov’t shutdown.
[</em>] Summer Activities: Volunteer work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast as a mentor and volunteer assistant for a performance of Peter Pan, spent the last two summers writing one-act plays for guerrilla theater event.
[<em>] Essays: They were good. Went out on a limb and wrote about a failure of mine, my 150 word essay was about my most recent play writing experience, and the optional essay I wrote was a letter to my future roommate.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendations: Pretty solid. One was written by my all-time favorite teacher, another by my APGOPO teacher with whom I frequently debate politics, the third by my Mu Alpha Theta sponsor and math teacher of three years (she taught me Alg II, Adv Alg, and AP Calc AB)
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Great! I really sat down with her and gave her a lot of info about who I am and why I do what I do. Counselor resources at my school are plentiful, and since I was the only Ivy applicant from my school in the early round, the counselors truly went out of their way to assist.
[</em>] Additional Rec: Written by my Arts Director who traveled with me to Cambridge in October to tour H. Her rec was good–talked about my choreography experience, my scholarship, and my play writing experience.
[li] Interview: Awesome! We talked about plays most of the time, and then about my interest in Psychology. </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Mississippi (I know, right?)
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): USA
[<em>] School Type: Medium-large public, predominantly white, non-competitive
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Income Bracket: <$65,000
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I’m a Mississippian from a really poor background? I also helped write a play about the Black Sash, a group of white women that fought apartheid in South Africa. This piece has been submitted to the South Eastern Theater Conference Fringe Festival. One of the adcoms emailed me last month and asked me to send some play writing samples (which I did). </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: I had strong essays and a good GPA, ACT in the range of H.
[</em>] Weaknesses: SAT IIs weren’t that great.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted: I think it was some mix of hardwork, personality, and luck.
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Mississippi State and Ole Miss… I’m done with apps! </p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
I’m on cloud nine. I can’t describe this amazing feeling–I was speechless when I opened that email and saw the word ‘Congratulations!’ I can’t wait to visit H again in the near future and eventually matriculate! See y’all (you guys) at Harvard ;)</p>

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

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2320 (730 M, 790 CR, 800 W) (one attempt)
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): n/a
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II (800), Chem (800), Bio M (790)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 16 / 625
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): (5) - Chem, Stats, USH, CompSci, EngLang
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Euro, Organic Chemistry, AP Gov, AP Econ, AP Bio, AP CalcBC, AP EngLit, Speech, Pathophysiology
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): FRC World Champions, High School Honors Science Program, National Spanish Exam (Silver), etc.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): FIRST Robotics (Public Relations leader), school and community orchestra (violist - 1st chair), composition, Varsity Track (school record in SMR), Science Bowl, MUN, LEO Club (Director of Tech), Academy Student Union (CoPres Tutoring)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Tutor at Kumon
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: LEO Club volunteerism, NHS projects, annual can drive, playing in retirement homes, construction projects in unprivileged communities.
[<em>] Summer Activities: UMARMY, Baylor Summer Music Camp, Summer@Brown, High School Honors Science Program (researching the hairpin ribozyme)
[</em>] Essays: My favorite part. Wrote an interesting essay on a tree, neuroscience, and thought in general.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: Probably good?
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Good.
[<em>] Additional Rec: N/A.
[</em>] Interview: Standard interview. We hit it off well, though.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): TX
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): n/a
[<em>] School Type: Large Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Black (Ghanaian – that makes two of us!)
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Income Bracket: +$200,000
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Good scores, writing skills, and well-roundedness.
[<em>] Weaknesses: A lot of areas that I could have gone deeper in that would have enhanced my extracurricular activities and made them more meaningful.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: 1) The strengths above and 2) my unique essay compounded with being a URM.
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Already applied to the Rice Baylor Medical Scholars Program and /might/ be applying to Stanford still. [/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
This is absolutely AMAZING for me. I never would have thought that I would be sitting here today in this position, saying that I had gotten accepted to Harvard less than 24 hours prior. For any Harvard hopefuls in the following years, be sure to ALWAYS approach the application with the intent of showing the admissions officers who you truly are; they are admitting PEOPLE, not statistics and awards. Remember that even winning IMO or ISEF is not a free ticket into Harvard (or any school, to be honest). You must show the drive necessary to pursue knowledge at a level deeper than the surface and the personality that will add color to the community that the admissions officers are trying to build for the class. I know you have it – the application is your time to show it.</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2400
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): NA
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): English (800); World History (800); Maths 1 (800); Maths 2 (800); Biology (800)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97/4
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/200~something
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): AP Calculus (5) (achieved)
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): (all predicted) English HL (7); History HL (7); Economics HL (7); Maths HL (7); Theatre HL (7); Dance HL (7); Biology SL (6); French SL (7); ToK+EE (2)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: Full IB Diploma + 2 IB certificates
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Two-time All-India Debating Champion (2011; 2012); Ranked #1 in the English Olympiad 2011 (worldwide); Ranked #2 in an international debating championship held in Brazil (2013); Two-time All-India short story prize winner (2012; 2013)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul] Self-studied AP Calculus and got a Grade 5; first student in the history of my school to do 6 Higher Level subjects in the IB (the recommended number is 3)
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Head Girl; Achieved an academically recognised degree in Kathak (Indian classical dance); Commencing an online, part-time PhD in Kathak next year; Captain of the Girls Handball Team (National winners of the Under-16 Tournament-Captain in 2011).
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Published a 150-page eBook comprising of 6 short stories (2013); Have been teaching Kathak to younger students for two years now (as part of my degree requirements).
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: Received a National Award for Service to the Country from New Delhi Chief Minister for work with an NGO in passing a new law to support women through the State Legislature; Volunteered in excess of 1000+ hours to this cause; Co-wrote an academic article on the new law with the Head of Family Law at National Law School (Delhi) that was published in the Lex-Warrior (online Indian Law Journal); appeared on two news channels when lobbying for the new law.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Volunteering and working for my NGO.
[</em>] Essays: Decent
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: Quite Good
[</em>] Counselor Rec: NA
[<em>] Additional Rec: Recommendation from Burkha Dutt (huge in Indian journalism) and Sheila Dixit (New Delhi Chief Minister)
[</em>] Interview: Alumni interview felt like a disaster
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): NA
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): India
[<em>] School Type: Private
[</em>] Ethnicity: Indian
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Income Bracket: No idea
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Volunteer work + grades + national awards
[<em>] Weaknesses: essays + alumni interview
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: No idea
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Yale, Columbia, NYU, Brown, and Penn[/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Go with your gut when it comes to your essays, try not to let people form your opinion for you. If you think something is bad, you should change/rewrite it regardless of what anybody else says or thinks.</p>

<p>^trying to determine a trend with >10% of the accepted student pool is futile imo.</p>

<p>Choose One:**Decision: ACCEPTED **</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown):2060(really have no idea what the breakdown was 710 math 690R 660W maybe) I did not send
[</em>] ACT (breakdown):35C 34E 36M 34R 34S best sitting, 35C 34E 36M 34R 36S superscore
[<em>] SAT Subject Tests (place score in parentheses): 640 Bio M 730 Math 1 730 Math 2
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.67 UW
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank but it would be 64/355 or top 15%
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): Gov(5) Bio(4) World History(4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Lit, AP Lang, AP Physics, AP Calc BC, AP USH, Advanced Journalism, Marching Band
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USSYP, Eagle Scout, UASF</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): (Student Rep on a State Board), Tennis club and school varsity, (student rep on a city board), Freeskier, Varsity Golf, Boy Scouts(senior patrol leader), church youth group and choir, newspaper, band, marching band, drumline, winter drumline, jazz band, pit (section leader) idk remember all of them.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Internship at a U.S. Embassy(weird situation I am living in West Africa 2nd semester)
[<em>] Volunteer/Community Service: 400 hours+
[</em>] Summer Activities: lots of things, not on application soooo……
[<em>] Essays: Decent, Got a B in AP Lang on my common app one haha, wrote both my additional info and my EC supplement the night before soooo. But I was happy with them.
[</em>] Teacher Recommendations: English teacher really likes me, Chem teacher probably wrote a generic one. Gov teacher never finished his.
[<em>] Counselor Rec:Who knows probably pretty good I think she likes me.
[</em>] Additional Rec:N/A
[li] Interview:Happened to be in Boston and did the interview with my admissions reader and I thought it went well. Interviewing with someone who has actually read your application is 100x better than Alumni interviews in my opinion. </p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant):Iowa
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): West Africa
[<em>] School Type:Large Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: African-American
[<em>] Gender:Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: ~200k
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: ACT, Extracurriculars, URM Status, Upward trend, who knows really.
[</em>] Weaknesses: GPA obviously, SAT subject tests
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I honestly have no idea
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied: my list before this was super long, Harvard(In obviously), Stanford, Dartmouth, Columbia,Uchicago, MIT, Caltech(unsure i was even going to apply to the techs), USC, URochester, Purdue, Utah, Kansas(full ride), ISU(full tuition), UA(full tuition). But I think I will cut out columbia stanford and the techs. </p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
I guess when they say anything was possible they meant it. </p>

<p>I really regret not writing my essays earlier in the summer. I also wish I would have taken a few more subject tests at the right time.</p>

<p>Summary: grades weren’t perfect, scores are pretty good, and I think I did some cool stuff outside of school.
Decision: Accepted!</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (760M/780CR/780W)
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): US History (800), Literature (760)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses)
APUSH (5), AP English Language (4), AP AB Calc (5), AP Latin (4)</p>

<p>[li] Senior Year Course Load:[/li]AP Euro
AP English
Post-AP Latin 5
AP Psych
Linear Algebra
Independent study in history of race relations (SO interesting and frightening)</p>

<p>[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, a bunch of National Latin exam awards I don’t remember.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Queer Alliance club (president)
Political Discussion club(President)
Environmental club (member)
Secretary/member of environmental activism group in Boston (awareness campaigns and protest)
4 yr varsity soccer
I do almost all of the spring plays at school and one community theater musical outside of school.</p>

<p>[<em>] Job/Work Experience:
Filing papers in the business office at school (helps pay for private school scholarship)
Tutoring in math
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service:
Volunteer at Head Start</p>

<p>[<em>] Summer Activities:
Ok this is honestly what I think got me in:
Last summer I interned with my state representative and (long story short…) ended up drafting legislation about environmental regulations. Politics and the environment have always been my passion (I’ve worked on it through activism since 9th grade or so), so to have a tangible result meant a lot to me. The bill is filed in the MA house of represenatatives and will probably be voted on next year.
Besides that…
Worked on a few campaigns
Waitress one summer
Bummed around at the beach (I didn’t write this on the application. But the beach is so nice!)
[</em>] Essays:
Harvard supplement: I wrote about writing that bill (above) for my work experience and then I just included a list of books
Common app essay: (the 6th one about becoming an adult) was about being a sophomore walking back from school when these seniors started calling me a dyke/■■■ and ended up talking about how it’s better to be conflicted about my sexuality than to never think twice about such a large issue (and thus think it’s so wrong that you would yell at someone for it).
Additional info: I write/perform poetry.</p>

<p>[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: Both knew me really well outside of class (KEY). While one was my strongest class, the other was not (I got B+ every year until senior year) but I worked my butt off and loved it so sincerely that I asked her to write one of my recs. Apparently, it was a good choice…
[</em>] Counselor Rec: My college counselor also coaches me in soccer since Junior year, so I know him pretty well outside of school. I’d imagine he’d write a pretty good recommendation.
[<em>] Additional Rec: the state congressman I worked for wrote me a rec
[</em>] Interview: I did on campus (I live 30min away…) and alumni. Both went really well; on campus lasted about 50 min and off campus for over an hour. We ended up having quite heartfelt conversations…
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): MA
[</em>] School Type: Private
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: F
[<em>] Income Bracket: ~100,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Legacy, idk if being gay matters but that?
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: essays, interpersonal skills–definitely for my interviews, but also when I visited campus I just walked into the admissions office and introduced myself to the MA area rep (super ballsy, but it’s Harvard, so why not?)
[</em>] Weaknesses: grades. they weren’t bad, but I by no means had all As, or even all A-s
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: probably that bill
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied:
I’m done, baby.
I was going to apply to: Columbia, UChicago, Tufts, Northwestern, Brandeis, UWisconsin, Macalester</p>

<p>I just didn’t like Yale or Princeton very much and I need cold weather to thrive so buh bye Stanford/UC Berkley…</p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
You only apply to college once, so you might as well throw your chip in.</p>

<p>ALSO, it seems to me that it is more important to have a coherent thread going in your application (environmental politics for me) that you did some serious work on inside or outside of school than having perfect grades.</p>

<p>Decision: Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2200 (680 CR, 750 M, 770 W, 10 E); didn’t submit
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): 36 (36 E, 36 M, 36 R, 35 S, 11 E) (second sitting)
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math II, 750 Literature, a few others I didn’t submit
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/155
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): APUSH (5), AP English Language (5), AP Calc AB (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, Religion, Spanish IV, Government, AP Biology, Calculus II (dual-enrollment), Statistics (dual-enrollment), Honors Physics
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi-Finalist, Dartmouth Book Award (not really that major), lots of school awards
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Basketball 9-12 (JV captain 10,11); NHS 11-12 (President as senior), Ambassador Club 11-12, Altar Server at my parish (Head Server since 9th grade, been serving since 4th)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Kroger (courtesy clerk for ~4 months in 2012), Wendy’s (staff member for ~3 months summer 2013), been working at an old folks’ home for the past 3 months
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: volunteer at a center for inner-city kids every winter, worked basketball camps for my school, worked at parish festivals, nothing major.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Boys State 2013, a class at the local hospital for gifted science students, work, basketball. Family doesn’t have much money for me to ever do anything else.
[</em>] Essays: My Common App essay was really good, 9/10. Talked about how I’m partially responsible for ending my best friend’s athletic career my sophomore year. Really introspective and I think it characterizes me very well. My supplemental (about an EC) was about my altar serving, it’s okay probably 7/10. I also did the extra essay, it was about 950 words and it talked about my love of basketball (I kind of tried to spin the subjective parts of my application about how I’m a really caring and loyal friend and how much I love basketball). 9/10, it’s kind of stream of consciousness but I keep reading it and the more I do the more I like it.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: One from my Honors Chemistry teacher junior year. The guy loves me so I’m hoping he wrote a good one. The other is from my math teacher the past two years. I’m one of her best math students but I don’t know how much prudence I showed in asking her…sometimes I can tell she doesn’t like me much. Here’s to hoping they were great.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Great. She loves me and, since my school doesn’t have many Ivy League applicants, she told me whenever one of her students does apply to the Ivies she does everything in her power to get them in.
[<em>] Additional Rec: Didn’t get one. Seemed a bit unnecessary but what do I know.
[</em>] Interview: Went decent. They guy asked some pretty cheesy questions and it threw me off (like global scale stuff; I wasn’t ready for that). Overall I think he liked me and I came off as very well-rounded, especially socially.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Ohio
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Private
[</em>] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: $160k-$180k
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I’m the definition of anti-hook. White, male, upper middle class, intended economics major.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: My stats, essays, and possibly my recommendations. With the added fact not many people in the area go to Ivy League schools and I think I really stand out at my not-so-stellar high school.
[<em>] Weaknesses: My extracurricular involvement, although it’s never seemed that way to me, is a bit shallow by CC standards. All I know is basketball at my school is a full-time job and then some so I’ve never had much time for anything else.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t really know why I was deferred, especially with the relatively high SCEA acceptance rate. My ECs are bad I guess. I don’t know. I’ll be licking my wounds for awhile.
[li] Where else you are applying or have already applied: Princeton, Dartmouth, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Miami University, USC (SoCal), Notre Dame, Vanderbilt[/li][/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: It’s a long and grueling process. October was a difficult month because of all the stress. I can’t say I’m not really sad because of this…I don’t know what I’m feeling. Congrats to those who got in, hopefully I’ll be getting good news in March but I doubt it.</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2350 (800CR, 760 Math, 790 Writing)
[</em>] ACT (breakdown): N/A
[<em>] SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II(750), Chemistry (790), US History (750)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 1%, school doesn’t report rank
[</em>] AP (place score in parentheses): AP Euro 4, APUSH, Calc BC, Chem, Bio, English Language 5
[<em>] IB (place score in parentheses):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Economics (micro and macro), AP Physics, Multivariable Calc, Spanish 4, Jazz band, independent research class
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None really, though my jazz band last year won national recognition.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Jazz (section leader 2 out of 4 years), Water Polo (co-captain this year), Swimming (varsity for four years)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Tutoring. I love it! but it isn’t exactly steady work
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: Through a class at school, I teach/mentor at a few local elementary schools a week
[<em>] Summer Activities: CTY before freshman and junior years, jazz camps, swimming, water polo, reading what I couldn’t during the school year
[</em>] Essays: Common App: Pretty decent I think. I had my friend proof them extensively. I think it showed a side of me nowhere else on the application
[<em>] Teacher Recommendations: I’m guessing they were solid, though I didn’t read them. Both teachers know me relatively well outside the classroom
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Didn’t read either, but she loves me and I got a glimpse once that said “one of the best”, so I’m guessing it was good. Plus she couldn’t wait to get a student into Harvard
[<em>] Interview: My interviewer was more reserved, so I couldn’t quite tell how she felt, but I was comfortable and the experience was enjoyable
[/ul]Other[ul]
[</em>] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[<em>] Country (if international applicant):
[</em>] School Type: Private Christian
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: F
[<em>] Income Bracket: not applying for fin aid
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: grades/test scores I guess. But I think I also showed I really wanted Harvard, not just the label, especially in my interview. Being a legacy probably helped a bit, though my parents don’t donate a bunch of money to the school or anything.
[</em>] Weaknesses: I’m not fantastic at any specific ec or school subject. I’m possibly the very definition of well-rounded, which is hard to catch someone’s attention with.
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I showed my interest in a genuine way, I didn’t try to cram my accomplishments into my essays (just my passions and background), and, again, the legacy thing probably helped a bit.
[</em>] Where else you are applying or have already applied: I’ve already submitted the UC app. Probably won’t apply anywhere else
[/ul]General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I felt like I should share just cause I’ve lurked this site for so long. Apply if you really think Harvard has a good culture for you, but don’t try to make yourself look like you fit their culture if you don’t. But apply even if you don’t think you have the right stats/awards/EC’s.</p>