***Official Harvard University 2019 SCEA Decisions ONLY***

[tinyone]

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1930; M 710, CR 560, W 660 - one and only sitting
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math level 2 690, Physics 570
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.75
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
AP (place score in parentheses): European History, Language and Composition, Physics, French, US History
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Literature, AP Statistics, Student Government
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Student Government (commissioner 3 years in a row and senior class president), French club (president), FBLA (IOC Representative), NHS, CSF, Theater Committee, Prom Committee, Tennis team, Maths team, Link Crew (leader), marching band
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community Service: volunteer at community festivals and retirement homes, etc. - over 200+ hours
Summer Activities: FTE EFL program at Yale University
Essays: good
Teacher Recommendations: Didn’t read but assuming they were average/good
Counselor Rec: same ^^
Additional Rec: none
Interview: offered one but did not go </p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid: Yes
Projected Concentration: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Pakistani
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): n/a</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: essays were probably my strongest point
Weaknesses: everything else haha GPA, SAT scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Honestly was expecting a rejection but Harvard’s deferral rate this year seems to be pretty high so idk
Where else you are applying or have already applied: USC, UCLA, NYU, UC Berkeley, Cornell, and some safeties
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I have to agree with @jessdilla2015 I kind of just applied for the heck of it and assumed I wouldn’t get in. A lot of you have amazing stats I don’t think mine can even compare. I guess Harvard just wasn’t for me and God has another plan for me. Congrats to everyone that got accepted and if you didn’t, remember that it’s not the end of the world and there are so many more amazing schools out there. Don’t beat yourself up for it but instead use it as an experience to help you grow. It’s cliche but I know you will all end up in the right place wherever it may be. :)</p>

[DMAzai]

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2220, 740/740/740 (12)
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite, English: 36, Math: 35, Reading: 36, Science: 33, Writing: 10
SAT II (place score in parentheses): World History (800)(should be a 900 lol), Chemistry (780), Math II (760)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.00
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/516
AP (place score in parentheses): AP World History (5), AP Biology (5), AP Lang. & Comp. (5), AP European History (5) (self-study), AP US History (5), AP Calculus AB (5), AP Calculus BC (5), AP Comparative Government (5) (self-study), AP US Government (5), AP Microeconomics (5), AP Macroeconomics (5), AP Computer Science (5), AP Chemistry (4), AP Lit. & Comp (3), AP Physics C: Mech (2) (self-study :(, taking course to make up for my hubris :<)</p>

<p>IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: IB HL Mathematics, IB HL European History, IB HL Philosophy, IB HL Chemistry, IB SL English A, IB SL French B, IB Theory of Knowledge (first semester), PHY 2020 (Intro Physics dual-enrolled, first semester), AP Statistics (online), AP Physics 1 (second semester), PHI 4420 (Philosophy of Science dual-enrolled, second semester)</p>

<p>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, National AP Scholar, National Hispanic Scholar, nominated for regional scholarship award for History/Political Science</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Commissioner’s Academic Challenge (school captain, district team member for social studies in 2014), Social Studies Academic Games (co-president), Ted Deutch Congressional Youth Cabinet (representative), French National Honor Society (co-president), Mu Alpha Theta (Calculus AB captain/tutor), Debate Club (Lincoln-Douglas captain), Model UN (founder, co-president)</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: Tutoring
Volunteer/Community Service: ~200 hours, most from things here and there, about ~90 from one activity that I talked about in my essays (Youth Court)
Summer Activities: Worked as a lab/field assistant in an Estonian University for ~35 hours a week.
Essays: Extraordinary. One was emotional, the other was cerebral. The first touched base on my background, and the second expanded upon one of my extracurriculars before moving into my philosophy of life. I spent a very long time perfecting them. I am normally very self-critical, but these essays were strong enough to make me feel better about myself after one significant depressive episode in my life.
Teacher Recommendations: Very Strong. One from philosophy teacher, one from chemistry teacher.
Counselor Rec: Very strong.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Interviewed with a cardiologist who attended both Harvard for undergrad and medical school. Friendly guy! Fantastic 45 minute long interview. We talked about my interests and my background. I demonstrated my knowledge of Harvard and asked great questions. We even both happened to enjoy REM (their early albums)! </p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative, Philosophy, Neuroscience
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~40,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Hispanic (half Cuban, half Estonian)</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Strong academics, recommendations, essays
Weaknesses: SAT score, lack of “stunning awards” but hey, history/philosophy things are hard to come by!
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My intellectual side and my moral side came out through my application. I’m pretty well-rounded, but my passion for the social sciences shined above everything else.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: University of Florida. Not applying anywhere else: I’m happy with Harvard!
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: If you’re a passionate young intellectual, a genuinely friendly guy, and a hard worker, there’s probably a space for you at one of the top schools. I lucked out, honestly. Despite my own knowledge of my strengths, I think many other people seem “stronger” on paper. However, from personal experience, I’m pretty much unmatched in history and philosophy for most kids my age because both subjects inspire me to think about the “big picture”. My teachers knew that and heavily advocated for me in my their letters. </p>

<p>Also, make sure your letters/essays reveal your whole personality! If your letters/essays don’t indicate anything about your leadership skills/personality/interests/raison d’être, then they’re not helpful and are probably wasting the committee’s time. Two teacher letters of recommendation, one counselor letter of recommendation, a thoughtful, emotional but tasteful common app essay, and a cerebral supplemental essay about one of my extracurriculars did it for me.</p>

<p>If you’re strong across the board, but you don’t stand out like a USAMO Intel Junior Oncologist Extraordinaire, my advice might be your best bet. </p>

[AnonymousPC]

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>WooHoo! Four more months of waiting for my rejection! </p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I: 2210 - CR 760 - M 770 - WR 690 </p>

<p>ACT: 34 - E 34 - M 34 - R 35 - S 34 - W 11</p>

<p>SAT II: MII (770) - Ch (740) - Ph (730) - USH (680)</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 High School (9th through 12th) 3.92 Full time dual enrollment (11th and 12th)</p>

<p>Rank: 1/156</p>

<p>AP: None - High School did not allow before eleventh, and I entered college full time in eleventh, so I have entirely Post-Secondary classes. No AP tests either, they were the week of finals.</p>

<p>IB: None.</p>

<p>Senior Year Course Load: </p>

<p>PS Organic Chemistry I
PS Organic Chemistry II
PS Calculus III
PS Differential Equations
PS Art History I
PS British Literature
PS Introductory Physics I
PS US History from 1865
PS Microeconomics. 32 Semester Hours.</p>

<p>Major Awards: </p>

<p>National Merit Commendation.</p>

<p>Less Major Awards: </p>

<p>Georgia Merit Scholar
Georgia Governors Honors Attendee in Math
Middle Georgia State College (my dual enrollment college) Leadership Award</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Many I did not start until 11th, because my high school did not have the base required for most of these types of clubs. So I joined clubs once I got into the Georgia Academy of Aviation, Mathematics, Engineering, and Science (GAMES), my dual enrollment program.</p>

<p>Math Team (President) 9 -12
Model African Union (Head Delegate and President) 11-12
Cooking Club (Founder and Chef de Cuisine) 12
Science Bowl 11-12
GAMES Youth Service Project (Secretary then President) 11-12
Chess Club (Vice President) 11-12
Varsity Tennis - 10</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience:</p>

<p>Student Tutor - Middle Georgia State College </p>

<p>Volunteer/Community Service: Not a ton: ~100 hours in National Honor Society</p>

<p>Summer Activities: Georgia Governors Honors (11), NC State Design Camp (11), Auburn Design Camp (11)</p>

<p>Essays: </p>

<p>Common App - On my decision to go to GAMES and my time in it - Not superb, but good. 8 (~600 words)
Activity - On my trip to Washington DC for Model AU - 8 (142 words)
Supplement - A reflection on my past career goals and my discovery that whatever I do, it must somehow improve lives - 7 (I feel it might have sounded as if I believe myself to be altruistic) - kept it brief (~300 words)</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendations: I provided five because a counselor during a Harvard visit said to provide 2 from high school and 2 from College.</p>

<p>Math - HS - Probably very good - Taught me ninth and tenth - Math Team Coach - And GHP teacher as well
English - HS - Family Friend - 9th grade teacher - Known me for ever -Wanted someone into Harvard for bragging rights
Chem - PS - MIT alum - Taught Chem II and oChem - Probably good, but probably not excellent either. Young and inexperienced.</p>

<p>Counselor Rec: Probably alright - Known me and my father (who teaches at my school) for many years - Knows all about my involvement.</p>

<p>Additional Rec: College Dean - PS - Lawyer, professor and dean - “Coached” Model AU - Very experienced in education and recommendation writing - Probably rather good.</p>

<p>Interview: Not phenomenal, but not bad either. Probably neutral. “Talked” for about two hours, but I said very little with substance.</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Mechanical Engineering
State: Georgia (Rome, GA to be precise)
School Type: Rural - Small - AA - About 650 kids.
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 130k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Full time college student (will have a degree before a diploma), Rural.</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: My two years in college. Being a relatively good student (albeit not spectacular) from a rural community and high school that may never have sent a student to Harvard (we do have one who went to UPenn though).
Weaknesses: SAT II’s not phenomenal (albeit fine in my opinion), Test Scores only average for Harvard. ECs not all that amazing (understatement), and certainly a tad unfocussed. Maybe too many recommendations? No AP tests so no standard for them to judge my education.</p>

<p>Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think there were plenty of qualified people and they had to make hard choices. I think nothing deterred them from my app. Just the sheer quality of the applicant pool explains my deferral.</p>

<p>Where else you are applying or have already applied: Done: Georgia Tech EA, Auburn - To Be Done: Stanford, MIT, UPENN, Columbia - Maybe: Vanderbilt, Washington University in St. Louis, Duke, Cornell, and some others. I do not want to do more than a few, and I only want to apply to places that I think will be affordable without amassing huge loans.</p>

<p>I am content with Georgia Tech - Few schools are better than it (albeit many are more fun), and I get instate tuition.</p>

<p>General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: </p>

<p>Congrats to the lucky ones - You deserved it.</p>

<p>Best of luck to those of us Deferred</p>

[sylvereyes12]

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2320 (superscore), 2310 (one sitting); M: 800, CR: 740, W: 780, E: 9
ACT (breakdown): 33
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Chemistry (750), Math I (800), Math II (780)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/748
AP (place score in parentheses): Human Geography (4), European History (5), English Lit (5). Chemistry (3), Music Theory (3)
IB (place score in parentheses): SL Math (6), SL Spanish (5)
Senior Year Course Load: IB HL History, IB HL English, IB HL Biology, AP Calculus AB, IB Theory of Knowledge, IB SL Music Theory, Honors Orchestra VI, (AP Psychology online.)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi-Finalist</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Orchestra (President), Science Olympiad (President), Quizbowl, National Honor Society, National English Honor Society (Co-founder, Vice-President), Math Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, National Science Honor Society, BETA (Secretary), Social Studies Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, REACH (Internal Vice-President), Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra, Model UN, UNICEF
Job/Work Experience:N/A
Volunteer/Community Service: Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies (Triage and Antepartum Units), Give Kids the World, Salvation Army, Buddy Break.
Summer Activities: Summer classes at Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, and two years at Harvard Summer School. Missions trips to Jamaica.
Essays: 2.
Teacher Recommendations: 2. I suggest you get teachers that know you well and that you have connected well with. It makes for better recommendations to add a bit of a personal touch.
Counselor Rec: She loves me, I hope she wrote a good rec. xD xD
Additional Rec: Arts Teacher (Orchestra): I spent 300+ hours helping with administrative, librarian work.
Interview: I thought it went well, but you never know. </p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes.
Projected Concentration: Molecular Biology.
State (if domestic applicant): Florida.
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: IB Magnet.
Ethnicity: Asian.
Gender: Female.
Income Bracket: Middle middle class.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nothing like that. </p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: SAT Scores, ECs, Essay
Weaknesses: AP Scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: …there’s a lot of Asians out there.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Yale, Brown, Princeton, UPenn, Vanderbilt, BU, Johns Hopkins, UNC at Chapel Hill, Duke, Northwestern, Northeastern, University of Florida (safety yeah!), Emory
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Pray and hope for the best people! </p>

[ribcagecarnival]

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

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2160 [one sitting, one month of prep] - 690 M, 750 CR, 720 W
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Spanish w/ Listening (720), U.S. History (730)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): Spanish Language (5), U.S. History (5), Spanish Literature (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Middle Eastern Studies, Creative Writing, Post-AP Spanish Seminar, AP English Literature, AP Art History, AP Calculus AB
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Spanish Honor Society [inducted - 10th grade], AP Scholar Award [awarded - 12th grade]</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): singing, writing, student government [elected official - 12th grade], student ambassador [leadership - 9th grade], slam poetry team, foreign language magazine [head Spanish editor - 12th grade], improv troupe
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community Service: using music as a means of impacting the community [writing songs/anthems for Big Brothers Big Sisters, No Kid Hungry, the Jenesse Center]
Summer Activities: selected - GRAMMY Camp LA (songwriting), selected - VidCon 2014 Open Mic
Essays: not deeply emotional but deeply personal; about how I feel most content around music
Teacher Recommendations: did not read; both from teachers with whom I developed close bonds with outside of class and had for two years [one was my sophomore and senior year history teacher, one was my junior and senior year English teacher]
Counselor Rec: did not read; combination of two counselors; my dean/college counselor of sophomore and junior year transferred to another job and collaborated with my new one for this year; developed close bonds with them very quickly
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: my interviewer was actually almost an hour late to my interview, but I think it went well [note: don’t put ANY stock in the interview unless it goes really horribly wrong. an average or good interview will have little to no effect on admission decisions.]</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No
Projected Concentration: English literature
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: small private school
Ethnicity: Black/African-American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $100,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): older brother is currently a junior, dad attended the law school [legacy]; not “typical Ivy League” candidate</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: personal qualities, essays, recs, extracurriculars, subject tests, AP scores
Weaknesses: GPA, SAT
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’m very different from the kind of kids who typically apply to Harvard, so I think being set apart so much from the pack helped a lot. Plus I sent an art supplement (video of me singing an original song) and I think my recommendations were very strong. Also my school tends to send a lot of kids to the Ivies.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: applying to the Thornton School of Music at USC as a popular music major with a concentration in songwriting; will find out about if I got a live audition sometime next week; was going to apply to Brown, NYU, & Emory if H didn’t work out (but won’t be now)
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: It’s a massive cliche, but be yourself. Don’t worry, even for a moment, about what you think a college “wants” or “needs” to see. Also, avoid out of school college consultants unless you feel like your school is not providing adequate services. Do all your own work. Have a clear passion and a clear personality. Show interest. Think positively.</p>

<p>Congrats to my fellow admits; if you were deferred or rejected, there’s obviously nothing we can say to make it better, but know that you will go somewhere incredible, and there are people in your life who are there to support you.</p>

[fitforcollege]

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2360 (800 math 800 writing 760 cr)
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math 2 (800) Physics (790) US History (790)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 1%
AP (place score in parentheses): English Lang & Comp (5) World History (5) US History (5) Biology (5) Prototype Russian AP (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature and Composition, AP Chemistry, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calculus BC
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit, AP Scholar, National Ballroom Dance Title</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Competitive Ballroom Dance, Student Organization (Senior VP), Humans of (insert my school) (founder and administrator), JSA (Chapter Board and Northeast State Director of Public Relations), Jewish Student Union (president), Debate Team (VP), Business Club (VP), Math Team, Varsity Swimming Team, Scholarship Club (VP)
Job/Work Experience: Intern at law firm (summer 2013) intern at Borough Hall (summer 2014) deputy field organizer on congressional campaign (summer 2014)
Volunteer/Community Service: teacher’s assistant at local Russian Jewish community center
Summer Activities: Camp Rising Sun - international full merit-based sfholarship leadership program (2012)
Essays: I got pretty good feedback on the common app and supplement. I was happy with both when I submitted.
Teacher Recommendations: haven’t read them, but I assume they’re both great.
Counselor Rec: should be well-written. Again, haven’t seen it for myself.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: It went all right. Can’t say it left me jumping for joy, but I felt I was able to get across a good sense of who I was.</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yeah
Projected Concentration: Electrical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Magnet
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $100,000-$150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation American</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Grades and scores (though it feels like everyone has them) multiple leadership positions in a variety of extracurriculars, suchessful male ballroom dancer (rare activity)
Weaknesses: lack of experience in the major I wish to pursue
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: (see weakness)
Where else you are applying or have already applied: already applied to SUNY Stony Brook and URochester.
will soon apply to JHU, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, UPenn, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts and MIT
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
In hindsight, I probably should have gotten more involved in STEM-related opportunities while in high school, perhaps sent another rec letter, sent a dance portfolio, or written about another topic. The truth is I don’t know for sure what would have and nor does anyone except for the admissions officers reading our applications. My advice is don’t worry about it. There’s plenty more colleges to apply to, and if you take the focus off Harvard for the rest of the process, the result cam only be more positive. If you ultimately get rejected, as will unfortunately be the case for many of the top students, you won’t be as upset. On the other hand, an acceptance will brighten the rest of your week. On that note, congrats to everyone accepted and good luck to everybody deferred!</p>

[fairyfantasy]

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2290 One sitting 790 (CR) 770 (M) 730 (W)
ACT (breakdown): None
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 (Math II) 730 (Lit) 710 (Physics)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/651
AP (place score in parentheses): Cal BC(5 AB subscore: 5 ) Chemistry, English Language & Composition, US History, World History (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): None
Senior Year Course Load: Linear Algebra at university, AP Computer Science, AP Physics C: E&M, AP Biology, AP English Literature, AP Statistics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Government, Symphony Orchestra, Teacher’s Assistant
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi-finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, Clark Scholar, Regional/State UIL Literary Criticism team awards, Regional Cardboard Regatta 2nd </p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Overseas Peer College Counseling (Founder), Science Club(Founder/President), Math Club/Mu Alpha Theta(VP), Engineering Club(Treasury), Symphony Orchestra(Social Chair), Comic Translation Organization: The Faiien Scans(Founder), Tennis(2 years, won a few regional awards)
Job/Work Experience: Research Intern for 6-7 weeks at Clark Scholars (stipend of $750 with free room and board)
Volunteer/Community Service: Reading Corp, Teacher’s Assistant, Tutor
Summer Activities: First Bytes Computer Science Camp, Clark Scholar research program (Both free)
Essays: CA Essay: 7-8/10 Teacher and Harvard friend said it showed nice character strength; Supplement: Not sure how to rate; high-risk essay that can either be likeable or dislikable
Teacher Recommendations: Read 2 of them, 1 were great and the other were okay; the 3rd one was written by a teacher who has never written recommendation letters before and I didn’t see it
Counselor Rec: From what I heard, really good; My counselor really liked me and wanted me to get in
Additional Rec: From my research mentor from Clark Scholar; never read the rec letter
Interview: Didn’t have one</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Computer Science/Psychology
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large non-competitive public
Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $80,000-90,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Summer Activities and GPA/Transcript
Weaknesses: Standardized Test Scores, Awards, Maybe essays and rec letters
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: More competitive applicant(Female/CS/Asian, too) from my non-competitive city got in so they probably don’t have room for 2 from the same city; I might not be what Harvard wants in a student since I am not sure what Harvard or any other Ivies want
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Auto Admits: UT Austin, Texas A&M Applied: Washington U at Saint Louis (applied on a whim since no supplement) Going to apply to: Stanford, Columbia, Princeton, Rice and maybe: Cornell, Brown, Duke, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Carleton
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I am not feeling that emotional about this result, actually. I believe everyone should just be themselves in their application process and the right school for you will accept you in time. Every university seems to look for different qualities in their students, so don’t be too disappointed if Harvard doesn’t treasure your qualities - others definitely will. </p>

[soccerlover17]

<p>Decision: Deferred
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2230 Superscore (800 CR, 700 Math, 730 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): 34
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 760 US, 740 English Lit, 700 Math II (didn’t send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): roughly a 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses): AP USH (5), AP Comp Gov (4)/AP US Gov (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Econ, AP Enviro, AP English Lit, AP Calc AB, AP Spanish IV
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): four years of soccer (two years varsity), four years of Business Club, four years of writing for the school paper, two years varsity track
Job/Work Experience: Refereed youth soccer for four years
Volunteer/Community Service: Spent a week for the last five summers at a community service program in TE
Summer Activities:Collegiate Soccer Academy at Boston University, Brown Pre-College, Caterham Exchange Program (two week trip to england)
Essays:Solid I guess? 8/10 idk…maybe below my usual standard, I’m not happy with them
Teacher Recommendations: Great
Counselor Rec:Great
Additional Rec:Great
Interview:Great</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: English/ Econ
State (if domestic applicant): OH
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private Boarding
Ethnicity:White
Gender:Male
Income Bracket:under 60,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):legacy (yeah…and I still couldn’t get in…)</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths:Well I’m supposed to be a good writer, and that shows in my awards but maybe my essays just weren’t good enough
Weaknesses:Lack of leadership
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t think my essays were that spectacular, and my school grades on a 7 point scale…even though I have what is a 3.9ish, its only like top 15% at my school
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Michigan, Stanford, USC, Pomona, Cornell, Dartmouth, Vassar, Wisconsin, Syracuse, Miami of Ohio, Case Western Reserve, UVA
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Idk…don’t get too attatched I guess haha</p>

[virago1]

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (first sitting)
ACT (breakdown):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):1/292
AP (place score in parentheses): Human Geo (5), Envi Sci (5), Language and Composiiton (5), BC Calc (5), Euro (5), US History (5)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Lit (770), US History (800)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Stat, AP Bio, AP Gov, AP Macro Economics, AP French, Newspaper
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing major - National Merit Semifinalist, Harvard Book Award, 1st Place FBLA States, 3rd Place FBLA States, Penn State Essay Contest Winner, etc </p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): TASP, Quiz Bowl (President: 12, VP: 11), Model UN (President: 12), VP:11), Mock Trial (Co-President:12), Leo Club (Secretary: 9-12), FBLA (9-11), Newspaper (News Editor: 12, Business Manager: 11), ANNPower Leadership Forum, NHS
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service: Child Evangelism Fellowship/Church for about 100 hours, local hospital for about 50, local school for the blind, service club stuff, local senior center - total about 250 hours
Summer Activities: TASP
Essays: I thought they were pretty solid. Common app essay was pretty generic but good, supplement was more unique
Teacher Recommendations: Good
Counselor Rec: He barely knows me so probably average
Additional Rec:
Interview: Average - I’ve always thought of myself as being pretty good at interviews (considering I got into TASP) but I really don’t know how this one went. </p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Social Sciences
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Suburban public school
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Upper Middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Stats, TASP
Weaknesses: no major awards or hooks
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I have no idea - I know it’s a crapshoot, but it’s just so frustrating because what else did they really want from me???
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Accepted to Pitt with full tuition, applying to UMich, Vanderbilt, Drexel, Princeton, Yale, UPenn, Duke, Northwestern and possibly Cornell
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: </p>

[Melissawilliams]

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

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2240 (one sitting, one time). 730 CR, 710 Math, 800 W
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II (place score in parentheses): USH (710), Lit (780), bio sucked so didn’t send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): U.S. Govt. (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): In the IB program - too lazy to list scores. Mostly 6’s and I hope to get a 7 on something.
Senior Year Course Load: Five IB classes, journalism, art elective (need it to graduate)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Best of Show for high school newspaper (among the top 10 in the nation), other newspaper awards I updated last minute about. No major personal awards - basically your normal things plus the random $1000 scholarship here and there.</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): NHS (president), National Spanish Honor Society (VP), Mock Trial team (captain), debate team (co-captain), Newspaper (Editor-in-Chief), Quizbowl team
Job/Work Experience: worked at a retail store over the summer
Volunteer/Community Service: service trip to Africa
Summer Activities: service trip, work, sleep, academic camps
Essays: 10/10 on the common app. Best thing I’ve ever written. I loved my supplement even though it was done at the last minute. Guess they liked it too! Just goes to show that the dreaded roommate essay CAN work out sometimes!
Teacher Recommendations: All knew me for a long time, so I expect 9-10/10. Sadly I’ll never know.
Counselor Rec: Great, she asked me specifically for stuff to mention.
Additional Rec: Absolutely amazing (I was allowed to read it)
Interview: 12/10. Super fun and the hour flew by. We ended up having the same interests and basically same life.</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Hell ya. Didn’t ask but I used a fee-waiver too
Projected Concentration: idk maybe Government
State (if domestic applicant): East Coast
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: average public with good amount of APs and IB program
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Enough to get full or near full aid! Holla
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: I live to write, and those essays nailed it. I had the leadership and the commitment, the scores and the minority status.
Weaknesses: No major personal awards, and I updated them about my national newspaper awards a week before decision time lol
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: GPA/scores, in conjunction with rockin’ essays
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Some state schools and publics EA. I don’t know if I’ll apply anywhere else now, but I’m considering just Penn and Stanford.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Don’t make your whole life revolve around getting in. Be busy, but be passionate. And I don’t think I can stress enough how important essays are! </p>

<p>Sorry some of these posts were a bit vague; PM me and I’ll answer anything. I’m still in a state of shock, and it’s only beginning to sink in. Reading through these threads I saw all these amazing students with once-in-a-lifetime experiences, international awards, and all around craziness I knew I could never compete with. I guess the key is to just do well at whatever it is you like. I didn’t do anything crazy; I like to think I’m a normal kid who was lucky enough to get in. Congrats on all those accepted, and to those deferred/rejected, this isn’t the end. You end up where you’re meant to end up.</p>

[oxoxhawja3xoxo]

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

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): COMPOSITE: 2130 CR: 680 M: 720 W: 730
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t Submit It.
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math 1: 670 Literature: 660
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Our transcripts only have our weighted GPA. Mine is a 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school does not rank except for kids who make Cum Laude (top 10% of the class). There are 8 students on Cum Laude in my class, and I am not one of them.
AP (place score in parentheses): I did not submit any scores, but I’ve taken AP World History, AP Environmental Science, and AP Statistics.
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: Honors Philosophy, AP Statistics, Physics, US Choir, Peer Leadership, Honors English, Global Studies: Indian Subcontinent
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Achievement Semi Finalist; African American Scholarship to the Oxbridge Program: The New York College Expereince; And then the rest of my awards are from sports. </p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Varsity Volleyball (since the 7th grade; Captain this year); Club Volleyball; Indoor Track; Outdoor Track; Upper School Choir; PEP Committee
Job/Work Experience: I didn’t list any on my app.
Volunteer/Community Service: Relay For Life <a href=“I’m%20a%20committee%20member%20this%20year”>it’s a program for cancer</a>
Summer Activities:New Jazz School; Oxbridge Academic Program: The New York College Experience (I was named a program ambassador, and I also got that scholarship to attend)
Essays: Seriously some of the best things I’ve ever written. I’m very proud of them.
Teacher Recommendations: I haven’t read them.
Counselor Rec: I also haven’t read it.
Additional Rec: I didn’t sumbit any extra recs.
Interview: I didn’t feel good about it after. Not bad, but also not good. I think it was neutral. I felt like it wasn’t going to help my application, but it also wouldn’t hurt it. </p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes.
Projected Concentration: I have no idea yet. I put the social sciences! but that may change
State (if domestic applicant): Louisiana
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Not a very high one.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: My extracurricular activities. I don’t have a ton, but the ones I do have, I invested so much in them, and I’ve really worked hard to excel. I also tried not to put things that I didn’t really care about like little jobs, or how I was on the debate team for a year. Less is more. Just show you’re passionate about something. You don’t have to use all 10 slots on the common app. For me I am passionate about Volleyball. Music. and Relay for Life. A tip for future applicants - the activity that seems most obvious, is the one to talk about for the mini essay. Don’t try and talk about something obscure just to seem unique because it will sound forced. I tried it at first.<br>
Also, my Essays. I really just tried to make my voice heard. Stream of consciousness is a good thing, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I didn’t really talk about any particular event. I just kind of talked about the things that I think about in my head with a few references to things that I enjoy. I don’t know if that made sense, but really, you have to try to make your voice stand out among thousands. If you can’t read the essay in a colloquial manner that sounds true to you, you might want to reconsider what you’ve written. Remember, these people don’t know you. So. Give as much as you can in a few hundred words without sounding like you’re on drugs. Also, a little humor goes a longggg way. </p>

<p>Weaknesses: I was kind of concerned about my SATIIs and also the fact that I made a typo in one of my essays. Other than that, I really don’t think I was capable of doing anything more than I did. </p>

<p>Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My essays for sure. Also my recs may have been good… I don’t know. I definitely wasn’t accepted for my test scores. I also know that Harvard can’t see this, but I worked so so so hard in my extra curricular activities, especially my sports, and the extra stuff outside of school, has seriously shaped my personality. I can feel the changes over the years, and I am really starting to like the person I am becoming. </p>

<p>Where else you are applying or have already applied: I’ve applied to Vassar and Pomona so far. I’m going to apply to all my other schools next week, minus the safeties. </p>

<p>General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Wow. This is unreal. Congratulations to everyone who got accepted. I hope to see you next year. For everyone deferred and denied, If it’s not Harvard, maybe it’s Yale. haha. but in all seriousness, you will get in where you belong. That’s how I look at it. If I didn’t belong at Harvard, it may not have been because I wasn’t qualified, but perhaps it was because God wanted me to be somewhere else where I’d be happier.
Some other advice is don’t submit too many extra materials. I submitted one extra thing, and it was the transcript from my summer program. Also, if you ever find yourself getting involved in an activity because “it’ll look good for college” or taking a class you think is boring because “it’s AP”, then stop it! Be yourself. The school that you belong at will want you for you, not for how you dressed up your resume. What else? Be humble. Always. that’s a big thing. OH another thing. Don’t compare yourself to others. be the best version of YOURSELF. If people think you’re dumb for applying, or they’re better/smarter than you, or you’re not qualified, or whatever… (I know many of you probably read my stats and think I am mediocre. I know that I am so much more than what some people think of me…)That attitude right there. The selfish one. Where you think you deserve more than others. I don’t know how, but admissions does a GREAT job of seeing that in people. That attitude may be the very reason why some people do not get in. Do not be that person. Be tactful. Be classy. Be willing to learn from others. Give credit where credit is due. Be competitive, but of strong morals. Believe in yourself. And believe that whatever happens, you will end up where you belong, and keep on fighting through life. You can always succeed. </p>

<p>VERITAS EVERYBODY. </p>

[SaveOurSkin]

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

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2220 (720 M 750 R 750 W)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): (620 Math II, 570 US History, 580 World History)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6!
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/90
AP (place score in parentheses): 1 on AP Comp Sci, 3 on AP US
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended!</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Job/Work Experience: Worked at a Nike outlet as a sales associate
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteer for black panther youth association (50 hours)
Summer Activities: More black panther stuff, civil rights stuff (50 hours)
Essays: Great! Wrote about my love for my race and ability to embrace challenges!
Teacher Recommendations: Excellent! I have teachers that share my views and they wrote great things about me!
Counselor Rec: Eh… hahahah
Additional Rec: BPYA rep wrote it and it was pretty good
Interview: Nope!</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes!
Projected Concentration: African Diasporsa Studies!
State (if domestic applicant): Cleveland
Country (if international applicant): America!
School Type: Public, charter
Ethnicity: BLACK
Gender: MALE
Income Bracket: ~15,000-30,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I am URM, first generation</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Definitely my ability to overcome opposition and not afraid to back down from challenges
Weaknesses: Probably that I was black and also the fight I had before being accepted. I think I slipped through the cracks on that one because Harvard told me I wouldn’t be getting accepted.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I showed a genuine interest in helping my people and advancing America to the real 21st century.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Won’t say haha
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Good luck to others! Better not hear any of the affirmative action BS!</p>

[XGeneration]

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

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (first sitting)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II (800), Physics (800), Chemistry (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96, 4.83 weighted (out of 5).
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parentheses): 9 classes taken, 9 total, all 5s (Macro, Micro, Chemistry, Compsci, Statistics, Physics C Mechanics, Physics C E/M, Calculus BC, Lang)
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Orgo 303 at Princeton, AP Biology, LA 4 online, some grad requirements online
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
IChO Silver Medalist
USNCO Finalist
Boys’ Nation Senator</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Model United Nations (VP of top 4 national team, 3 Best Delegates 3 Outstandings at competitive conferences like ILMUNC, NAIMUN, etc), Director-General of Operations of our school’s MUN conference that we started up my junior year, which attracted 300+ kids from across the state. Volleyball (JV Captain + soon-to-be Varsity Captain), converted 1-15 Varsity team from freshman year to 15-7 state-qualifying team junior year. Science Club (Science Olympiad 8-9 1st/2nd place Medals at States, 2 Top 6 Medals at Nationals including a 1st Place and multiple top 10s).
Job/Work Experience: Nothing.
Volunteer/Community Service: About 300 hours at various places like nursing homes, rehab facilities, chinese schools.
Summer Activities: USNCO study camp, Boys’ State/Nation, IChO
Essays: I think my CA essay was pretty good, my supplement I just wrote “Why Harvard”. I just wanted to make sure my essays didn’t stop me from getting in.
Teacher Recommendations: My chemistry teacher loved me because I made it to IChO so I’m sure it was okay. Same with my APUSH teacher because I was involved in MUN and Boys’ State.
Counselor Rec: I have a pretty good relationship with my counselor so I think it’s pretty good.
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: It was fine, nothing out of the ordinary and nothing spectacular.</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? nope.
Projected Concentration: none, maybe Applied Math?
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Medium Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Good awards and extracurriculars.</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Scores, extracurriculars.
Weaknesses: I don’t think I had any gaping weaknesses. Maybe not enough leadership on my extracurriculars?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Again, I don’t think I had any gaping weaknesses. Most of the comments that I’ve gotten were “I saw it coming” or “I can’t say it was surprising” etc.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: I’m not committing yet, still going to be applying to the rest of HYPSM regular before I make my choice.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
I know a lot of people are going to be reading from the future, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions about what I did my high school years, even if you’re reading from way in the future.</p>

[gincatpotter]

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

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take (midwester)
ACT (breakdown): 36 Composite (36E 36M 36S 35R 12 essay)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 750 US 750 Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 out of 203
AP (place score in parentheses): 5 Calc AB 5 Lang 5 APUSH
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP physics C, AP Calc BC, AP Lit, AP chem, Ap euro, AP Psych, Autocad
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): QuestBridge College Prep Scholar, QuestBridge Finalist, 10% internationally MAP testing, other school/ state awards</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): cheerleading (captain), student government (president), NHS (president), MUN (founder), environmental committee, mathletes, scholastic bowl, FBLA, softball (freshmen captain), student ambassador to the board of education, science olympiad, newspaper, student leadership, freshman mentor, peer tutoring
Job/Work Experience: food service at country club, internship at Fermilab
Volunteer/Community Service: volunteer with NHS, tutoring
Summer Activities: junior year- internship at Fermilab, senior year- MOSTEC (MIT), Yale Young Global Scholars, Girls State
Essays: good, common app about parents’ alcoholism and resulting financial issue, supp about how im basically bostonian bc speech impediment has given me a boston accent, irish american, hockey lover, etc.
Teacher Recommendations: great, teachers saw I’m one of the best students they have ever taught
Counselor Rec: probably good he likes me
Additional Rec: great from superintendent
Interview: went really well!</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? yes
Projected Concentration: engineering, IR
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small public (doesn’t usually send kids to ivies)
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 55-60k for family of 7 with 3 in college
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: ACT, summer stuff, personable? my personal story
Weaknesses: SAT IIs, not a competitive high school
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: grace a god… but probably high act but low income
Where else you are applying or have already applied: yale, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Wellesley, dartmouth
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: This is unbelievable… people from my HS don’t go to Harvard.</p>

[crapdiem]

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

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400 one sitting
ACT (breakdown): 36 one sitting: 36, 36, 36, 36, 9 essay
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800s on three
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/400+
AP (place score in parentheses): I had multiple fours, whoops.
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: All APs
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Attended a top science program, NMS, Coca-Cola Scholar, Nat’l AP Scholar, Cello state competition awards, nothing too out of the ordinary.</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Lots of cello, lots of Model UN, science related activities such as research and any clubs related to such, debate, volunteering in three places regularly (weekly)
Job/Work Experience: tutoring since 9th grade
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Activities: Research, cello, science programs
Essays: They were dangerous: could’ve either been a real attention catcher or an immediate /shoves into garbage/
Teacher Recommendations: maybe 8/10 both
Counselor Rec: one of best she’s written; she told me that she wanted to call all the colleges individually in case her rec didn’t stand out enough.
Additional Rec: none
Interview: about an hour and a half. We connected on a lot, she was really relaxed and chill.</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Undecided but definitely science related
State (if domestic applicant): Pacific NW
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large-ish Public
Ethnicity: Korean
Gender: F
Income Bracket: <75K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Essays, a few special circumstances dealing with my extended family, academic profile
Weaknesses: I’m Asian yay. Perhaps a little washed out among all the perfect score high achieving Asians
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’m not quite sure, but I’m honestly v blessed!
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Going to apply to Pton / Yale / MIT / Stanford.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Hi everyone! I’m sorry if my post is too cursory; please feel free to message me for details, I just wanted to rush to this part to give my comments. Honestly, I am so incredibly blessed; when I found out, I ran outside barefoot and just screamed for a few minutes. Congrats to my fellow comrades who were also accepted; wow, what a relief! To those of you who were deferred/rejected, I won’t try to tell you that I understand what you’re feeling or that you should not be upset for a bit, but I definitely can and will say that despite Harvard’s decision for you, you are the same person after the decision as before the decision. You are just as wonderful, just as accomplished, just as spectacular; Harvard’s decision is not representative of YOU. One door has closed, but there are so many out there that are still open! The number of reasons that Harvard’s door has closed is too large for you to speculate on why you weren’t accepted (and many of them are so arbitrary), so don’t be discouraged and keep trucking through. You all have my utmost support in all of your endeavors–please do not hesitate to message me with questions or essays to edit, because I would love to do so. Stay strong, my fellow seniors.</p>

[alee29]

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

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 (English 35, Math 35, Reading 33, Science 36, Writing 10)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Biology (E- 800), Chemistry (790), Math II (790)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5%
AP (place score in parentheses): European History (5), US History (5), Chemistry (5), English Language(4)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, Organic Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Calc BC, AP US Gov, Economics, Video Production
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Red Cross Club (President), CPR Instructor, ARISTA, Student Government
Job/Work Experience: Intern at a lab
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Activities: Research, Volunteering
Essays: 8/10
Teacher Recommendations: 3- have not read any
Counselor Rec: 10/10
Additional Rec: 9/10
Interview: 9/10</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Biology
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $80,000-100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation College</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Community service
Weaknesses: Asian male in science
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Not so sure
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Still deciding
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Time to start regular applications!</p>

[doppelganger21]

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): —
ACT (breakdown): 35 (English 35, Math 35, Reading 35, Science 34, Essay 10)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II 770, World History 720
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top of my grade
AP (place score in parentheses): ----
IB (place score in parentheses): Only took IB Physics SL so far (7). Predicted total: 42-43
Senior Year Course Load: IB Asian History HL, IB Visual Arts HL, IB English Literature HL, IB Japanese SL, IB Mathematics SL, Theory of Knowledge, IB Extended Essay
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): not many opportunities unfortunately. </p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Varsity Debate (captain and Double All-Star), BrainBowl general knowledge team (captain), Operation Smile (vice-president and co-founder at my school), Model United Nations (president), Green Club (joint leader), Amnesty International, Mind’s I literary magazine
Job/Work Experience: -------
Volunteer/Community Service: At my school only. Raised over $5000 with Operation Smile
Summer Activities: Travel to the UK, college essays and editing of a novel that I wrote
Essays: I’d say pretty good, especially the Common App. Supplement maybe less outstanding but I intend to study creative writing and literature so they were pretty good
Teacher Recommendations: One very good, the other really unknown cause the teacher is a little weird, he writes well but I have no idea what he said about me…
Counselor Rec: Our counselor is new and she does not know me, so that could have been a major drawback
Additional Rec: Got one letter of rec from a published author who singled me out during one of his workshops (we’ve been in touch ever since). Got to read that one and it was very good.
Interview: Went smoothly, more like a discussion and mostly concerned with my extracurriculars. I found it great.</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes.
Projected Concentration: History and Literature or Creative Writing
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Romania (I live in Japan now)
School Type: private international
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: um idk 90k?
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): </p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: GPA, courseload and leadership positions.
Weaknesses: the counselor’s rec. Maybe no extraordinary element about my application?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I don’t really know to be honest, I’m a little surprised but yeah I guess maybe the wow factor was missing
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Cambridge (UK) and Princeton are my big other ones
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Get to really know the people that write recs for you. Might make all the difference. Looking forward to Cambridge decision now :)</p>

[deepthought80]

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (CR: 790, M: 770, W: 730, Essay: 8)
ACT (breakdown): Did not submit (C: 32, E: 35, M: 31, R: 30, S: 31)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): World History (770), Math Level II (740)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
AP (place score in parentheses): European History (5), Human Geography (5), Macroeconomics (5), Microeconomics (5), World History (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Biology, AP Calculus BC, AP Chinese Language, AP Psychology, Accounting
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, 1st place in a national academic competition for 2 years</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Varsity Soccer (4 years, Captain), Model UN (4 years, Deputy Chair for an international conference), NHS (2 years, Secretary), Church youth worship band (4 years, Piano/Vocals)
Job/Work Experience: NA
Volunteer/Community Service: Raised over $30,000 for victims of natural disasters and children with cleft lip & palate via various fundraisers throughout high school (forgot to mention this on CA!), Sunday School Assistant Teacher for 7 years, started a tutoring program at my school
Summer Activities: Tutoring, reading, volunteer at Sunday School, band practice
Essays: CA on writing: 8/10 (Readers said it was well-written and candid), Supplement: 5/10
Teacher Recommendations: 9/10, 7/10, Didn’t get to read the third one but hopefully excellent
Counselor Rec: Outstanding
Additional Rec: 1 from school superintendent; brief but well-written
Interview: None</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Comparative Literature/History & Literature
State (if domestic applicant): NA
Country (if international applicant): Indonesia
School Type: International
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: <$80,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: CA essay revealed who I truly was, AP scores, Community Service?
Weaknesses: GPA (4 B’s), SAT II scores, Lack of focus, No hooks
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: There were too many competitive applicants, and as an international student, I didn’t stand out.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Have applied RD to Carleton, Colby, and Grinnell; rejected from Yale-NUS College
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I’m disappointed but I knew I would get deferred. It’s time to apply to other schools. I should have taken the time to polish my essays and application. </p>

[LucasKovacs]

<p>**Decision: Deferred **</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 29 (will retake in February)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Was going to take but there were complications. Took Chemistry for December series, and will take Math 1 in January
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): around a 4 (difficult to translate UK grades to GPA)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t do but I did get the best prediction for IB and 8A<em>s and 2As for i/GCSE (6A</em>s iGCSE, 2A*s and 2As at GCSE- I put these down in the extra information)
AP (place score in parentheses): N/A
IB (place score in parentheses): 41 prediction with three 7s at HL
Senior Year Course Load: IB and self taught SAT IIs and ACT
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Best Drum Kit grade 5 score in country (but I’m doing grade 8 now and all my previous grade ce leadership in parentheses):
-Rugby captain for 4 years, represented 1st team, played for my local town. School team represented Sussex
-House X-Country Captain
-Play flute, drum kit, snare drum (all grade 8) and self taught on piano (can play grade 8+ pieces). I was self taught on snare and drum kit before I was offered music lessons for free.
-Lead percussionist of school concert band, an ensemble of which is the marching band, where we march through London for St. Matthew’s Day and Lord Mayor’s Show. Also consistently perform as half time entertainment on Lord’s Cricket ground, and toured Belgium and Germany. We, as front rank drummers, have performed our splits at the Mansion House in City of London, Belgium, and Germany.
-1st Flautist in school choir
-Sing in school’s choir. We have also performed at St. Matthew’s day and released a CD, also recorded for BBC. I also perform in school’s barbershop quartet.
-Founder of philosophy club
-Youtube Channel @ <a href=“Lucas Kovács - YouTube”>Lucas Kovács - YouTube;
-Wordpress Blog @ <a href=“http://lucasfmkovacs.■■■■■■■■■■■■■”>http://lucasfmkovacs.■■■■■■■■■■■■■</a>
-Was selected to go on a fully funded school exchange to the Gilman school in Baltimore (one of the top 30 feeder schools)
-6th form Philosophy Scholar</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience: Work Experience at Hospital, was self employed by fixing Xboxes (I explained how it was difficult to make money at a boarding school because we’re never available…)
Volunteer/Community Service: A lot, at home and at school
Summer Activities: Volunteer Work in Wales, Studying, Work Experience, Busking- nothing interesting really
Essays: My counsellor said it was brave. About family problems basically
Teacher Recommendations: Never read, apparently really nice
Counselor Rec: Never read, apparently really nice
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Fun, enjoyable, only an hour. She was an ex-CEO, so we discussed business ethics.</p>

<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Projected Concentration: Humanities/Law/Political Science
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): UK
School Type: Boarding School, offers LOADS of ‘financial aid’ to students. Has a very wide range of backgrounds. Quite similar to Harvard in that respect. Called ‘Christ’s Hospital’ if you wanna see.
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: £20k ish…?
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None, unless you count the exchange Gilman. But nah, nothing really.</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: ECs and English academic credentials
Weaknesses: ACT and lack of SAT IIs. No doubt.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: The ACT and SAT IIs. Tbh, given that they take a quota of UK applicants each year, I felt that if my American Tests had been higher my chances would’ve increased quite a lot.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Will apply to Yale & Princeton because of their financial aid. I’m quite poor. Also applied to Cambridge for Philosophy, had my interview last week.
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Never thought I’d feel ‘deflated’ like this for a Deferral. Obviously, feeling bad doesn’t really achieve much at all. It’s not gonna stop me from going HARD for the ACT retake and trying again. My SAT Chemistry felt good, scoring 780s and that… Point is, no-one can expect to get into Harvard when we all know that if they were to replace the current freshmen year with the runner-up applicants, they would do just as well.</p>

[bvborussia]

<p>Decision:Deferred</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 Composite (36E 34M 33R 36S 10W) single-sitting, first try
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Physics (770) Math I (730) single-sitting, first try
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parentheses): N/A
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: A-level Physics, A-level Maths, A-level Further Maths, A-level Japanese, A-level Economics
GCSE’s (UK qualification): 6A* 5A
AS-level (UK qualification): 5A 1B
A2-level (UK qualification): 3A* 2A
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Mathematics Olympiad (national), but nothing out of the ordinary.</p>

<p>[ b]Subjective:**
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Basketball team, soccer team, charity (founded charity following the 2011 Japanese tsunami, raising over £3000), Astronomy society (president), economics society (co-president), violin for 10 years, school orchestra (first violin), website blog, write for school magazine, some other minor things
Job/Work Experience: 2 weeks at Santander Bank, 1 week at Pearson plc. Never had a job.
Volunteer/Community Service: Started charity (see ECs), local animal shelter, feed the homeless in South London, clean-up & restructure after tsunami in Japan
Summer Activities: Volunteered in Japan, work experience
Essays: WEAK. Coming from the UK, I didn’t know what made a good essay. I wrote something totally generic and impersonal.
Teacher Recommendations: No idea, probably pretty good
Counselor Rec: I reckon it sucked because he sent my UK rec, which was based on one subject.
Additional Rec:
Interview: Really good</p>

<p>[ b]Other**
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Physics
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): UK
School Type: State grammar
Ethnicity: Japanese
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $150000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A</p>

<p>[ b]Reflection**
Strengths: Scores, some good ECs…
Weaknesses: but no spectacular ECs. Essays, recommendations perhaps.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: See weaknesses.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Yale, Stanford, UChicago, Princeton, Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Warwick, Birmingham
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: You won’t get in if you don’t try. I didn’t get the desired result, nor did I expect to, but I now know that there are many holes in my application that I can improve upon for RD. It certainly wasn’t a fruitless application, although a deferral is of course disappointing.</p>