<p>hey all, I’ll be joining you guys in the Harvard RD round! Really not expecting much, but we’ll see. I just used the same essay I used for Yale SCEA, which worked out as I was accepted there, so I’m hoping it’ll work its magic again… but Harvard RD is a whole different ballgame with something like a 3% rate. So we’ll see. Even though I know it may not be the best thing to say in this thread, I think I like Yale a little better, so I won’t be too mad if the Harvard committee decides to pass me up. best of luck to all of us.</p>
<p>For additional information, I just put my research abstract from the project I worked on over the summer, as well as some extra AP scores and an extra award that didn’t fit onto the commonapp.</p>
<p>I’m thinking about submitting my research project as a supplement but there’s a brief 2 page summary that was published and there is also the full 37 page report. Do you think I could just send both and let them read whichever one they want?</p>
<p>After getting into Georgetown I didn’t feel like applying anywhere else, but my mom forced me to apply to Harvard. So grateful that the application is so easy.</p>
<p>@rajoftheuk I would say to just send the condensed version. 37 pages sounds like a lot to read, especially along with a 2 page summary. They should get the point</p>
<p>If I may, I strongly suggest you find a few schools you like that you’re almost guaranteed to get into. Harvard’s RD round has around a 3% admittance rate, Stanford’s admit rate is around 7%, and Caltech is at 13%. I know plenty of people who only got into their safeties, and they were applying to schools with much higher rates. Don’t set yourself up to be stuck in April with three rejection letters, because rejection to top colleges happens to the best of students.</p>
<p>@purmou, you’re applying solely to three of the top ten universities in the country and you’re “pretty confident” you’ll get into one? Even the most brilliant, accomplished student in the world shouldn’t be pretty confident about any of those schools. You definitely need a match and/ or safety, or multiple of each, with a much higher acceptance rate.</p>
<p>I don’t have safeties because I don’t want to settle for going to a school I kind of like. If I don’t get in, I will go to my community college and transfer.</p>
<p>I don’t really understand the mentality of safety schools…you’re just convincing yourself that you don’t have a chance at the top schools.</p>
<p>I appreciate the concern, but I don’t think it a crime to be as confident as I am. I fully understand the acceptance rates of these schools and the fact that even top students get rejected.</p>
<p>And again, I’m a sophomore–I’m just trying this year to see what chances I may have. If I get in, great; if I don’t, refer to my plan above.</p>
<p>No offense again, but transferring to those schools is just as hard, if not harder, than applying regularly. </p>
<p>Safety schools aren’t settling for any old place; they’re a school you have a great chance of getting into that you also like. You’d be lying if you said that those three schools are the only schools in the world you would actually like to go to. </p>
<p>It’s okay to be confident, but it needs to be paired with a little pragmatism.</p>
<p>I haven’t really had time to think about safeties to be honest. I made the decision to apply just this summer, so I’ve spent the last 4 months doing everything to prepare for that. I picked these top schools cause they’re my dream schools. I’m confident I have what it takes to get in, but at the same time I will not lose hope if I am rejected, and I know that that’s a possibility.</p>
<p>It’s too late to pick safeties now though. I really don’t want the hassle of more supplements.</p>
<p>If you’re a high school sophomore, you have all the time in the world to finish supplements, especially since a lot of schools wither higher acceptance rates don’t have lengthy supplements or essays to write. CC has a great college search tool; I suggest spending a little time with it and finding some easier colleges to get into that you’ll like just as much. As great of an applicant you may be, it all comes down to luck. Save yourself the stress!</p>
<p>Wait, you got a 560 in Chem, a 530 in Physics, and a 174 on the PSAT and you are “pretty confident” that you will get into Stanford, Caltech or Harvard? Wow! You must have done something else pretty extraordinary. The top colleges are not that impressed with kids who graduate early, btw. They would rather them stay in school and receive a solid foundation unless they are truly super-geniuses.</p>
<p>Falcon is right, purmou; you will never be accepted to any ivy/stanford/MIT/caltech or any other elite college with scores that low. They truly don’t care that you’re a sophomore and may actually be annoyed with the fact that you didn’t stay in school longer to receive a stronger education.
Also, you are doing yourself a disservice by trying to go to these universities when you do not yet know material necessary to succeed. When you get into a chemistry class at Harvard or Stanford, you will be in class with kids who have gotten 750+ on their subject tests (with many 800s) and 5’s on the AP test, as well as probably some other notable accomplishments. You will not be able to keep up.
I’m sorry if I sound harsh, but it’s the reality. There’s no reason the adcom should let you take the seat over someone who is a year or two older but clearly much more academically prepared.</p>
<p>And even if you were accepted, 15/16 year olds are so much different than 18-21 year olds. Colleges don’t like early graduates because of this. 15 or so is just too young to adjust to campus culture, a larger workload, and the freedom/independence and responsibility that comes with it. </p>
<p>If you want a better chance at these schools, you’d need to take some more rigorous high school courses for the next two years and raise your subject test scores at least. You’re pretty much guaranteeing rejection otherwise. :(</p>