Please Chance Me for Harvard?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Hi everyone! I know results are coming out this Thursday, but I’m just curious and want to hear your opinion on my stats.

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): superscored 2240 (CR 780 / M 700 / W 760)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Lit 780 / Bio 730
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Weighted GPA: 4.47
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/370
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio (5) / English Lang (5) / U.S. Gov + Politics (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, Honors Physics I, Concert Choir, Honors French IV, AP Calc AB, APES, Honors Anatomy & Physiology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars: Asian American Club (since 9th. VP - 10th & 11th; Secretary - 12th), Concert Choir (since 10th. Co-Leader/Section Leader - 12th), Violin (since 11th), Key Club (member from 9th - 11th), Med Club (member 11th + 12th), National Honor Society (member 11th + 12th)
Job/Work Experience: Northeastern University’s Young Scholars Program (summer 2015 - an internship doing research in a biomechanics lab)
Volunteer/Community service: Boston Children’s Hospital (55+ hours, summer 2015), tutored adults seeking their GED (30+ hours), Key Club
Summer Activities: NEU’S YSP & Children’s Hospital (as mentioned above) last summer. Summers before I didn’t really do anything
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7 or 8? I wrote my common app essay about my love for science (and how it has stayed with me but evolved since I was a child) and I tied it into a source of inspiration for me–stars and the universe. My supplement essay was about music and how it allows me to express myself in ways that nothing else can.

Teacher Rec #1: AP Bio/Anatomy teacher (she thinks really highly of me so I assume it was good)
Teacher Rec #2: Hon Pre-Calc/AP Calc teacher (he also thinks highly of me, so I’m guessing it was good as well!)
Counselor Rec: good!
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: went pretty well–there were some iffy/awkward moments, but he told me that I would at least make it to full committee

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biological Sciences
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public (Urban)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: $70000-$80000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation. Don’t know if Cambodian-American also counts as a URM?

Thank you so much! If you don’t mind, please chance me for Brown, Yale, and Williams as well?

2

looking at past results, ur chances arent that high to be honest…

3

Didn’t Williams already come out?

4

Would you @januaryroses come back on March 31st to prove @KingHuevos wrong?

5

No one can chance you for H. It’s a reach for everyone, unless you have a Nobel Prize.

6

@TimeUpJunior or prove me right rather :slight_smile:

7

Reach. H is a reach for everyone. Standardized tests are a little low but rest of stats look good.

8

You’re probably getting your results today. Excited to see what happens.

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@imyhyder Results come out tomorrow at 5pm EST.

10

Oh well sorry for the mistake, I’ll look forward to seeing the results tomorrow at 5pm EST. :wink:

11

what are the results?

12

@TimeUpJunior @ReadyForTheWind @Imyhyder @jellyfish9

Thank you guys so much for your input!!! I truly appreciate it. :slight_smile:

The truth is, I posted this chance me as a social experiment of sorts. As I’ve gone through this admissions cycle, I’ve realized that admissions (especially for top colleges) are incredibly unpredictable. (As @whitespace basically said!) There are so many more things at play than we can even consider ourselves.

Here’s the truth: Brown sent me a likely letter in early March; an admissions officer from Harvard called me on March 15th to tell me that I got in, and I received a likely letter shortly thereafter; I got into Williams via early write on March 14th. (Hence why I included Williams at the end of that–totally forgot that regular admission decisions came out, and I feel a bit dumb LOL. Sorry @vibrantviolet!) I was also admitted to Yale today!

The things I mentioned here are EXACTLY what I included on my common app. No more, no less. (My additional info section basically just elaborated on my family background and being first generation.)

Before this past month, if you had told me that I was going to get into these schools (with the exception of Williams, because I went to WoW and they sort of told us point-blank that we just needed to keep our grades up), I would not have believed you. In fact, people always joked about me ending up at Harvard, and I would brush it off, always saying that there are better people out there (there are) who have done many more amazing things than I have. But here’s the thing–don’t ever put yourself down like that. I kept my hopes low, sure, but I didn’t stress about stats. I was happy with the idea of going to my state school.

For future applicants:

After getting into Harvard, I have had so many people ask me about my stats, about every little thing. Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter. You’re you. Each case is different. And on the flip side, if you don’t get admitted, please don’t take it as a reflection of your value. I hate seeing the disappointment in my peers’ faces when they don’t get into their top choices, because I know that they’ve worked harder than me, and that incredible work ethic and life experience will get them through much more in the future, Harvard or not. To be perfectly honest, I don’t feel like I deserved to get into these top schools (especially via likely & early write), but I am endlessly thankful, and I hope that seeing this helps people realize that numbers aren’t always everything.

Some advice: tell your story. When I first started the application process, I felt like I didn’t have a story. I’m boring, I’m not special, I’m not unique–those are all of the things that ran through my mind. But that’s not true. Is there anyone else in the world that has lived the same exact life as you? Does anyone have the same exact perspective as you do? It’s weird, but this is a chance for you to get to know yourself. You’ve spent so many years stressing, working hard, maybe not taking enough time for yourself–this is your chance to sit down and see how far you’ve come. Not just as a student, but also as a person. As a human being.

Again, thank you so much! @KingHuevos and everyone else, I hope you find these results to be satisfactory. :slight_smile:

13

Thank you @januaryroses for checking back. We sure learned a lot from your experience. Now go enjoy your four years at Harvard!!!

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@januaryroses I can see why the admission officers like you! Very helpful post. Thanks and congrats!

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@TimeUpJunior @neoking

Thank you both so much!!! It really means a lot! :slight_smile: I’m glad I was able to help even a little bit. Enjoy your weekend!

16

@januaryroses Are you going to choose Harvard over Yale?

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@ReadyForTheWind I’m still deciding! Harvard gave me a better financial aid package (about $5000 more than Yale), but I don’t want to make a decision too quickly! I am leaning towards Harvard at the moment, but I don’t know if that’s for sure or temporary. (I flip flopped so many times this weekend LOL) and I hope that Visitas and Bulldog Days will help clear things up for me :slight_smile:

I feel like Yale has sort of been my dream school for years, and it’s so strange that I now have a choice between the two. I never expected for this to happen and I feel so lucky!

Admittedly, I AM getting a bit antsy since so many people are starting to commit already, but I also want to put more thought into this decision. (Although I know that I can’t really go wrong with either choice, haha) :slight_smile:

18

@januaryroses: You or your parents should contact Yale’s Financial Aid Office to see if they would re-evalute your financial aid in light of Harvard’s better offer. (Be prepared to fax or email Harvard’s offer to Yale.) Yale may, or may not, agree to reevaluate your aid. But, if they do come back with a better offer, then financial aid would no longer be an issue. Which might allow you to make the decision without $$$$ getting in the way.

19

So you did a chance thread for 4 schools that you had already been admitted to? Why? Was this a test for CC posters to see how accurate they are in their perceptions? I think you were willing to waste people’s time and good intentions for no good reason, honestly.

20

@gibby Thank you so much for your advice! I really appreciate it! :slight_smile:

@compmom I’m truly sorry if my thread upset you. I was just trying to prove a point: that people on CC are sometimes too harsh when evaluating stats (that’s the stereotype after all, right? “Your 2300 SAT is too low! You should retake it!”) It’s also extremely discouraging to see people unfairly compare themselves to others (especially to those who come from more privileged backgrounds and have had more resources available to them) and feel as if they have no shot at anywhere other than the local community college. I come from a low income area full of minorities and first-generation students, where this belief is prevalent. Of course stats matter, but context matters as well (socioeconomic background, family background, first-generation, and the like). I think that the gains that Harvard and other top schools have made in trying to shed light on this matter are great, and I was simply trying to encourage people to have hope (but of course not false hope), and to emphasize the fact that one simply cannot predict the outcome of one’s application. (I perhaps mistakenly thought that it would be more notable if it first included people’s unbiased opinions on my application–in short, if I got people to critique my app without first knowing the results.)

I apologize if you feel that my intentions or actions were wrong. I did not specifically mean to waste people’s time, but I suppose that is something that happened as a result of my actions–I could’ve gone about it in a different way. I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who responded to my post if they feel that their time was wasted.

Thank you so much for your input! :slight_smile: