<p>@twinkie, I don’t know much about international applicants in terms of numbers accepted are difficulty compared to U.S. But your stats are stellar and you have some ECs that could potentially be admirable. If you were a U.S. candidate I’d say you are a serious candidate, even with the strike of being Asian. Good luck!</p>
<p>If anyone is still reading this, please read this. I have found over the past few days that 95% of the people who post and send me PMs with their information are FULLY qualified to be successful applicants. So there is NO need to post any more or PM me with your info. Just ask yourself this question: Would I have posted in this thread or PM’ed my info? If the answer is yes, than I can say with near certainty that you will be a strong applicant.</p>
<p>My theory is that the College Confidential readers are self-selecting, and the ones who would actually post in this type of thread are even MORE self-selecting. My guess is there are few non-serious types reading these threads (in August at least, maybe in December more would be weaker candidates) and those wouldn’t post their info for me to judge.</p>
<p>So I have advice for all of you who have posted or want to post (please don’t any more). Don’t spend any more time worrying about your test scores or grades. Think of a way to showcase at least one of your ECs on our application, to make it look REALLY interesting and unique. And spend some time thinking of a great essay topic.</p>
<p>While most of the PM posts have had great stats and great ECs, many who have mentioned their essay topics have failed to impress me. While any essay topic CAN be great, if you start off with certain topics, you start off with a handicap. </p>
<p>So don’t ask any more chances, but if you want to ask general questions, I’ll do my best to answer. If you want to run your essay topic by me, you can PM me.</p>
<p>@1987crimson I was (and still am) very insecure about my chances anywhere because I am pretty much alone in my quest to study in the us. In fact, I’m probably the only person in my who will even apply.
I have 2 last questions:-
1- if I dont get into Harvard, do you think I will get into any of HYPS or other top colleges? Because I know that being set on going to Harvard is not practical.
2- how much does it matter if My teachers marked one of the best (less than %1) in my common app. (I know this because one of my friends saw him do it.
Thank you a LOT for your help as it helped me a lot.</p>
<p>You said most of those who PM-ed you are qualified. Then why is the selectivity rate so low? The explanation just doesnt’ seem to add up</p>
<p>Not every qualified person who applies to Harvard gets in. The 7% isn’t 7% of ALL students in the US; it’s 7% of about 30,000-35,000 well-qualified applicants. Most of those kids would be perfect for Harvard, but they just don’t have room for them all…</p>
<p>Also, as the OP mentioned, CC users are pretty self-selecting, meaning that the people who post on things like this tend to be some of the stronger candidates</p>
<p>I understand that statement. But the title of the thread is “Post here and I’ll chance you.” So to say “well qualified” is not enough, but to give an estimate, I feel, is more like a chance thread</p>
<p>I have to admit, though I was very skeptical before, I am not anymore. thanks for all the info. 1987Crimson :)</p>
<p>@shahrezsyedm you should read the Decision threads. More often than not an applicant will get in to one or two of the Ivys, get waitlisted at one or two, and rejected at some, too. As far as your teacher’s recs… like everything else in your app, its great to have the best ones possible but impossible to know how it will factor into the decision, along with everything else. You will do fine, stop worrying.</p>
<p>@therage, jeckert is right. In fact, I would take it a bit further. Based upon my years of interviewing, I would guess that 42% of all applicants are NOT qualified. That is my unscientific estimate based on the fact that for the past 15 years, consistently 1/3 to 1/2 of those I interview are not what I consider serious candidates. These are candidates that I know will not be admitted. I’ve never once been wrong about that group and my guess is that nearly everyone on this board would also recognize those in that group. </p>
<p>I started this thread for two main reasons. First, I was tired of reading in chance threads advice like “your scores/gpa aren’t high enough” when the person had decent scores (2000 & up) & gpa (top 10%). The second was that I thought perhaps I could gently persuade someone who really didn’t have any chance not to apply. (But as it turned out, there weren’t any of those!)</p>
<p>Here’s the rub with Harvard admissions: so much of the decision will be based on factors beyond the applicant’s control… geography, other competition, parentage, etc. So the truth is that so many of you are fully qualified and great applicants, but most won’t get accepted…</p>
<p>I think the best advice is to work on those things that really will make a difference… in my view, almost never will that 800 instead of the 750 get you “extra points”, or that #1 rank do you better than #20, if you are both in the top 5%. But that great essay, or an EC that makes the adcoms smile, or a great teacher rec… those things might actually make a bigger difference.</p>
<p>And just to remind everyone, I have NO inside information. I have my own ideas & opinions, some based on experience… some based on speculation. If you don’t like what I have to say, ignore me. </p>
<p>@stressedoutt, your welcome! So glad you are finding it helpful.</p>
<p>sincerely, thank you.</p>
<p>Thanks…I jabe achieved inner peace now…:D</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>Then, if I transferred to a different school during my junior year, and because we didn’t have many AP classes and the new school is really small, I only rank in top 25% compared to ranking first at my old school. Granted everything else is up to par, would I still have a chance?</p>
<p>@therage, the top 25% is problematic for you. Top 10% is usually no problem, maybe 15… but I’ve never seen rank that low with a decent shot. Low SATs are easier to compensate for than low grades. Any chance you can bring your grades up by Jan 1?</p>
<p>^Thank you for taking the time to answer everyone’s questions :)!</p>
<p>@1987: My grades have always been As, except for a few Bs made in the of junior year (my current school is a lot more academic challenging than my old school, and it ranks high nationally). Our top 10% consists of less than 10 people, and even if I make straight As, my rank would not improve much. The best I can think of is to write and explain my situation…
I mean, my rank wasn’t low because I didn’t have the grade. It was because everyone here took a lot more AP classes than we were offered, so their weighted GPA boosted up.</p>
<p>@therage, I see… I do think that situation warrants an explanation. Isn’t there a spot on the CA that asks for “anything that needs explanation” or something to that effect? It seems that might be a good place for it, but definitely do some more research & put it somewhere. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’ll be a junior next year so some of these are my projected scores… But I just want to get an idea.</p>
<p>AP classes- 8 by the time I graduate (I will most likely get a 4 or 5 on most of these exams, that is the regular score at my high school)
Advanced Honors- 14 by the time I graduate
Honors classes- 3
I have not taken a single regular class my entire high school career. </p>
<p>PSATs- 205 sophomore year with no prep
projected SAT- 2200-2300 (after tutoring)</p>
<p>Extra Curriculars-
rowed on my school’s crew team all 4 years (2 seasons each year)
been a Girl Scout for 12 years</p>
<p>State- Maryland</p>
<p>Awards- Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards (only a very small percent complete a service project to receive all 3 of these, it has taken hundreds of hours of creating a project from scratch and fulfilling it myself)
Perfect attendance all 4 years (not sure if this actually helps anything but why not list it)</p>
<p>GPA- 4.0 unweighted (my school does not weight GPAs)</p>
<p>Race- Caucasian female</p>
<p>Please help chance my D:</p>
<p>GPA
Unweighted: 4.0
Weighted: ~4.6
Class Rank: N/A</p>
<p>SAT:
(1st): CR 740, W 800, M 800, Total 2340
(2nd): CR 800, W 760, M 800, Total 2360
Superscore: 2400</p>
<p>SAT2:
Math level 2: 800
M.Biology: 800</p>
<p>APs:
Calculus AB
Biology
US history
English
Will take Calculus BC, AP Physics in senior year</p>
<p>ECs:
Vice President of a club that helps lending funds to entrepreneurs in third world countries.
Member of Red Cross, UNICEF
Intern at Stanford Institute of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR ) 2011</p>
<p>Voluntary works:
200+ hrs at local hospital
100+ hrs at Sacred Heart Community Service</p>
<p>Asian (Vietnamese)</p>
<p>GPA: 3.9
SAT: 2210 M:800 W: 740 R: 670
Schedule: Most difficult in class
APs: So far 5(ES, Comp, Calc AB, Chem, US): 1 5, 4 4s</p>
<p>Academic Awards: Cum Laude Society, National Merit (will know in Oct)</p>
<p>EC:</p>
<p>-Leadership: President of school; freshman president; varsity lacrosse captain jr/sr year; varsity basketball captain jr/sr year
-Athletics: 3 year varsity lacrosse, 4 year varsity basketball; Academic all state Lacrosse(JR yr); All conference basketball (So year); Varsity Lacrosse Coach’s Award winner (Jr yr); varsity basketball coach’s award winner(so/jr year)- intend on trying to walk on Harvard Lacrosse Team
-Conservative Action Club officer at school; registered and active Republican
-Academic EC: 2 year member of acdec/debate team- 5th place in state debate, two year medal winner in AcDec
-Did a political talk show for WELH 88.1 FM radio, school’s radio station
-Interned this summer at Oppenheimer & Co Investment bank, for 35-40 hrs/wk
-Taught for Breakthrough Summerbridge Providence, a program where high school and college students teach low income but promising students in order to get them into elite high schools</p>
<p>-Rhode Island
-Would be first generation
-One more thing- I am a type 1 diabetic since I was three…would this help at all ?</p>
<p>Thanks !</p>