<p>Prep, Max & Dave… see my comments in post #63. I think all three of you have really strong stats. If you have specific questions after reading #63, let me know.</p>
<p>@Max, As far as the Type 1 diabetes, that’s a hard question to answer. On the one hand, it could possibly help your application depending upon how it is presented in your application; on the other, it could also hurt, if you presented it in a way that made you sound like you were having a pity party. You could potentially write a killer essay with that info in it… it could also be a dud! So hard to say without seeing the essay. My gut feeling is that it is worth the risk to include it, somehow & somewhere.</p>
<p>I think these issues (health) sometimes can be best dealt with by inclusion in a teacher or counselor recommendation. </p>
<p>Just some ideas for you to consider as unfortunately I don’t have a great answer.</p>
<p>Good luck to you three!</p>
<p>GPA: 4.0/4.0
AP: took all school AP’s, plus lots of dual enroll credits. I will have 72 college credits by graduation
SAT: 2220
ACT: 35</p>
<p>ECs:</p>
<p>Drum major in our marching band. Probably the most significant and different achievement/leadership position. I won best in command at a large drum major camp (~200) and best drum major. Also won concentration block (basically the most focused and best marcher)</p>
<p>Clarinet playing. I was principal player in the allstate orchestra my junior year, and hopefully again my senior year. and I just started playing in 8th grade. I was also recognized as an outstanding soloist in the state of Michigan.</p>
<p>Research. I’ve worked in a pharmacy and biology lab. In the pharmacy lab, i synthesized never before created drugs in an effort to cure type II diabetes. In the biology lab, I’m currently working on irradiation of stem cells in zebrafish to induce melanoma formation.</p>
<p>State: MI
Hook: None.
Race: Asian male 
haha.</p>
<p>my music resume is extremely long, and i also do jazz and marching band with lots of leadership in both, so hopefully it won’t be like the typical asian activities?</p>
<p>@Orch, see my comments in post #63. I think your stats are fine. If you have specific questions after reading #63, let me know.</p>
<p>Maybe if you posted a gigantic disclaimer, people would listen like:</p>
<p>DO NOT POST STATS FOR CHANCES!
The OP will take questions though. :)</p>
<p>thanks, techno!</p>
<p>DO NOT POST STATS FOR CHANCES! will take questions. Read post #63!!!</p>
<p>oh… how do you get the bigger font?</p>
<p>All right then. I have a question.</p>
<p>My school has unweighted and weighted GPAs calculated. Class rank is based on weighted GPA. So my weighted is about 98.6 and my rank is 10/450. But my unweighted is about 91.2. Other students ranked near the top and around me have UW GPAs of around 94 - 96.</p>
<p>My Guidance Counselor told me our 100pt GPA converts as such 90 - 3.5, 91-3.6, 92-3.7, 93-3.8, 94 - 3.9, 95- 4.0.</p>
<p>So my question, will this hurt me significantly? Will Harvard give more weight to the UW GPA or the W GPA?</p>
<p>And I moved to different schools in the middle of high school. So my freshman year grades were based on my previous school’s grading system (which was based on a letter system - A, B, C…). My freshman year I was given straight 95s, sophomore year I had an average of 91.66 and 90.66 for junior year. So I was wondering, hypothetically speaking if I were to get 95 - 97 first semester of senior year - would this drastically help my chances?</p>
<p>Sorry I have one more question:</p>
<p>Does the term/semester grades matter or the overall grade at the end of the year for a subject? I have 4 (end of the year) “B”-“B+'s” (mostly 87-89; 1 85 in driver’s ed) and 1 “B-” in APUSH. So is that too many B’s?</p>
<p>I am sorry that its a bit long. Thanks for your help though.</p>
<p>@free2rhyme, I’m sorry to say that I really don’t know how to answer your questions. Based on my experience is seeing admitted students, the top 10% is where you want to be. You seem to be well within that group. In terms of how the adcoms judge specific cases, I don’t know. My guess is that the overall grade is what they will look at. Again, I don’t have certain knowledge about this.</p>
<p>DO NOT POST STATS FOR CHANCES! will take questions. Read post #63!!!</p>
<p>thanks, @techno!</p>
<p>I dont know if these questions have been answered before, but here goes:</p>
<p>What do you personally like to see during an interview? is there a quality or something that makes you say “wow, this person belongs at harvard”? and how much weight does the actual interview carry in the admissions process?</p>
<p>More generally, what advice can you offer to all us high school seniors for our senior year? :)</p>
<p>Hi there!</p>
<p>In post #70, I noticed you mentioned that factors beyond our control affect the decisions. Would being a Canadian-born-Chinese girl living in the Greater Toronto Area work against my favour?</p>
<p>I’m entering grade 10 in September, and I’m really curious as to what I can do now to give me an edge in a couple years.</p>
<p>Is there still a chance to be accepted with a 3.7?
9th: 2.9
10th: 4.0
11th: 4.0
Didn’t take te sat yet but will deff be in the 2250+(most likely 2300) range.
1st gen URM live in NYC
top 10% rank</p>
<p>@OrchDork, my personal preference is seeing a candidate that has something special & different in their application. As I’ve said before, 1/3 to 1/2 of the candidates I see every year are in my view “not serious”. The others are, generally speaking, excellent and often amazing. They have great grades, SATs, and ECs. So what I’m looking for is something different that I haven’t seen before. So I like to see some accomplishment that is beyond the typical (but impressive) slate of ECs.</p>
<p>Here’s an example. I had a student who started an import/export business that employed about a dozen people. Another kid had started a t-shirt design business. Those are the two that come to mind, and while they are both related to business, I don’t mean to give the impression that area is the only or even best example. When I think of more examples I will post them.</p>
<p>I think the interview should be a time to talk about something interesting about yourself, that is not covered in detail in your application or essays. Hopefully something you have a passion about, as that is easy to see! So if you were having a hard time deciding which of your activities/accomplishments to touch on in any of your essays, pick the other one to talk about in your interview.</p>
<p>@FlyingOptimist, the first thing you have to think about is “how many kids from the Great Toronto Area go to Harvard each year?” However many, that is the group you need to distinguish yourself in. You won’t have any control over the ORM numbers and how you fit in there, and as you know it will be harder for you in that respect. But certainly not impossible, whatever the numbers. You have plenty of time to distinguish yourself, good luck!</p>
<p>@Megafund, my experience is that your marked improvement after freshman year, along with your other stats, make you a strong & viable candidate. Good luck!</p>
<p> DO NOT POST STATS FOR CHANCES! Will take questions. Read post #63!!!</p>
<p>Thank you. I know you said don’t post stats but I did it because mines were different and I’m the normal kid who has the stats that are normal for an ivy league applicant.</p>
<p>@Megafund, your post was fine… I’m just hoping to avoid the fat four or five paragraphs with all the juicy details!!!</p>
<p>haha yeah I know what you mean. Do I stand as good of a chance as someone who has gotten 3.8-4.0 all throughout HS? Will my GPA as a whole(3.69/3.7) stand out in a bad way even though I’ve shown such improvement?</p>
<p>EDIT: When Harvard compares you to other students in your area, do they compare you to where you live or where your school is? My school is in Harlem(bad area of manhattan) and the schools in the area(including mine) are REALLY BAD. But I do live in a pretty good area( Upper west side). Will they compare me to students who live near me?</p>
<p>@mega, its not possible (at least for me) to really figure out specifics regarding how your GPA will be perceived. Too many factors to figure in. But the marked improvement will probably be seen as a positive and will not stand out in a bad way. </p>
<p>How is it that you are going to a really bad Harlem HS when you live in the upper west side? Generally, I think you will be compared with those in your high school, but I think the adcoms will wonder how you ended up at that school.</p>
<p>(Please note that I don’t have any experience with this type of situation as my geographical location is so far removed from NY! So this is entirely speculation on my part.)</p>
<p>hello I am currently living in France and I look forward to continuing my studies in the U.S. specifically universities like Ivies
I will apply for top facs
if you could say my chances
resident in France but to Mali nationnality I come from immigration
So URM, first generation.
sudied in the 3 rd best school in paris very, very competitive
I passed my SAT I with 2180
SAT II World History 750 US Hitory 800 Biology 750 I can take French because it is not my native language but it would be frowned upon
I practice a particular sport Hey Yeah I’m im not a Hunter of EC’s but I’m Pro-Prep level (equivalent to last step before becoming a professional or formation center ) I practice soccer for 7 years so since childhood. in my essays i 'll show them my passion for soccer and why Why I gave up a football career for my studies follow
Currently I’m taking business and human rights
just to know you think I am any chance to integrate top schools</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. I wanted to be an engineer at the time I was applying to high schools so I was looking for high schools that “specialized” in engineering(meaning they taught alittle about it). My GC recommended my current HS to me and said it was a great school. Well, it WAS a GOOD school back in 03-06 but now it’s really bad as when the failing high schools closed down, some of the students there were put in the school im currently at and ever since, the overall quality of the students, teachers, and leadership have gone down. The HS is on the campus of City College(the NYC flagship school). I have one more question. How will Harvard look at AP test’s I’ve self studied on my own? By the time I’m applying to colleges, I’ll probably have 3-4 AP classes taken but I don’t think that’s enough. By the time I apply to colleges, I’ll probably have 6-8 AP’s studied on my own (with 4’s and 5’s). How will Harvard look at this?</p>
<p>93 UW 100 W /100
2250 SAT (690W 800CR 760M), 33 ACT, 5 on APUSH and Language
-Big theatre kid- several leads, officership in theatre club, captain of Team Theater team, Cappies drama review published Lead Critic
-Student government- class treasurer (Fr), StuCo Secretary (So + Ju), Class President (Sen)
-Model UN, awards range from Best Novice to Best Delegate
-lots of Community Service
Indian male from south Jersey, no significant hooks</p>