<p>How prestigious is being in Blue MOP, and how prestigious is being an Intel Finalist?</p>
<p>Both are very prestigious, although neither will guarantee you a spot at Harvard.</p>
<p>Ok, not even attending the extremley difficult Math Olympiad Program or being an Intel finalist will guarantee an acceptance letter from harvard!!! *** will ensure that you get in to the world’s best university. There must be a certain je nais se quoi, an accolade, being a national level athlete, or having a certain trait in one’s personality that will get you the big envelope!!!</p>
<p>ya… be the fastest runner in the country and youl get recruited no question… you should probably start running now to practice…</p>
<p>What combination of academic achievements will make you very likely to get accepted into Harvard?</p>
<p>You need Black MOP and Top 10 at Intel.</p>
<p>Here’s the surefire formula for Harvard admission: 3.9 (uw) GPA + 2300 or better on SAT + 4.5 or better 40 yd. dash + being able to take a hit over the middle + a little help from Auntie Drew or Uncle Larry ought to cut the mustard with admissions. Anything short of that and the odds start to rise.</p>
<p>Blue MOPers tend to be accepted everywhere…as they have developed problem solving skills that help them succeed in many different areas of life. If you can make Blue MOP, you can probably do a lot of other stuff well too.</p>
<p>I have never seen a Blue MOPer I know get rejected by any college in the US. Red MOPers, on the other hand, occasionally get rejected by Harvard, but most of them have seen acceptances (out of all the Red MOPers I know) for every college.</p>
<p>I know a guy who got Silver at IMO, gold at IOI (5th place individually), Intel Finalist, and was waitlisted. You’re not going to automatically get accepted by math grinding.</p>
<p>That said, Harvard acceptance isn’t as random as some might claim. Harvard cares alot about your personal skills too, almost regardless of your academic credentials (with exception that comes to mind: Evan O’Dorney. No offense, but you’re not going to match this guy. Google him if you want). If you’re socially awkward you’re probably better off working on that than grinding math.</p>
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<p>What were his other stats?</p>
<p>GP - Read Lowellbelle’s opening post in her thread on “How to get into Harvard”:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/205530-how-get-into-harvard-harvard-student.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/205530-how-get-into-harvard-harvard-student.html</a></p>
<p>@Mitigated</p>
<p>I personally know many(read: 10+) Blue MOPers that got rejected/waitlisted at US colleges. And almost all of them had otherwise impressive applications as well.</p>
<p>You know the Presidential Scholars? The 50-ish guys and 50-ish girls with 1600/1600 SATs that submit the best applications in the entire nation? There’s at least 1 per state, sometimes up to 4 or 5 (that would usually be California). The girl from my state last year, whom I knew, got waitlisted. There is no one credential that guarantees acceptance.</p>
<p>This is my 2 cents
MOP and Intel Finalist are incredible things to achieve.
I know a blue MOPer got waitlisted by H. Sergei Bernstein, 2 time winner of USAMO, got rejetcted by Harvard and Princeton.
[Tanya</a> Khovanova’s Math Blog Blog Archive What Does It Take to Get Accepted by Harvard or Princeton?](<a href=“Tanya Khovanova's Math Blog » Blog Archive » What Does It Take to Get Accepted by Harvard or Princeton?”>Tanya Khovanova's Math Blog » Blog Archive » What Does It Take to Get Accepted by Harvard or Princeton?)
So admission is unpredictable because Harvard and most other stop schools looks for a diverse class, which essentially reduces the merit of admission. The large applicant pool even makes it more unpredictable, so there’s not guarantee or anything.
I think going for those things above jst to gain admission is jst missing the point, as most ppl who accomplished those stuff are incredibly smart, passionate about what they’re doing, and lucky at times, when they get the right opportunity to flourish (this is especially true for research).
For math, it’s difficult to make MOP, and USAMO, to a smaller extent, if u don’t have a firm background in math spanning back to middle school (most USAMO, MOPers are math count ppl, homeschoolers, or ppl who come from schools with accelerated curriculum.).
Those MOPers who got in everywhere tend to have something else, so MOP is jst part of their entire app.</p>
<p>Would being a passionate president of 5 clubs, playing 2 varsity sports, playing the piano at a very high level, being a quarter finalist in public forum debate, volunteering at the science center, volunteering in Pakistan, conducting advanced level research at Vanderbilt and publishing a few articles, taking 2-3 math very high level college math classes at Vanderbilt, doing Quiz Bowl, founding a major charitable organization in Nasvhille, along with making MOP, being a creative and inspiring individual, and writing very unique essays, and placing high on some national-level math contests not guarantee admission to Harvard?</p>
<p>Yes, that would not guarantee admission.</p>
<p>GrayPhantom, ■■■■■■■■ even here on CC about guaranteeing a spot at Harvard. Here’s the thing: u can’t guarantee it</p>
<p>Grayphantom–If you had a national or regional ranking in one of your varsity sports AND were recruited by a Harvard coach, then, with the rest of the list of ECs and academics, you would most likely be admitted. As noted^^^ there is never a guarantee.</p>
<p>Can someone tell me what MOP is? I googled it, and only found references to cleaning supplies :D</p>
<p>It’s actually MOSP, Math Olympiad Summer Program. It’s a (free) 3-week summer program for the top 50 or so high school mathematicians in the country, training and selecting the team to represent the U.S. in the International Math Olympiad. But they call it MOP anyway.</p>