<p>@mathjj,</p>
<p>I believe that Harvard practices holistic admissions, thus her research was only a part of her application and we have no way of knowing what role it played. I do not know whether independent research would be viewed more or less favorably. It did not occur to her (or me) that it would be to her advantage to ask for a recommendation from her mentor, and she did not ask for a recommendation.</p>
<p>@hrmosp, thank you for your answers. Pretty helpful, especially since you’re experienced with this stuff. About e-mailing professors, if only you knew that these things don’t work in India! Professors won’t reply much; if you’re lucky, you might get a reply or two, that’s it. You need ‘contacts’ and stuff to get things going. Research is not a big thing for them, ‘cracking’ entrance tests and Board examinations after cramming and mugging up for like 10 hours a day is what, according to them, is ‘real talent.’ So, no rec letter for me.
I’ll still try to mail them, let’s see 
EDIT: I’m applying this year…</p>
<p>@BldrDad,
Did the e-mailing thing, as hrmosp suggested, work for your daughter? Really sorry if I’m bothering you!</p>
<p>@mathjj</p>
<p>In all honesty, I don’t think she put that much thought into whether it was publishable, or how much it would benefit her application…she had done the research and included it simply because she wanted to show what she had done so it could be factored into the admissions decision. Harvard students may be high achieving, but they don’t walk on water and few have completed doctoral-level research prior to matriculating. :)</p>
<p>@BldrDad,</p>
<p>No, no, my question was : did your daughter also get the chance to work with the professor after e-mailing him/her? This is with reference to hrmosp’s suggestion.</p>
<p>@mathjj,</p>
<p>I think hrmosp’s suggestion is a good done, albeit a year too late for you. I imagine some professors might be willing to work with a promising high school student in this manner. In this case though, the research was part of an organized summer program.</p>
<p>[Danville’s</a> Evan O’Dorney wins Intel Science Talent Search - San Jose Mercury News](<a href=“Danville’s Evan O’Dorney wins Intel Science Talent Search – The Mercury News”>Danville’s Evan O’Dorney wins Intel Science Talent Search – The Mercury News)</p>
<p>Harvard admits what they call the high school nobel prize winner every year. Many of them end up there. I believe the one from 2012 went there too although he received likelies from every school he applied to the day after he won the prize.</p>
<p>@BldrDad,
Oh, great! something like MIT’s RSI?</p>
<p>@texaspg,</p>
<p>Evan would have gotten in anywhere he wanted, he’s pretty good. But again Intel STS is only for Americans. How can it be the Nobel Prize or whatever? 
Isn’t ISEF better than STS?</p>
<p>They are not the only prize winners being admitted, but they are guaranteed. Many other top prize winners also stand a very high chance if not a guaranteed one.</p>
<p>“Evan would have gotten in anywhere he wanted”</p>
<p>If you have not figured it out, exceptional means exactly that - there is not a school on earth which will say no to them. Harvard just has an easier route to them because the prize winners seem to think “they can excel there more than any other place.” Evan won his prize working with a prof at Stanford but ended up at Harvard. It is not like he couldn’t have excelled anyplace he went.</p>
<p>@texaspg,
He seems exceptional and very different; the way he spoke in his interview was very very different. Not necessarily problematic though, quite a different kid.</p>
<p>Btw, since you mentioned prize: this guy called @yalehacker got REJECTED (not even deferred) from Yale after being a Siemens Semifinalist, having published research, a letter of rec. from a top-class research scientist and making an iPhone app that’s in the top 5 on Apple’s App Store. But again, this is an exception; besides, it’s digressing from the thread topic :p</p>
<p>I think that many are confused as to how many actual ‘clear admits’ there are. Probably no more than 4-5 every year, because these students need to be <em>undeniably</em> better than every other applicant. Look at it this way: there are 12 USAMO winners every year, and I think about 1/2 get into Harvard (really). Maybe 1, who has been on the IMO team since sophomore year/does research at a high level/also a ridiculous pianist (like Evan) is a clear admit.</p>
<p>Believe me, there are only a few awards that are almost direct acceptances, and these limit it to the top 5-10ish of the candidate pool. For everyone else, these just make your academic record look stronger but you still need to demonstrate a lot of other qualities</p>
<p>“Siemens Semifinalist” - Is just that, not a winner.</p>
<p>If he had won the grand prize and Yale rejected him, it would have been a story since Yale usually admits Siemen’s winners.</p>
<p>All of the other pieces listed are subjective.</p>
<p>Rule of thumb - It is VERY HARD for a school to reject 50,000$ + prize winners. They need to find something that they don’t like in the app.</p>
<p>@hrmosp, is the ISEF winner also a direct admit? How does the ISEF stack up against the STS?</p>
<p>@texaspg @hrmosp So these ‘clear admits’ change every year, huh? Aren’t even the applicants who get likely letters ‘clear admits?’ Also, does Harvard like actually sift through the applications on the lookout for such applicants?</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by changing each year. There are specific awards considered prestigious. There are also specific summer programs, specific athletic positions, which give you a better than even shot at an admission. For example, 20 people applied early for 2012 admission and 17 got in - main distinguishing factor - all attended RSI. However, many of them were well accomplished in order to make the cut to RSI. One of them was a SIEMENS winner before attending RSI.</p>
<p>How hard is it to flag a few applicants as specific award winners and send them a likely letter?</p>
<p>@texaspg,
Oh alright. So intl applicants who haven’t had the chance to do Siemens/STS/RSI can’t get a likely letter right?</p>
<p>@dbadani, chime in, man. I read Evan’s work and your work too. Yours is not that far behind his, if not at the same level! But again, that’s according to me: I’m still a novice LOL.</p>
<p>Hey there, @mathjj and @dbadani!
I’ve been watching the Harvard admissions process carefully over the past few years (though I just joined CC) and have come to the following conclusions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>@Gibby is absolutely right: the papers submitted are of an (unusually) high level. It’s Harvard and they get the best of the best. So think VERY VERY carefully before you submit any research work; you might as well show no research work rather than let your application reflect poorly on your research skills.</p></li>
<li><p>Now, about the essay: from what experience I’ve gained, do <em>NOT</em> write about your research in the essay/supplement if you are not submitting your work. The obvious question that comes up when Harvard reads your essay is that ‘If the research paper is so important to the applicant, why wasn’t it sent?’ There will certainly be suspicions on the quality of your work in such a case. On the other hand, if you’re writing about your research just to show ‘passion,’ again, do NOT do so: passion is certainly NOT enough for mighty Harvard; you might as well talk about something that makes you stand out in the applicant pool. For example, talk about something that you’ve won, something that helped you change the world around you etc. In my opinion, that makes for a MUCH stronger essay as it reflects upon your strong points.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>But again, that’s just my 2 cent of advice. Do what you feel may be right :)</p>
<p>Why do you want to go to Harvard so badly? You can do good work at many schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think all Harvard admits are quite as superhuman as some of these posts imply. You don’t need a 2400 or need to have cured cancer or need to have international awards. </p>
<p>However, an excellent high school record would be one of the first criteria. People with “hooks” like music, sports, or, perhaps, mathematical research, can be considered with lesser transcripts, but I wouldn’t take that too far.</p>
<p>Honestly, the best thing to do is to call admissions and discuss this with them. Human beings work in admissions. They can tell you whether to submit, how much to submit, and how.</p>
<p>In the meantime, think hard about why you even want Harvard and consider several other schools.</p>
<p>The main thing to know is that colleges are trying to assemble a mix of students on campus, so it is often not about the individual so much as how the individual can add to the mix.</p>
<p>p.s. Posts by phone often seem to give a bad impression…I have to admit that the first post in this thread made me doubt its validity.</p>
<p>^Thanks for your inputs CompMom. One of the many reasons for Harvard is the fact that it is need-blind for internationals. (Y and P are need-blind too, which explains why I’m applying). Why Harvard would be a different issue altogether, let’s save that thought for another day! I’ll apply wherever I can afford to and after the results are out, I’ll decide. Ofcourse I have a lot of great target & safety schools on my list as well, I have a 0.<something> chance at Harvard and I obviously know that. Just wanted to know how things work when you submit stuff like this. Oh and I’m sorry if this thread irritated you :)</something></p>