This isn’t a chance me. Just asking for advice. Should I got ahead and SCEA even if I have such stats ?
I’m from sub-Saharan Africa btw(international.
New SAT: 1440(I know) 700CR 740 M
Subject tests : 800 chem 740 math 2
Rank : 1/88
Awards(non major):
-2nd prize regional senior chem Olympiad (12th grade)
-2nd prize regional junior math Olympiad (9th grade)
-100% national math exam (highest in country ) (junior)
Overall best student 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th grade
-other school awards in subjects like
Chem
Physics math blah blah
ECs(few)
-online courses
a bit of coding (finished HTML and JavaScript.) haven’t made anything though
-1st violin in student orchestra
2nd violin in some regional orchestra ( don’t be fooled though. Classical music in my country is rare. So I didn’t even have to be spectacular to get in. I’ve been playing for a few years (4) and have grade 4 ABRSM. I know people in the U.S. And abroad have grade 8 and beyond)
-piano for a year (grade 3 ABRSM)
-I make music covers on soundcloud on violin
-Videography
-tutor underprivileged kids in neighborhood on weekends and during free time
JETs(some science club) president
Essays: can’t rate
Recs. they good.
So what y’all think
I should do. ? Btw I’m retaking the SAT 1 next Saturday but I’ve been too busy with school to practice so just imagine my score doesn’t go
Up while giving advice.
Oh and Mr Moderator??? Please edit
My nationality and ECs and awards or delete the post altogether after 24
Hours or so. For privacy purposes ???! Thank you
If you don’t do SCEA to Harvard will you EA or ED somewhere else? The only reason not to go ahead with SCEA is to apply early at 1 or more schools not allowed under SCEA.
The SCEA applicant pool is self-selective, meaning that it attracts MORE students who have tippy-top test scores, GPA’s and awards. Given that your NEW SAT score of 1440 translates to a 2060 on the OLD SAT (https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/higher-ed-brief-sat-concordance.pdf), I would think your application would be overshadowed by the polly-perfects of this world and you stand a good chance of being deferred. As such, IMHO you should apply to a wide range of non-binding schools in the early round, and apply to Harvard in the RD round.
@CrimsonZa - I am not an expert, so take this for whatever it is worth.
I know is that International acceptances are about 10% of the total acceptances. Not sure if EA has any more or any less International admits. I am sure you already know this and you probably already checked HIO stats on how many accepted from your country. I am not sure how many of the international acceptances are from celebrity / royal families, but my wild / uneducated guess would be that there are quite a few such candidates. I am not sure if you are one of those.
Your ECs look great, but not sure if these will stand out among International candidates. SAT - like you have commented - is low.
Re: EA - if you see @skieurope 's answer to my question on the 2021 SCEA forum, looks like almost 400 of the 900 EA acceptances could be athletes and other “hooks”.
But like most other CC posters would say, no one really knows who will or not get admitted, whether EA or RD. All we know that Harvard is a long shot for almost every person that applies, unless you have a real good hook.
^^ That would indeed help, but to be competitive in the SCEA applicant pool your scores would need to be in the 1540 to 1600 range (2260 to 2400 on the old SAT).
@CrimsonZA - IMHO - your awards seem ok, but International level awards may have helped more. ECs look fine - especially the music. SAT subjects - I have heard that anything over 700 is fine. Do you have any AP or IB classes? What is your unweighted / weighted GPA?