<p>I'm perpetually perplexed by the question: How to stand out from the pack? Many students will have approximately the same test scores and stats, but many of them will have similar ECs too. They may have accomplishments, but others do have equivalent accomplishments too. To Harvard acceptees, why do you think you were accepted? What ECs are the selling point for you to Harvard?</p>
<p>Any answer we can give you, will be inherently flawed because we gave it, thus, someone else has done the same already. If you do something extremely well for its own sake, and you make a point of it to show your talent in it, I have no doubt that they’ll listen. People in all of the best schools have done amazing things in all parts of life, Music, science, politics, architecture, people in schools such as Harvard have done it all. Thus, it is your job to try and figure out where your interests lie, and to exploit them to the best of yuor abilities, hopefully catching the eye of the adcom on the way. And if not, then it’s meant to be. However, too many people pursue things simply for their appearance on their applications and not enough for the actual love of the topic, and that is a mindset which I can assure you that adcoms do pick up on.</p>
<p>Adcoms sometimes won’t pick up on subtle issues simply due to the sheer amount that they have to read. What is the range of the number of ECs do you consider realistic to be involved in when applying to harvard?</p>
<p>Are signigicant accomplishments sports important if you’re not a recruited athlete?</p>
<p>The number of EC’s should be small. The extent should be massive, essentially is the best way to phrase it. They don’t want the kid who’s in every yearbook photo, but the one who made a new club and really stuck with it and dedicated a lot of time to it. Or the one who goes to every single Model UN competition he/she can and does really well in it. You see, they don’t want you to be decent at everything, but excellent at one thing, especially at Harvard.</p>
<p>@hahalolk - They matter, but unless you’re recruited, their impact is like that of any other EC. So try to get recruited as much as you can, or at least establish contact with the coaches’ office. Or, if they don’t offer it as a varsity sport, play that to your advantage and talk about starting it as a club/ joining the club. Either one would show strong interest or dedication, and it would help your app’s coherence.</p>
<p>Thank you. I am wondering because I am an All-State athlete and would definitely be able to make their team but because of some interesting reasons I am not being recruited by them.</p>
<p>If you are from Southeast Asia (Southeast Asia is often the poorer part compared to other parts of Asia), recent immigrant (as recent as 9th grade), living in extreme poverty without mom or dad having a job. You are also categorized as homeless, and your SAT score is only around 2050. You also attend a top public high school in your area since junior year. You also hold a job, or at least held a job.
With several 4s, 5s on APs, a few Bs on transcript (3-4), and 650-700 SAT II, plus involvement in a few activities (say 3 but extremely involved), do you think this applicant will be accepted?</p>