Sophomore looking to Harvard

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Hi, my name is Enrique. I am recently arriving to the US from my country (Costa Rica). I study at Sylmar High School, CA. I have right now a GPA of 3.76 (unweighted). I really want to go to Harvard, I dream with the school, I wanted to go there since I was 8 years old!!! I am a little concern of my low GPA. I also I am concern about the SAT, because I am not an English native speaker. I take private SAT classes of my own. I am taking right now AP World and AP chem. I even think I pass World' exam. I plan to take AP physics, Calculus, Spanish Literature, US, English Language next year. I play tennis, but since is my first time, I only managed to the team, not to varsity. Can you give me any advice of how could I increase my chances of getting in. Any thoughts about the PSAT, and the SAT. I got for my SAT a 1760, but I still practicing. Could I made it with 2 years left? </p>

<p>Thanks for the Help.</p>

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<p>Get interested in some other schools besides Harvard.</p>

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<p>What are your exact reasons for wanting Harvard so much?</p>

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<p>Well, I am interested in other Schools suchs as Yale, UCLA, Berkeley, Stanford, UChicago, Wesleyan, Caltech, MIT, Brown, Darthmouth. I am making my research. Yet, I am strongly interested in Harvard</p>

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<p>So, any advice you can give me, any insight? It will be tremedously helpful.</p>

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<p>pretty much everyone is interested in harvard. your gpa will have to be higher for harvard probably, and your sat will have to be significantly higher.</p>

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<p>My reasons to become part of Harvard are: first, it is a place that challange you and make you give your best, by that meaning the high curriculum and high standards the university has; second, I would like to be taught by their professors, some of the greatest, brilliant professors teach there and I want to be part of such; third, I really will like to go to Law school, and Harvard has a very good Law school. Yet, the very thing that makes me so interested into Harvard is very hard to explain; I want to study there, I want to be within such trend of knowledge. I want to achieve many things, I want to be a change in our society, and I think Harvard could help me to achieve. That other colleges could also help, absolutely, but Harvard attracts my attention. It is just that, I really want to go.</p>

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<p>Yes, I know my GPA has to be way higher that its actual form, and the SATs also have to be higher. Yet, other things, for example, the essay; I have problems with the idiomatics</p>

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<p>The reasons you give for wanting to go to Harvard all can be found at a great many places. Harvard does attract the attention of a lot of students but once they start visiting schools they find out that Harvard isn’t their first choice after all. I don’t have any advice for getting in, it’s too hard anymore. I don’t know why they choose who they choose.</p>

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<p>I agree with Pea!
And a girl from my school went to Harvard, she doesn’t seem to think it’s as great as they say. Like, apparently there are tons of slackers there.
And, you don’t need to go to Harvard in order to go to the Law school there. Besides, Yale is actually a better Law school than Harvard.
It seems like you don’t have specific reasons that pertain to only Harvard, rather than just the prestige of having their name on your degree. :stuck_out_tongue:
I’d really suggest setting up an account on [College</a> Search - College Admissions](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■%5DCollege”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■)
That works so well for determining college searches! :slight_smile: It’s helped me a lot!</p>

<p>OH. MAKE SURE TO TAKE THE TOEFL!</p>

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<p>Thank you very much decathletegirl. I will do that; continuing my research!!!</p>

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<p>That’s amazing! =) How are you adapting to the US? </p>

<p>A factor that will definitely increase your chances of getting into Harvard is your involvement in Extracurriculars, Community Service, and Clubs. Also, your GPA isn’t necessarily low, but I would definitely try to bring it up to a 4.0 or higher.</p>

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<p>hey guys! i’m going to be a sophomore next year too- chance me for harvard IF i end up with these stats? I’m pretty sure I can accomplish the following (hopefully… fingers crossed!)

  • captain of the current #1 Cross Country team in state, varsity runner
    -3 years of coaching tween girls and helping them overcome their self-confidence through running+ grant work for the program
    -president of my school’s science journal
    -president/founder of a club, helps special ability kids through theater
    -4.0 student freshman year, 4.5 sophomore year (i’m taking precalc honors, ap chem, ap world, english H, spanish 4, and ISPE), 4.8 junior year (ap bio, ap us, calc ab, ap spanish, ap lang, and intro to journalism) and senior year (ap physics, ap lit, calc cd, and 2 other classes?) basically, the hardest courses my school offers. I got all A’s and a few A+'s frosh year…
    -MUN 4 years
    -SAT over 2200
    -Science fair 2 years (it’s mandatory for ap chem students, so it’s for sure that i’ll do it, no idea how well i’ll do)
    -Indian classical dance for 9 years, i assist my teacher as well, as well as multiple performances around my community
    and -majoring in biology (I want to be a cardiologist!)
    Is this enough? If not, what else can I do? I’m entering my sophomore year, so there’s still time to add on :slight_smile: Also, how many community service hours will I need, approximately? I’d volunteer near the local universities, but I’m still 14, so they won’t let me. I have absolutely no idea how many hours I’ll do once I get the chance. I’m doing the brain bee, so if I do well there, then I can add that as well.</p>

<p>I’ve wanted to go to Harvard my whole life because it’s all about excellence for me. I like to go into different fields and accomplish my best, and I think Harvard will help me accomplish that (I love running, biology, theater, and history. That’s a lot!) Also, they have a kick-ass medical program! </p>

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

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<p>bump???</p>

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<p>sounds you want the Haavahd prestige…“excellence” for you</p>

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<p>@Decathlete, please keep in mind that your friend is only one source of anecdotes, and everybody experiences every college differently. Yes, there are slackers here, but as far as I can tell, there is every kind of person here. Harvard tends to get unrealistic pictures painted of it, both in the positive and negative directions. It’s a real place like any other, where some people (I don’t know how many) are very unhappy, some people (again, I don’t know how many) are very happy, and there is everything in between.</p>

<p>@bluenotebook, you will get more replies if you make your own thread. (In order of likelihood of success: Chances forum, very high; Harvard forum, moderate; a Harvard subforum, fairly low.)</p>

<p>@OP I agree that your chances are slim, although if you get a 2000+ SAT they will be much higher, but I still don’t see at all why Harvard would be a better fit for you than, for a random example, Reed. (And those are two very, very different institutions.) I think figuring that out (and possibly visiting some local schools?) might be the most helpful thing for you right now.</p>

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<p>Hello, if someone is reading this, please, tell me something…</p>

<p>And I am back…two years after, to the same post, with the same “I am afraid”</p>

<p>I will apply this year to colleges, and my dream school, by far, is Harvard/MIT.
I want to be an Aerospace/Electrical engineer. I arrived to this country 2 years ago…matter of fact on July 4, 2009. My SATs simply suck (1850) math is on the 600s…all of the scores are sadly even… My problem is that translating slows me down…and SAT is a speed test.I got 650 on Math II, 490 in physics. Math II is my second time and physics is my first time. I will retake them.</p>

<p>APs also sucked…and it’s ironic: I got 5s on AP US, AP Spanish Lit (expected) AP Spanish Language (expected), AP English Language (how the hell that happened), and a 3 on AP world…The rest are not good…AP Physics B (offered at my school) 2, AP Calculus BC (self-study) 1…and the funny thing is that I am right now enrolled in Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra. I had a A last semester on Calculus II (BC equivalent). AP Physics C, mechanics, a 1, AP chemistry, on my first year living here, 1. My science scores are just horrible. I do take the most rigorous schedule of my school: 2 APs on 10th grade, 5 last year, and 5 this year. That being said my school is not that good. But still, I am the culprit of those scores.</p>

<p>MY GPA is 4.15; I am in the top 5% of my class. I am city official, admitted to UCLA Anderson school of management Business program (Riordan Scholars), and last summer, worked at UCLA Henry Samueli school of engineering conducting research.</p>

<p>And I am creeping out because I think I will not go farther than my community college.</p>

<p>Please, tell me what do, to improve my scores. Is that realistic?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>@Virginian, you needn’t be rude.
@astua, Virginian is right, though, this is totally the wrong place (although he’s wrong about what would be the right place; the “Chances” forum is probably the best place). So no, you’re not going to get into Harvard or MIT given your scores–especially since if you can get a 5 on AP English, I do not understand why your English is so poor as to make you get a 2 on Physics. But why can’t you go to UCLA? Did you say you were admitted? Also UC Riverside/Merced/CSU Fullerton/Cal Poly San Luis Obispo/etc. are not bad institutions. I think somewhere on that list should be a safety for you, scores-wise. BIG caveat, though, that I am not all that familiar with California’s public colleges, and definitely not with immigration status issues, so this may all be invalid. But regardless, there are many more options than simply Harvard or community college.</p>