Sorry, but i have to know my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hey guys, I just want to know my chances of getting accepted into Harvard.</p>

<p>And please, i'd really appreciate it if you guys can explain your answers and not just yes/no. Your comments will help me a lot. Thanks so much!</p>

<p>School: Extremley competativ privlic high school in New York City. (Privlic means that we're not public, but we receive public funding - you have to take a exam in 6th grade to be accepted: 200 amongst roughly 2500+ applicants)</p>

<p>Grades:</p>

<p>I really slacked off 8th grade(our school counts 8th grade) and freshman year, but i got my head straight and worked hard 10th and 11th grade.</p>

<p>Average grade 8th grade: C+
Average grade 9th grade: B
Average grade 10th grade: A-
11th grade courses:
English IV
Honors Math(Precalc) IV
Physics
AP Chemistry (our school allows us to tae APS only from junior year)
U.S. History
Average grade: A</p>

<p>12th grade, I'm going to take:
AP AB Calculus
AP Psychology
AP English Language and Composition
AP Bioloy
Adv. Painting
Adv. Drawing
Science teaching internship - Biology</p>

<p>Test scores:
SAT: 2000 (M 670, CR 660, W 670) - I'm retaking it. I've studied for 4 months after this score came out and im projected to get 2150+</p>

<p>SAT II: Bio: 700, Chem: 700, Math IIC: 630 (retaking. i was sick that day)</p>

<p>AP: US History: 5, AP Studio Art: Drawing: 5 Ap Chem: 3 (not submitting)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
President of Art Club (3 years), member for 5 years
Executive board member of Asian Cultural society fr 2 years (Mentorship director, now promoted to secretary), member for 4 years
Chief Art Editor for our school newspaper for 2 years
Publicity Secretary of 11th grade student government (member for 2 years): promoted to publicity secretary of school-wide student government
Big Sib (one year program where few select juniors mentor incoming 7th graders)
President of Wall-painting commuity service program (2 years)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
2 years as technician's assistant at a veterinary clinic (voluntarily)</p>

<p>Achievements:</p>

<ul>
<li>Silver Key in 2006 Scholatic Art Awards</li>
<li>2x Gold Key and Honorable Mention in 2007 Scholastic Art Award</li>
<li>Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Founation scholar (prestigious art program that chooses only 60 artists nationwide)</li>
<li>Leader of my art school's summer abroad program in italy</li>
<li>showcased artwork at the Brooklyn museum in 2006 and 2007</li>
<li>Had an exhibition of my artwork in a gallery</li>
<li>Ap Scholar</li>
</ul>

<p>i mean, i know my grades aren't super, and im retaking my test scores. Our school doesn't do GPAs, but i know because i slacked off earlier in my school years, its gonna be hard to get into harvard. I'm hoping that they'll notice the improving upward trend n my grades and give me a chance? I've also been actively working hard in my extracurriculars to make up for my weak grades.</p>

<p>Comments please? and support your opinions with a well-thought out reason? Thanks so much guys and sorry it was so long!</p>

2

<p>colleges won't count 8th grade.</p>

3

<p>yea, but my school submits 8th grade as part of our transcript to colleges</p>

<p>our school is a bit different. were extremley well connected, and roughly 30-40% of the senior year class is anually accepted into the ivy leagues.</p>

<p>our school is small, with roughly 180-200 kids in each grade.</p>

<p>last year, 27 seniors got into cornell, 8 into harvard, 5 into yale, 5 into columbia, 7 got ito dartmouth, 5 got into brown, 7 into princeton, 6 into upenn</p>

4

<p>what the hell kind of school is that!?
we haven't sent a kid to an ivy since the 1980's, yet we have 10% of our school score 31+ on the ACT. Maybe it would help if we had an applicant since the 1980's...</p>

<p>How can you go to such a competitive school yet score poorly.
Anyways...
Your GPA is going to ruin you. Despite the fact that you go to a ridiculously competitive school, the B and A- averages are unacceptable (assuming you got your fair share of B's to get that A- average). You're clearly at the bottom of your class. Since your school is so well-connected, the schools will be seeing your classmates grades, which you unfortunately do not compare to. I am guessing a good portion of your class applied to harvard if 8 were accepted. This year will be the same and your inferior grades/scores without substantial ECs to back them up will get you a paper thin envelope in April.</p>

5

<p>Colleges will not 'count' 8th grade for your gpa, but when they see it on your transcript, it'll make an impression.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
yea, but my school submits 8th grade as part of our transcript to colleges

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I wonder what would have to be on an 8th grade transcript for a university admissions reader (or anybody else) to care. Stabbing a teacher might get their attention. </p>

<p>Theoretically admissions can do whatever they want with a transcript provided, but 8th grade is populated with 13 year old children and is a bit hard to take seriously as a predictor of ages 18-21.</p>

7

<p>since when does having a B or A- average put you at the bottom of the class?</p>

8

<p>If 40% of his class got into an ivy. Assuming another 20% got into a top 20 school...his C+ average 8th grade year in combination with a b average will put him towards the bottom of his class. (In elite college admissions, over 25% can be considered bottom of class) take a look here:<a href="http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/profile.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/profile.php&lt;/a> as you can see 0% of students in the 40%+ of class were admitted while only 4% of 20%+ students were admitted. Compare that to nearly 40% of vals being admitted. As you can see, rank is HUGE. Furthermore the OP is certainly in the lower 50% of his class, and with that many competitive applicants applying to these schools (especially HARVARD), why would they take him? Especially with mundane ECs. Normally you can't gauge chances accurately bc defining your app is what counts to stand out, but this is a no-brainer reject.</p>

9

<p>"what the hell kind of school is that!?"</p>

<p>Hunter?
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_College_High_School%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_College_High_School&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

10

<p>ugh I read it wrong, penn says quintile, not decile on most, but my explanation is still applicable, just adjust the numbers.</p>

11

<p>Right, rank and gpa are huge, but it seems as though his school doesn't report either. That's how lots of feeders get their kids in: no statistics can't be bad statistics, which then in turn can't be bad statistics for the college. So even if you are in the bottom 50% of your class, you can still get into a good school. Along with that if you have an A- average as he does, you could be in the top 25% and go to a top college, becuase again, students statistics don't really matter that much when they are unreported. I'm not saying he's going to get in, I don't think he will, just explaining what I was thinking.</p>

12

<p>Doesn't matter if they don't rank. When colleges look at applications they will look at him in relation to other applicants from his school with far superior grades and test scores.</p>

13

<p>Most schools arrange applications by region and school.
If that many kids are getting admitted, harvard knows the caliber of students from his school extremely well. They'll know he is nowhere near the top of the class.</p>

14

<p>I don't think your scores are anywhere near good enough for Harvard. Even if you raise your SATs to 2150.</p>

15

<p>You have a lot of art talents listed- have you thought of applying to schools with more studio art facilities and opportunites? (RISD, Pratt, etc.) They might not require as much academic accomplishment. I agree with greennblue, your stats and ECs don't stand out amongst the H pool of talent. Be sure to have some realistic reach schools--hope for the best but prepare for the worst!</p>

16

<p>Thanks fauve.</p>

<p>And btw, mx, those 8 kids who were accepted into harvard this year? only ones that applied. it means not everyne applies to ivys from our school.</p>

<p>and i am also applying to RISD, cooper union and other schools.</p>

<p>and there are also many many rich slackers in our school as well, making me definitely above 50% (not that that's good anyways)</p>

17

<p>Harvard: REJECT</p>

<p>You are an Asian male with low stats (low GPA, low SAT 1, and low SAT 2).</p>

<p>I saw your other posts in 6 other Ivy Leagues (except Dartmouth). You will be rejected there as well.</p>

18

<p>^lol.</p>

<p>gaffe is so straight to the point. </p>

<p>i agree. Your stats are way to low for harvard. Especially as an Asian male who attends an incredibly elite high school.</p>

19

<p>gaffe, may I add that the kid's name is 'poop'</p>

20

<p>my school counts 8th grade too, if you took high school courses in 8th grade. i took 2 terms of 3 so i have 6 grades on my trans from 8th grade but the grades are perfect. i like you slacked off 9th grade big time.</p>