<p>I managed to raise my SAT from a 2070 (no prep whatsoever) January junior year to a 2380 superscore November senior year (2280 highest single sitting.) I think I was actually at 2000 end of sophomore year. And I barely did prep. My prep was like 4 practice tests (CR + M only) from the BB in May of junior year (exclusively in May) and reading a couple pages out of DH Vol. 2.
You’re a stellar student, so if you work a bit for improving that SAT (I’m sure it won’t require a lot of work for you) you could end up with a 2250+ easily. And college admissions are basically hit/miss due to the subjective nature of the process, so you well might not end up at Harvard. But you have a decent chance.
At any rate, you’ll end up at a great school no matter what, even if it’s not Harvard. Good luck!</p>
<p>Greekfire - that’s what I spent my time doing today (: It’s just critical reading. It seems hit and miss for me. Since there’s really only a week left, I think my best option at this point seems to concentrate highly on math. And then once I get my results (hopefully) my math score will be somewhere close to perfect, then from there I can meet with my mentor (English professor) and raise my CR then superscore the two? </p>
<p>Jimmy - wow with absolutely no prep you raised it 300 points? That’s super impressive!! And what is DH Vol. 2?
thanks for the compliments. I’ll try my hardest and see where it leaves me (:</p>
<p>I agree with Greekfire about his statement about having one or two positions that are meaningful to you. but, i personally think that if you have something else that you can already portray a lot about in your essays, you should have some positions to “show off”</p>
<p>haha, every string performer (besides the cellist themselves) want to play cello xD i <3 how the cello sounds to deep and rich (:</p>
<p>and awesome! 
good luck on your performance. I’m just having normal weekend practices in the orch im in right now 
getting ready for a solo performance with my orchestra</p>
<p>
No no, I did prepare. But it was minimal. I started off with a 2070 January junior year, and that test I went into without prep at all. Then in May of that year I prepped (in M + CR only) for the June test, improved 30 points in CR only (to a 660), 80 in M (to an 800), and 80 in W (to an 800). And by the way, my math increase probably wasn’t due to the prep. I just paid more attention in the test, as my mistakes in January were just due to some stupid oversight or something. As for CR… well I wasn’t too happy with that after going through like 4 tests of preparation.</p>
<p>Anyway after my June results I registered fro Nov. thinking what the hell I’ll give it a shot, and did no prep in between, save read a few pages of DH (Direct Hits Volume 2 - basically the best vocab prep book there is). Managed to up it to a 780, and one careless error cost me an 800. But like, I think the prep in May did help me, because usually just preparing doesn’t help me - I need to prepare then let it sit for a while. Anyway for your preparation for CR, read all of DH (both volumes) and you’ll get like 18-19/19 sentence completions right, and a couple practice tests to improve your time (which was a problem for me in November - luckily it didn’t affect me too much in the end) and to better grasp what the questions ask for and how to find them. If I had to guess right now, I’d say you’re going to get a 2150 or so in January, and manage to raise it to a 2250-2350 in May/June. So you’re fine ;)</p>
<p>Ok, I only skimmed the thread quickly, but consider the ACT. D only scored a 2080 on the SAT but got a 35 on the ACT with no additional studying. I’m sure that was the score that Harvard used in the end.</p>
<p>Also, as for your profile, you have omitted some of the factors that will play into your assessment - these are your gender, ethnicity, state/country, hook, and income bracket. Though unlike the other factors which you are able to affect, these are also factors that will be used by Harvard as they attempt create a diversified class.</p>
<p>jsungoh - ah I love solo performances. And solo’s in general!! have fun with that and good luck! Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>Jimmy - Ah that sounds increasingly like the timing I have right now, except that practice is the only way I can ever perfect anything. It’s a good and a bad thing. I’m not one of those natural geniuses, but at the same time I can grasp concepts really fast. It’s just retaining them that kills me on my SAT. It’s good for major tests like an AP or IB, but for a critical analysis test like the SAT, it just sucks. I can’t seem to get what ETS is looking for. Oh well. I guess I’ll just keep on practicing? I’m currently on a scavenger hunt for more practice tests though. haha (:</p>
<p>smoda - ah thanks for mentioning that!! I’ll add that.
But I’m Indian, Female, Texas, USA, and both parents are doctors studied from India. Typical slightly for my community. Anyways what do you think? Is that a plus or neg? Or neither?
Also, I took the Dec ACT completely cold and managed a 28 on that. And that too with leaving half the science section blank because I didn’t know what I was doing. I think I can manage a pretty decent score on that, and if the SAT thing really just fails, I’ll probably go with that
BTW you got into harvard? That’s awesome! Do you like it?</p>
<p>Hey wisdom - I did not write clearly because it is my daughter who took the SAT, ACT, and is a sophomore at Harvard. Sorry about the confusion.</p>
<p>Adding those extra pieces of your profile are helpful. The unfortunate part is that they point out, like you have, is that you match your community and consequently the part of the application pool in which you will be evaluated. On a positive note, your profile is not that different from my daughter’s - caucasian, female, massachusetts, educated parents, rank 1, drum major, musician, dancer, then you two diverge at your extended music and D’s skiing and fishing. Starting SAT’s are similar. D just did differently on the ACT. She hated the SAT but found the ACT simple. </p>
<p>Anyhow, I think your profile is one that Harvard will at least be considering but as you can see from two other threads, the application rate continues to rise which causes lower and lower acceptance percentages.</p>
<p>The greatest gift you can give yourself is to find a number of schools that you love. That way when 4/1/2012 arrives, you are sure to have options that make you happy.</p>
<p>Smoda - no problem. But sorry I didn’t quite understand. What is the unfortunate part? Are you referring to the plunging rate of Harvard’s acceptance. Because yes, that has definitely scared me too. And is it the educated parents that might bring it Down?
And that’s great. Congratulations to your daughter!! Does she like it there? </p>
<p>And I definitely will be considering other schools Especially now that ive seen the rate decrease. I’ll try my hardest not to get caught up on this school. But I think I’ll still try my hardest to get in. Might as well right? You only apply to Harvard once? (as a hs student at least) </p>
<p>BTW smoda - like I said I think it’s fantastic that your daughter was accepted. Do you have any finishing suggestions? My mother usually tells me that I often have a great start but right towards the end I loose some finishing touches and that’s what’s caused me some competitions when I was younger. Do you have any specs for the process other than the givens We’ve already covered?
Thanks so much!</p>
<p>^ The unfortunate part is that when your application is considered, like every application, it will be viewed in contrast to other similar applications. I would assume that there are many texans who apply to Harvard. As a generalization, I believe Indian families tend to be driven. Consequently, students of Indian background may have a higher median SAT compared to the population pool as a whole. Females in general are stronger academically than males (I think this is true for grades and rank but not SAT - please correct me if I am wrong). So when you are compared to the large texan application pool, and the subgroup of Indian females, will your application stand out as much as it might out of this context? I don’t fully know. But I had been told that as a caucasian, female, from Massachusetts, my daughter’s profile was just one of many. Had she been a URM from Alaska, she would have been more unusual and more likely to catch the admission’s eye.</p>
<p>As for my daughter, she does feel that she made the right choice but she has never worked so hard in her life. She is a neurobiology concentrator with a mind, brain, and behavior track. The students in her classes have been exceptional. For one science class this past fall, she studies 5 days for a test to earn an “average” grade. The highest grade in the class was rumored to have been earned by a student who studies one hour.</p>
<p>My only other comment it that I truly believe that the interview was my daughter’s application’s most important component.</p>
<p>PS Please everyone don’t jump on me for my comments above. I hesitate to state generalities, but what I wrote was my best attempt to express what I understand. Feel free to correct any misstatements I may have made.</p>