The Ideal Harvard Nerd

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>On the Harvard website, they have stressed that there is no certain applicant who is guaranteed an admission ticket. However, they also say that there are three types of applicants: super-nerds, very smart well-rounded people, and those who are well-lopsided meaning they have the grades and scores, but devoted all their time on one activity and were internationally recognized in it. I think that they want students who apply to have a general idea which category they fit in, so that the admission comittee can build a class of students who are the very best in the world (compared to all the other applicants) in whatever particular area they have showed great potential and interest in high school. Here are my statistics (I am going into 11th grade, most of all these things have happened, and I am quite sure the rest will):</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Pakistani American</p>

<p>Parents: Dad is a doctor, Mom has a Master's degree, income: $200K</p>

<p>School: Small Private (Nashville, TN), Class of 2013 </p>

<p>GPA: 3.98 UW, 4.6 W</p>

<p>SAT: 2390 (790 CR)</p>

<p>PSAT: 235 (75 CR), National Merit Finalist</p>

<p>SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 770 US History</p>

<p>AP Classes: </p>

<p>11th Grade
AP Calculus BC 5
AP Chemistry 5
AP Physics C EM 5
AP PHysics C Mechanics 5
AP World History 5
AP US History 5
AP English Language 5
AP Computer Science A 5</p>

<p>12th Grade (pending but most likely 99% grades in all classes)
AP Biology
AP US Government
AP Comparative Politics
AP English Literature
AP European History
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microceonomics
AP Spanish Language</p>

<p>College Classes (I will take the math classes at Vanderbilt University in 12th grade, I already learned Multivariable Calculus, and the other class was offered at my school after I had a brilliant performance in chemistry):</p>

<p>Differential Equations
Abstract Algebra
Organic Chemistry</p>

<p>Sports: Varsity Track, Varsity Cross Country</p>

<p>Debate (3 years): Public Forum Debate Top 6 in tournaments x 8, State Champions, Qualified for National Tournament</p>

<p>Piano: Played for 2 years, will be on Level 8 soon, played advanced songs, and hosted a small concert at my school</p>

<p>Volunteer: 100 hours at science center, 100 hours in the hospital, 100 hours in Pakistan, volunteering in impoverished areas and helped form a school, 50 hours as a Mathcounts coach, in club I formed</p>

<p>Clubs: Secretary Speech and Debate Club, President Speech and Debate Club, President and Founder of Math Club, President and Founder of Chemistry Club, Vice President of Young Democrats, Chief Editor of Newspaper, National Honor Society, A school-only exclusive high GPA society</p>

<p>Research (at Vanderbilt Univesity): Chemistry for 6 months-published an article, Math for 6 months-wrote an article, USA Math Olympiad Camp (top 30 in the country), USA Physics Olympiad Camp (top 25 in the country)</p>

<p>Major Awards:
National AP Scholar
National Debate Semifinalists
AMC 12 132/150
AIME 10/15
USA Math Olympiad 30/42 (Top 18 in the country)
Top 20 in USA Chemistry Olympiad
Top 18 in USA Math Olympiad
Intel Finalist in Physics</p>

<p>Reccomendations: Mainly Top 5%-Top 1% (Vanderbilt Professor, English Teacher, College Counselor)- They said I inspired others in the classroom, was extremely mature, self-motivated, loved learning, able to get over setbacks, creative, and a leader</p>

<p>Essay: I wrote on how I hate growing up, as I was born in the 1990's, when my childhood was reading books, watching 90's cartoons, and playing my Gameboy, and now my young brother who was born in 2003 doesn't have all those classic cartoons, game systems that are way too sophisticated, and hardly reads books, because everything is on the Internet now; I wrote one on how I love math and science, as seen in my awards, but also love helping people, and having shadowed my dad, who is a doctor, have made it my ultimate goal to medical school, to satisfy my fascination with the human body that I have had ever since my dad gave me a children's anatomy book; My last one was on how I think that many schools have become distracted from teaching the kids the actual subjects of math and the sciences, and focus too much on just having the best scores, rather than teaching kids to truly understand the material, and how to apply it to scientific and real-world scenarios</p>

<p>Having read my statistics, please tell me which of the three categories I seem to fit in the most. In my opinion, I am a blend of all three as I am very nerdy, and obviously love math, making a bit lopsided, but am also active in debate, sports, piano, volunteering, and even did a few jobs. Also, tell me what you think my chances would be to get into Harvard's Class of 2017.</p>

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<p>I think you’re reading between the lines on Harvard’s Website a little too liberally: The admissions niches, insofar as they can even be considered to exist, are not so neat, being instead much subtler.</p>

<p>The hypothetical stats that you listed would make you one of the outstandingly competitive applicants of your admissions season. Would you get into Harvard? Very possibly but probably not. Would you get into some of the most competitive schools (i.e., those with sub-10% admissions rates) if you were to apply to all of them? Quite likely.</p>

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<p>I mean would I have like a 50-60% chance of getting in?</p>

4

<p>So, you mean, I have no guarantee of getting into Harvard, because admission rates go down every year, but I have a decent chance, and if I applied to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Caltech, Stanford, and Columbia, I would be extremely likely to get into at least one?</p>

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<p>Ha, no; that would only work if they were pulling your name out of a hat. If you are rejected at one, chances are you’re rejected for the same reasons at the other. Applying to multiple selective schools doesn’t make you a shoe-in at least one of them.</p>

6

<p>I understand, but would I have a chance at Harvard?</p>

7

<p>Sure you would have a chance at any of those schools – depends on your essays.
Send in your app and hope for the brass ring.</p>

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<p>You have no guarantee of getting into Harvard because it’s highly competitive and unpredictable. Applicants with stronger stats than your hypothetical profile have been rejected; many applicants with worse stats have been accepted. Your stats do, however, make you a much likelier admit than one would expect from a randomly selected applicant (~6%).</p>

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<p>Unless your essays and recommendations contain one or more salient reasons to compel rejection, I would say yes.</p>

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<p>No, but it does help. The combination of the great rarity of uniform acceptances to the most selective schools and the commonplace nature of a mixture of highly selective acceptances and highly selective rejections supports this idea.</p>

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<p>Of course; everyone does in theory. You, in particular, have a very good chance – or least someone with that hypothetical profile would.</p>

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<p>A “very good chance” relative to other applicants. Whether that’s “a very good chance” in absolute terms depends on what you mean by “very good chance,” I think.</p>

<p>Silverturtle, I’ve been saying behind your back all over CC (as much as “all over CC” can be “behind your back”) how much I respect your intellect, your level-headedness and your poise. You are a stand-up guy. If you were my kid, I’d be one tremendously proud parent.</p>

10

<p>I was just looking at the USA Physics Olympiad Team page, which comprises about 25 of the best physics students in the country. I saw that out of the seven seniors, five were going to Harvard. There other activities were all math/science related, and I’m sure all of them had extremely good test scores and grades. This reminded me of an interview with the Dean of Admissions at Harvard who mentioned that there are about 200-300 students who are basically a “shoe-in” to Harvard because of their great inellectual potential. Would I be one of them?</p>

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<p>We can’t answer that question…</p>

12

<p>Phantom, you really seem to be fishing for compliments here, so I’ll oblige you and say “yes.”</p>

<p>And it’s shoo-in, not shoe-in.</p>

13

<p>To reach that impossibly high echelon of applicants whose admission is rarely in doubt is to be one of the finest students and finest people in the country. As such, no one can really answer that question, but you do have a well-rounded, impressive academic record, and a good chance of getting into Harvard or another school of similar caliber. That is, you are somewhat above the average applicant. That really isn’t saying much, though; as it was put to you earlier, better applicants have been rejected and worse applicants have been accepted. You will undoubtedly be a strong applicant in what will undoubtedly be a sea of strong applicants. Don’t put any money on it, but you don’t have any chance at all if you don’t apply.</p>

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<p>@GrayPhantom: Are these your stats/projected stats? Or is this just hypothetical?</p>

<p>While an outsider may think that you are a shoo-in to most selective colleges, any seasoned CC’er would tell you otherwise. A prime example of a supposed ‘shoo-in’ to virtually any school is one of this thread’s responders, silverturtle. He was not accepted to every school he applied to (including the HYPS), but he still got into many very selective schools (including Brown and Columbia). </p>

<p>Thus, it is very difficult to predict one’s acceptance to any single top school (unless that person has a major hook like URM or recruited athlete), but it is a little easier to say that someone with as strong a profile as yours (or the hypothetical person) will most likely be accepted to some of the selective schools they apply to.</p>

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<p>Your admission to Harvard at this point is as hypothetical as your 235 NMF score for the test you have nt taken yet. One bad day can wipe out that expected score.</p>

<p>It is too early for a 11th grader to be asking for chances to Harvard based on expected results for the next year or longer. At this point I would say 5.5% without actually seeing all of the information listed actually being valid.</p>

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<p>^Agreed, texaspg. Phantom, after making at least 2 or 3 threads like this, with the same responses, why are you here again? Enjoy your summer and come back next year.</p>

<p>JB</p>

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<p>I’d have thought this was Silverturtle’s news to share, if Silverturtle cared to share it in this thread.</p>

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<p>^As Silverturtle is a celebrity of sorts on CC, I thought it apt to reference him as an example. I apologize if I offended him, though. I was simply trying to demonstrate that it’s tough to predict the admissions results of even the most perfect-looking applicants. Silverturtle’s rejections were a result of the crapshoot-esque admissions of top schools, not some flaw in his application. It was in no way meant as an exploitation of Silverturtle’s college application process, but as an insight into the unpredictability of selective college admissions. I’m sorry if it was viewed otherwise.</p>

<p>Besides, I believe that if someone posts their college admissions results on CC, then these results are public and thus can be used and interpreted by forum members.</p>

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<p>I definitely say that you have a chance. The only thing I will state about everything I read is this: the weakness I noticed is one of your essay topics (the last one). I feel that it will be more of an informational article rather than talking about yourself. Colleges want to know about you, about your passion and determination (etc.), not about an issue in society (unless you can make it more relate to yourself and describe how it connects to you, and possibly the extracurriculars you did)</p>

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<p>No, I already have the SAT score, and my PSAT last year, when I took it for practice, was 237. I gave a score for my worst day, and many of these statistics are already a reality, but the few are not, are most likely to be.</p>