The single most important factor in getting in is...

<p>Class rank. ive seen people get in with weak sat's, ec's, etc., but ive never heard of a person getting in with out being valedictorian or something close. at a normal school, you need to be one of the top 3 people to get in. at a larger or more competive school 5% works. at the hardest prep schools 10% is what you need. ive never heard of a person with a rank of 30/300 getting in (unless they founded a charity etc.) i have found people who are ranked 15, but that is 5% or better at their school. i challenge everyone here to find one person who has gotten into an ivy without a high rank. this stinks for me because i have a rank of 34/360 and a terrible cum gpa, but if you count just my scores this year and 2nd semester of soph year, im the highest ranking student. it doesnt matter though. without a high rank, i simply wont get in. (someone please prove me wrong!) </p>

<p>ps try to keep real people in mind. dont talk about someone who has cured cancer etc. (talk about a white or asian person with no real hooks)</p>

<p>im asian and i doubt im top twenty cause my gpa is absymal in comparison to grade grubbing over-achievers that care wayy too much</p>

<p>it doesnt matter though cause im def getting into a better school than them and cause my school doenst rank! but if it did i doubt id be in the top decile</p>

<p>it depends thought...if your school doesn't take into account the difficulty of courses when ranking, I don't think ranking will matter as much.</p>

<p>I think it depends a lot on the school. For example, a good school graduating thirty students obviously only has three students in the top ten percent. I know that at my school the top people are separated by .002 or something. I mean, that amounts to a B+ in gym class in the ninth grade. In a situation like that, I can't see them holding it against you that you were number four and in the second decile.</p>

<p>even so, i have yet to see someone get in without being in the top 5% in a medium sized school. almost everyone ive seen (that has gotten in) has been different but all of them shared the factor of being the top of their class. when harvard can pick someone in the top 5% why would they pick a top 10%er.</p>

<p>after grades and miniumum sat, the essay.</p>

<p>mensa160, so what would you say the minimum sat is? do you have a guesstimate?</p>

<p>I'd say around 1450 eliminates any sat concerns at H.
A near 800 in either CR or Math is probably a slight boost. eg/780/670 is better than 725/725. Not having a 700 in either is a big problem.</p>

<p>I actually heard otherwise. I heard that having scores in the ballpark of each sections shows the "well roundness' of ur education and not too much leaning on one subject.</p>

<p>Supposedly they want a well rounded class, not well rounded students.</p>

<p>supposedly you are in big trouble w/ a 670 in ANY section. that's what i've seen at least...700 in everything w/ a 750 avg seems to be the standard.</p>

<p>as much as i hate to admit it, he's probobly right (wow i cant spell lol) to get in at the big H, you will want over a 700 in every section. after that, every 50-100 points extra will be small boost. even so i still think that the number one factor is rank.</p>

<p>. . . submitting the application.</p>

<p>that was a very good response.</p>

<p>It was very accurate, really.</p>

<p>what if the sub 700 section is writing?</p>

<p>so that means i would be in a big disavantage having a 650 in CR....Bahhhh!(tho i got above 700 in the rest of my sections) isnt it????lol but if u guys say that rank matters more than would that kinda make up for my poor CR score(my rank is quite decent-top 5% i think)</p>

<p>rank is number one. seriously guys, have you ever heard of a normal person getting in without the high rank? (not a rhetorical question, i wanna know)</p>

<p>I'm not sure that's true. I tend to think Harvard looks for a more complete pkg. But what about the large number of students who apply from schools that do not rank (such as myself)?
You have to also take that into account.</p>

<p>i suppose that is a good point, but they can still get a vague idea of where you stand from your transcript. i tend to think that harvard looks for a great package after phenomenal grades. i mean ive heard of people getting in with bad ecs and sat's but no one has gotten in with a bad rank.</p>