unique situation

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I have a complicated situation, and I hope the admissions officers will understand this. I have been living through child abuse for a decade, having a fatally ill father, and a mother suffering from a mental illness who has been through a pyschiatric ward twice, and maybe going on her third, plus having restrictions on the amount of time given for school work on the computer, so there have been many limitations for me throughout my life. I also want to stress in my essay that in my father's family, there have only been four college graduates in the entire family ever, including 3rd cousins ect, therefore going to college and becomming a college graduate is a very important thing for me. As these are very difficult circumstances to have to have put up with throughout my life, I hope that the admissions officers will understand this. </p>

<p>*I know that Harvard is a HUGE reach... but I just want your honest take on what you think not only my chances are, but if I should apply anyway. (I also have alumni relations, as my cousin is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business, and she attend the college at age 16)</p>

<p>Below are my stats:</p>

<p>Gender: F</p>

<p>State: MA</p>

<p>Ethnicity: African American</p>

<p>GPA (unweighted)-3.6</p>

<p>GPA (Weighted)- 4.17</p>

<p>SAT: Reading, 800
Math: 760
Writing: 800</p>

<p>Extra Curricular Activites: </p>

<p>9th, 10th, 11th, (and 12th for next year) member and violinst of the school orchestra
Copy editor of the school newspaper 10th grade
President and creator of my of high school STAND chapter (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) 11th grade, and will continue till I graduate
Member of Tri-M Music Honor society- 11th grade, (and continue next year)</p>

<p>Interests in Volunteering: </p>

<p>One of the things that I am most passionate about is increasing the literacy rate for lower-income children across the nation. I am really passionate about volunteering, and am considering entering the Ameri-corps after college graduation for a year. I had tried to volunteer at non-profit organizations that were geared towards my interest in education and literacy, especially catering towards helping lower-income children in inner-cities. It is important for me to help these children, especially since I have a parent that grew up in a very low-income inner-city Boston neighborhood, and came out of the Boston public school system. I also still have family that live in poorer areas in inner-city boston, so it is close to my heart to help many of these disadvantaged children throughout the country.</p>

<p>Volunteer Work: (450 hours and counting)</p>

<p>Registration Coordinator for First Book, a non-profit organization based in D.C, which helps distribute free or reduced-priced books to lower income children across the nation. As a registration coordinator I had reached out to many different Title 1 schools, and after school programs that serve over 80% of low income children. To date, I have helped over 25 schools and after school programs including Washington D.C, New York City, and around the inner-city Boston area in Massachusetts, recieve free or reduced priced books. </p>

<p>Volunteer at an elementary school after-school program in my hometown, (11th grade and continue on in 12th grade)</p>

<p>Volunteer for Student Solutions, a non-profit organization based in North Carolina, which helps increase the literacy rate in children across America by providing literary and eduacational resources to schools in need. As a volunteer, I helped create databases of schools across the country that Student Solutions would reach out to to provide educational resources and materials to.</p>

<p>Volunteer for Nanubai, a non-profit organization based in India, which helps keep women and children in schools and India, and also helps increase the literacy rate among them. </p>

<p>Awards/Achievements:</p>

<p>Winner of First Book Registration Coordinator Challange</p>

<p>Presidents Volunteer Service Award- Gold</p>

<p>Congressional Award- Bronze Certificate</p>

<p>Congressional Award- Silver Certificate</p>

<p>Congressional Award- Gold Certificate </p>

<p>*The only problem is that I go to a really competitve high school where most people do well,( I have a class of about 360) I'm probably not going to be in the top ten percent of my class, bt maybe the top quarter, I'm not sure yet. Do you think I still might have a chance? </p>

<p>*I am also about to start my own non-profit organization called "Change for Changing Lives" that helps benefit low-income children in inner city schools and will raise money to help provide educational resources.</p>

<p>*Does it also help that my school is not diverse at all, and I'm one of the only African Americans at my school? Do colleges pay attention to that?</p>

2

<p>you want to be careful with abuse essays. when and if you decide to write about abuse, try to focus more on you’re perseverance and “strengths” over your victimization and hardship.</p>

<p>my parents have interminably beaten and abused me since i was 6 years old with both parents having extreme narcissism and thus denial, projection, and continued abuse for over 12 years. By 6th grade i welcomed the beatings for the stability such abuse offered. In 9th grade i fractured my spine and have had severe neuropathic pain for 4 years now, being hospitalized for it when the pain grew uncontrollable.
Adapting and growing through the abuse has been one of the most excruciating challenges of my life; however i did not talk about the abuse at all in my essays. the same for my interviews whenever my alumni would ask “is there anything else you would like the admissions office to know about?”. Still, my interviews could not have gone better.</p>

<p>What matters is not what you’ve been through, but what you’ve become. Remember that regardless of whether you decide to write on the abuse or not. My guidance counselor didn’t mention the abuse at all, though god knows she’s knows about what goes on, but she still told me afterwards “i couldn’t have written a stronger recomendation.” Show them you’re growth, not you’re hardship and that’s what people will truly admire about you.</p>

3

<p>cep361- I think you have a good chance, with your excellent SAT scores. Remember that Harvard requires 3 SAT II Subject tests too. With your URM status, I don’t think the GPA will be a problem. Your volunteer work is so commendable, and your passion for it is palpable. Best of luck! </p>

<p>Concerning the family troubles, the poster above gave good advice. Stress your growth, ability to cope, and thrive despite the hardships.</p>

4

<p>thanks, yeah I have to get working on the 3 SAT subject tests. But do you think my rank will effect me even though I have been through these circumstances?</p>

5

<p>On the 2008-2009 Common Data Set, Harvard states that class rank is not considered in evaluating an application for admission. GPA and academic rigor are considered.
That said, 95% of the admitted freshman class was in the top 10% of their high school class.</p>

6

<p>again please read: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/703400-chances-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/703400-chances-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>my sympathy goes out to you for your situation, but also I have to remind you of the harsh realities and that is, Harvard won’t accept you because they feel sorry that you have gone through a hard time, it’s not a charity foundation. one of the reasons (and not the only or main reason) why they would accept you is because they can see evidence of you overcoming hardship and thats as far as your circumstances go in this whole situation. a classmate of mine at Harvard was homeless for 12 years of her life and switched 12 highschools and lived in bus stations and on the streets. she didn’t know her family either. you may or may not have heard about her. so harvard will certainly understand the difficulty of your situation but they can’t do anything about it and can’t act on just that. your class rank is irrelevant in this issue. think about it. theoretically, you can rank first on your school, but last on the applicant pool at harvard. this is of course assuming you are the only one from your school applying. i know this probably isnt the case but im just saying that your class rank cant mean anything to us because none of us even know anything about the applicant pool. if feel that at this stage you want to hear that you have a good chance and if people tell you that you’ll just believe it. don’t misguide yourself. just do your best. it’s definitely worth applying but nothing guaranteed. i think you need to spend more time thinking about what you would say and actually saying it than asking people here if you should apply and if you have a good chance. so if someone here says you shouldn’t apply, you won’t?! are you honestly even willing to take that as an answer?
finally the diversity of your school is absoluetly meaningless to admissions office because all they care about is what you will add to the campus and not what you are adding to your school in terms of ethnical diversity.</p>

<p>best wishes</p>

7

<p>The above poster misses your strengths: 1. Excellent SATs, 2. African-American, 3. Outstanding community-based ECs. </p>

<p>Don’t worry about your rank. Adcoms will look at in the context of your school and the rigor of your classes.</p>

8

<p>^^ yes i do tend to be pessimestic from time to time. you have a near perfect score of 2340 on your SAT, i’m sorry that you couldn’t figure that out on your own. race/ethnicity are not strengths. and if you aren’t confident about your activities, then thats a problem. or maybe the OP is all about the uniqueness of the situation as opposed to the actuall strengths.</p>

9

<p>You should just go ahead and apply. You have a good chance, not a certain chance- just like anyone else.</p>

<p>The main question might be why your academic achievement in school does not match your SAT scores, but then again, it seems as if you are very busy doing some very good service. I would apply and not worry about it. Apply elsewhere, as well, of course.</p>

<p>Your family situation does show perseverance. Your guidance counselor could write about how you have overcome some significant family problems. Or, you could mention the situation in an essay, but in a careful way. The essay should be about you.</p>

<p>Perhaps an even better idea would be to write an essay on something else, but write about your family situation in the supplemental essay, where they ask if there is anything else they should know about you. Present the information in a way that shows what you have overcome or what you have learned, how it will help rather than hinder your progress, etc.</p>

<p>I hope you have counseling to help you with all this. Sometimes, kids and teens are strong and persevering, and ultra-responsible in these situations, but there is a backlash once out on your own. You grow accustomed to being abused and having these problems in your environment, and it can be a big adjustment, even when the change is a good one.</p>

10

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<p>Well you know, there have been ZERO college graduates in my entire family ever. In fact no family member on either my mother or father’s side has ever received beyond middle school education (most have only primary school education, if that).</p>

<ul>
<li>Not trying to belittle your application, but do realise that many applicants are in their own uniquely difficult situations.</li>
</ul>

11

<p>From your post, I see two possible reasons for you to not to apply, a). Household abuse b). Not quite making it into the top decile, both of which are ridiculous.</p>

12

<p>int’lstudent12- For American applicants, being a member of a URM, particularly Afr-American or Native American is a huge boost in admissions for the Ivies. In combination with good stats, the URM status often equates to the much-sought-after hook.</p>

13

<p>^ first i said ethnicity/race is not a strength, i didn’t say its not an advantage.
at any rate, i am perfectly aware of what URMs are and my entryway-mate at harvard helps coordinate the URM program. being a URM in not a much-sough-after hook, (at least not when you can’t choose your race). it will help a bit but there is no statistical data to suggest that you have higher chances if are an URM. anyways, affirmative action is very controversial and no one really knows what goes on in those admissions sessions. so when you want to estimate someones chances you want to base your calculations on more solid facts.</p>

14

<p>Strengths equal advantages in admissions parlance. As a middle-eastern international applicant you have not observed the domestic trends in admissions, otherwise you would know Ivies are very eager to accept American URMS. Look at the increase in URMs throughout the Ivies in the last decades and you can see there has been a campaign to reach at least a 50% level of non-white students. Princeton is an excellent example.</p>

15

<p>1) princeton is not harvard 2) strengths equal advantages but advantages don’t always equal strength. you can’t work on your race, you can’t develop it. you just go with it. in that sense, I said that being African American is not a strength, but its not a huge advantage. 3) I have worked in the admissions office, and i am fully aware of harvards outreach towards URMs, they reach to them, in the sense that they tell them that Harvard is a possibilty and that if they qualify they can make it in. thats why there is an increase, because and more people are seeing the possibility. what you are saying is that Harvard admit you because you are Black, and that’s SO NOT TRUE. they will be understanding but they wont take it for granted.</p>

16

<p>You know international, first off you need to calm down dude. Secondly, if you are a truly Harvard student, you should be spending your time on your studies, extracurriculars, and a campus job–you spend way too much time writing overly wordy, questionable tomes on this board. Moreover, your characterization of the Harvard experience and how the admissions selection process works appears to be based your overly opinionated, limited perspective, and things you have read on CC, not reality. Many of things you say–particularly those that are critical–about Harvard today are just not true. Leave the advice and comparisons to those who have more experience, a better sense of the overall picture, and truly know what is going on at school rather than trying to be a hero in CC land to the uninitiated.</p>

17

<p>hahaha, you obviously have NO experience with Harvard whatsoever, and please do not tell me how to spend my time over here. The college prep industry is extremely over hyped when the underlying principles are very basic and extremely simple. My opinion is not based on what I have read on the CC. If anything, I it completey against what is said on the CC. Everyone over here is like, “omg,… my SAT scores are like 790 on each section, will that hurt my chances…”, “do I need to win a nobel prize to be accepted…”. You have no idea why I am on this forum and I won’t tell you because you are absolutely not worth my while. Your impression that I am trying to be a hero is only because I have actually been able to challenge some of the opinions here and it seems like its getting to your head. My replies are not overly worded, they as brief and to the point as possible without missing on important details. This forum is mostly dedicated to the admissions process or at least this is mostly what it discusses and when occaisionally someone asks about life at Harvard its something like “Are there super hot girls at Harvard…” what the effing crap?! whenever there has been a legitimate question about life here, I have been able to answer it better than those who like to fantasize that they went/go here. So don’t talk to me about my experiences at Harvard, and whether they are limited, because you obviously cannot be a Harvard student and never will be. Please.</p>

18

<p>1) Princeton has tried to catch up with Harvard’s minority statistics, that is why Princeton is relevant. 2) Semantics play, as well as incomprehensible: “I said that being African American is not a strength, but its not a huge advantage.” 3) I never said Harvard will admit “you because you are Black” (your words), I said being a URM will increase one’s chances for admissions. </p>

<p>My advice was for the OP whom, if you look back, has excellent qualifications demonstrated by her SATs. She was worried about her class rank at a very competitive school. I sought to reassure her that her URM status would be a boost. Never did I say a boost is a guarantee.</p>

<p>If you research the decades long lawsuits at University of Michigan, where Afr-Americans were actually given a numerical increase of points on their applications (20 or 30), you can become familiar with the verifiable trends in affirmative action in this country. Those who have clerical part-time jobs at Harvard admissions are not privy to the inner sanctum of the decisions committee, nor the numerical goals of building a diverse class of admittees. </p>

<p>And I agree with the above poster who wonders why, if you are really a H sophomore, you have so much time to spend discouraging applicants on this forum.</p>

19

<p>I know someone from Bangladesh who wrote about her experience of being raped and got into HYPS. Her essay spoke mainly about her loss of feelings etc etc…was very very negative but she got in…</p>

20

<p>bump 10char</p>