Hello everyone, thanks for your input. I previously had said that Harvard and Stanford do not require test scores, and I may have read that somewhere, but I understand that that is wrong (thanks to soze for pointing that out), and even so, I had no intention of not sending my test scores, but anyway, I retract that statement and I am sorry for any confusion I may have caused through that statement. However, I still maintain that test scores are not the deciding factor to college admissions. As my guidance counselor has told me, it is one test, and they cannot base your entire high school career (and partial middle school career) off of one test. So I completely agree with lostaccount in that test scores will not be a big differentiator. lost account, thanks for your well-written words. I will certainly keep that in mind as I go through my high school career. However, I would like to point out that my love for neuroscience and the beautiful human brain came as a result of my life experiences, and I knew that I would have to give back to the doctors and those who saved my life in the first 3 months of my life. So to my friends and family, starting the brain bee and applying for neuroscience research internship positions did not come as a surprise. They had realized that I was very curious about exploring the depths of the human brain. Hopefully, my love for this field of research will take me far and will show the world what I can become and what I am capable of. RoundGenius, I was not trying to be condescending, but if something may have made it seem that way, then I am sincerely sorry about that as I try to be a very nice person to everyone, even if it is through the internet. WishingK, thank you for your input/analysis. STEM2017 and usualhopeful, I try to have an open-minded attitude and I try to collaborate with everyone. Otherwsie, I wouldn’t be here at this thread asking for your help. I want to gain some insight into the admissions process, and I want to here it from people, not articles on the internet. I want it to personally relate, yeah? I am not saying that those below ivy-league are inferior. All I am saying is that there is a higher percentage of intelligent AND talented people at these institutions. Definitely, there are many people throughout the world who do not or have not attended these institutions and are just as capable. However, I have a better chance of meeting these people at top tier institutions and learning from some of the top minds in the world, and studying from some of the finest book collections in the libraries of these institutions. I am really passionate about education, and this is what I want, I know that Harvard also has a great research facility, so I would be overjoyed to be able to work in their laboratories and perform experiments I may never be able to do in any other institution because it may not have the financial/material resources.
For future posts to this thread, I would like to throw some more information in for minimal confusion:
Let’s assume that I get an SAT score of 2150-2300 (With the redeisgned SAT, 1430-1530 is the proper “numerology”)
or
Assume that I receive an ACT score of 32-35
Additionally, as pointed out earlier, my GPA is bound to fall since I have only taken one AP. However, I have found it difficult NOT to fall from a 4.0. I know, my school’s GPA system is weird, but for this post’s sake, let’s assume that my GPA is anywhere from 3.9-4.0. I am not trying to say that I am very smart of full of myself because I hold myself to such high standards, so if I receive a post that says that, I will completely disregard it. Thank you for understanding. Evidently, I have not been too clear with my communication in the past few posts.
All I am trying to do is build a framework and see if I can fill it in. All I ask for is your assistance. Thanks to all.