Thank you merc81 for providing that information. I will be sure to check it out.
Anyone’s chances of getting into Harvard or Stanford are quite low, but do apply; some are chosen. Also apply to schools where your stats fall in the range of those shown in the Common Data Set of the previously admitted class. Roughly speaking, if you apply to 10 schools where you have a 50% chance of admission at each, you have a 0.1% chance of being rejected by all.
Like everyone, you have a 5% chance of getting in to Harvard. That’s the reality.
So, apply! but also look at other schools. every single student in the world- yes, including Malala Yousefa!- needs to apply to more than one college, b/c nobody can take a Harvard acceptance for granted. So, put Harvard in your ‘will apply’ column.
Then go look for colleges that you can afford, that do well on med school acceptances*, and where your stats put you in the top 25% of admitted students and whose acceptance rate is >25%. Then look for some that you can afford and your stats put you in the middle 50% and whose acceptance rate is >25%. Then look for some where your stats put you in the middle 50% and whose acceptance rate is 10-25%. THEN look at colleges that are under 10% admissions rate. That way you will have a realistic range of colleges that you like, that you can afford, and at least some of which you will get into. I promise you, ALL of them will have a core of students like you- who are “intelligent AND talented” as you put it- who want to learn and achieve. The “Ivy League” was created as a sports league by a group of old colleges. The students at any of the top 50 (arguably top 100) colleges are comparably smart and talented.
Also, don’t rule out “Liberal Arts Colleges” (LACs) which can be a wonderful experience for an intellectually motivated student. They can prepare you exceptionally well for med school, without the ‘weeding out’ pre-med classes that some universities are known for, provide you with great research opportunities (b/c there are no grad students to get the good jobs), fellow students who are smart and really engaged with learning, and professors who are really involved with their students.
Also, you said that you are interested in neuroscience, but you might also check out cognitive science.
*Another poster gave a link to good colleges for getting in to med school: look at those.
Your story, although quite heartwarming, is fairly typical for most immigrants. There will be thousands of kids applying with similar stories.
Take my advice: continue to work hard and seek your dharma. You will likely be rejected at all the ivies, but this will only make you more determined.
Instead of focusing on Harvard and Stanford, look at other schools where you could do well and get into med school.
OP I’m sorry for all the cynical and non-helpful responses you are getting, not that all of them are. I understand your spot. I also want to go into neuroscience and go to a prestigious school to be surrounded by intellectuals who love not only the science but learning in general. My top school for that is UChicago, you should look into it if your serious about the wanting that kind of environment. Defiantly get some safety school but still go for the lottery’s anyways. Your GPA is good and you seem to challenge yourself with the classes your taking. When it comes to AP tests obviously doing well on many in many subject areas would be the best but that’t not always possible so I would go for the STEM ones and maybe English to show some well-roundedness. For the ACT I would shoot for a 35+ honestly because of your demographics (Indian and NY those hurt). It might sound impossible but get a good practice book and go through a couple tests. What I found to work the best is to go through one test really slow and think about every answer then study the reasons for those answers then go though another test at regular speed to get the timing down. I raised my ACT 7 point from sophomore to junior year just going though 2 test like that. Also for the subject tests go for Math 2 if you would’ve already taken precalc. When it comes to EC try to get that internship or go hard into something, Right now it kinda feels like a big blob of smart stuff. Also one last thing if you want to more about neuroscience MIT online courses and the Howard Hues Holiday Lectures have some good neuroscience stuff.
vonlost, collegemom3717, sgopal2, and drewharrahill: Thank you for your replies. vonlost, I am trying to know if admissions officers will be impressed by my application. I understand that everyone who applies has a 5% chance of getting in, but I want to see if my application will stand out. collegemom3717, thank you for your information on narrowing down colleges and providing me with more insight on LACs. LACs are definetely great, and I will be sure to check them out, but many of their classes provide more broader knowledge (correct me if I’m wrong), whereas universities might be better fit (at least for me) because their classes are tailored towards my career choice. It almost seems as if they are providing knowledge without giving it too much application (not that their courses are inferior, of course). With universities, I feel like I can apply my learned concepts in a laboratory, or these concepts taught in universities will be better in helping me through my MCATs and medical college. sgopal, my story is definetely similar to immigrants, but let me ask you this: how many people do you know who have a twin brother (your own identical twin brother who is your exact blood) who is mentally challenged? I do not feel as if I can make my brother understand anything or trust that he will do well in life. He might be dependent on my parents forever. He lacks the social skills in school everyday so I am always helping him out, trying to help him make friends and tutoring him for his classes. How many people have accepted something like this and are actually working towards a cure? I’m not saying that this is the key to entering Harvard, but this is something I feel passionate about. I definetely do not feel that I will be rejected by all the ivies, and I want to use the college’s resources to work towards a cure for PSP, hemorrhage problems, and brain cancer. I may never have the opportunity to work in some of these material/financial-wealthy laboratories. This is why I really want to go to a good university like harvard or stanford (maybe even jhu). drewharrahill, i am so happy that you want to go into the neurosciences. It is an excellent, exciting, and rapidly growing field. UChicago is a great school as well. Thank you for the AP and ACT scores info. I will shoot for that. Thanks for the neuroscience info. I will try to improve my ECs as much as possible. Good luck to you!
You certainly have the motivation to succeed, for which I commend you. As currently written, I’m afraid your story will get lost in the admissions heap. But I have no doubt you will ultimately be a great success in life. Good luck
Talking about LAC’s:
To which I counter:
[quote]
Incorrectly, many people think that the more prestigious an undergraduate college is, the better the chances are for a student to get into med school. Not true. Acceptance into medical programs often has more to do with how students maximize the resources and opportunities provided at whatever college they happen to attend. As it happens, small, liberal arts colleges often offer the best preparation for medical school because students have greater access to accessible professors who actually teach and mentor them. Undergraduate research opportunities also tend to be more available at small colleges./quote
From [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marjorie-hansen-shaevitz/so-you-want-to-go-to-medi_b_5347725.html]this[/url] post, which has some useful info for highschoolers interested in med school
You say ‘maybe even JHU’ as if it was a step down from Harvard or Stanford: be clear: for medical research, it is not.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that this fact will even slightly tip the balance. How you have responded to this fact: the work that you have done, your passion for doing something about it: those actions and that commitment may tip the balance, but you would not believe the range of experiences, life circumstances and obstacles that applicants have faced. Truly: you would not believe it- I think that there is almost nothing that the AdComms at HYPS haven’t heard! What will impress them is what you have achieved in response to the facts of your life, not the facts themselves.
This is quite a naive statement.
Harvard is a great school. They also have a very, very large set of graduate programs and the opportunities for an undergraduate to “perform experiments” that are meaningful while not unheard of, are going to be very limited compared to if the student were at a much smaller, research-oriented school (I’m thinking Rochester or Brandeis, etc.).
The issue concerning financial resources is really not going to be an issue at any top-100 or so school.
I’m going to say that there are probably very few applications that truly impress Harvard admissions officers.
You should do what most unhooked applicants do: Apply to Harvard, just assume you will not get in and be pleasantly surprised if you do. You will likely get into somewhere very good that will (and I know you’ll find this hard to believe) meet your needs even better than Harvard would have.
u should do another chance when u have test scores, apply to a college that has a great neuroscience program, not because of name brand or just because its an ivy.
Read the Harvard results thread from this year and come back and tell us your thoughts on that. Its in the Harvard subforum (I’m sure you can find it).
OP, you dream of Harvard but have you truly looked into what they want to see in applicants? The comment that scores aren’t needed suggests not, as does the idea H is one of very few where you can be surrounded by bright, ambitious peers. Or that offers a top neuro education. We see this often in 9th and 10th graders who have only looked at how they’re doing in hs and what profession they want, who tend to think just being a tippy tip school is enough info to target a college. You have work to do.
Tons of kids have a challenging back story. Tons claim they want to be docs because someone was ill, their hearts are so big that they want to save the world, they raise a little money, do a little volunteering, found some club, get any old titles in hs clubs.
You don’t get in because you have a tough back story and really, really want some career. It’s about what you accomplish. And how you think. Show, not just tell. It’s a big world out there. Limited thinking is a risk.
I agree that it is very difficult to chance without test scores. Whether you agree with it or not, test scores can be a limiting factor in selective college admissions. For Harvard, I would think a “good” score would be 2250+/1500+ SAT or 35+ ACT. Although Harvard is a great choice for pre-med (grade inflation, reputation, smart students to surround yourself with) - I would also consider other schools of similar caliber and some matches/safeties as well. Good luck!
Thanks all. A lot of people are talking about “accomplishing”. But I am sure that not everyone in Harvard/Stanford/any top-tier college has been nationally/highly recognized for having done something. Right? I mean, isn’t taking the initiative of starting the brain bee, joining a research lab, and being vp of my class show leadership and a sense of deep commitment to my cause? Doesn’t it reflect important aspects of my character? Or are these not worthy enough, and do I have to polish myself more? Thanks in advance for insight.
Additionally, what do aspiring students tell admissions officers about why they want to go to Harvard? From what I’ve researched, many say that the campus is beautiful, they like the four seasons aspect, they like the programs offered, and so on. But nothing is really outstanding about what they say, so how do these people get into Harvard? Or am I missing something?
collegemom3717, by saying “maybe even JHU,” I implied that JHU was a college I was thinking about in addition to the other two, not that it was inferior in any way. In fact, I know that JHU is one of the frontrunners in medical research and one of the best medical schools (one of the first founded). So no disrespect to JHU in any way. Glad i could clear that up. I didn’t want other posts going crazy about that!
You do not need to be nationally/highly recognized. You make the mistake of thinking what’s big in your hs is necessarily going to make you one of the 2000 admits. Coolcool, you really have to inform yourself by starting with the website itself. Not looking for tips, insight, what worked for someone else (which was not the seasons or campus beauty) until you are better informed.
One thing to keep in mind which I think you’re not realizing is the whole concept of hooked applicants. Harvard’s 5% admit rate is inclusive of hooked applicants (URM, Legacy, Recruited Athlete, Donors). You’re not any of these, so your chances are really more in the 1-2% range at best.
You keep thinking there’s some sort of chance-enhancing checklist you can work off of.
There isn’t.
Do the best you can in school, get the highest test scores you can. Take as many AP’s as you can etc.
Try and do meaningful ECs (a good school will be able to detect resume-padding activities a mile away), and good luck.
But…as many have said here. You need to be looking at other schools. There is not one single thing that you’ve said about Harvard on this thread that does not apply equally (and in some cases more so) to dozens and dozens of other schools.
For, unhooked applicants. Most/many have.
“It almost seems as if [LACs] are providing knowledge without giving it too much application” (#25)
Samples of course descriptions from Harvard and two LACs (random order)
“An introduction to the study of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic genome structures and molecular evolution. Topics also include surveys of different “omics” (e.g. proteomics, metabolomics, . . .) and their application toward medicine.”
“We will explore topics on excitable membranes, neurotransmission, ion channels, dendritic integration, intracellular signaling, and synaptic plasticity in the context of model circuits in the brain.”
“A wide range of research techniques is introduced, including positron emission topography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, diffusor tensor imaging, neuropsychological assessment, event-related potentials, magnetoencephalography, and transcranial magnetic stimulation.”
It’s not a requirement and fewer kids do get national prominence than CC imagines. But the safer approach is to be informed. In fact, to be the sort of kid who would try to be more informed, and accurately, in the first place. The sort of kid who knows Why Harvard? is not the beauty or the seasons. There are tons of beautiful colleges in 4 season locations.
Even top colleges that don’t ask a Why Us still vet how you matched yourself to them and them to you. (And there can be another supp question designed to check this.) You don’t say, here I am, I choose you, look how special I was in my one hs, send my admit letter.