<p>I want to know what your gpa and scores were and what else you did that got you into Harvard or other good schools.</p>
<p>I cured cancer. Now im on the break of alzheimers. I had a 5.0 GPA. 2500 SAT. I was also captain of my basketball, football, soccer, and xc team. I visit africa every year and help poor kids. But its nothing really. Just ur average college confidential stats.</p>
<p>Lol @muhammad9211 - I laughed so hard! :D</p>
<p>@Eddy - Amazing unweighted GPAs and scores above 2100 or 2200 are required aspects to apply and atleast 75-85% of the kids who apply to Harvard have amazing test scores and GPAs - but Harvard can’t admit all of those 75%-85% of kids.</p>
<p>So you have to stand out.</p>
<p>When I say stand out - don’t follow muhammad9211’s advice. He was obviously just kidding (Or was he?) You don’t need to cure cancer or visit Africa every year. Find something you love and cherish doing. Something you would do rather than have fun with your friends. Something you’re passionate about. After you’ve found that - spend your entire spare time and energy moulding your passion into an activity. And excel at it, like be the best of the best (or the best you can be.)</p>
<p>Harvard’s dean of admissions once said - “We look for DEPTH, not BREADTH, when it comes to extracurriculars.” So instead of a gazillion extracurriculars - just pick 2-5, and be really good at it. Try to have one deep gold mine, instead of a million shallow copper mines.</p>
<p>For example - a few years ago, there was a kid who built a FULLY FUNCTIONING nuclear reactor in his garage and he applied to one of the Ivies (I forgot if it was Harvard or MIT). He had a 2300+ score and all 5s in his APs, not to mention a stellar academic record. Guess what happened? He got rejected. And a thousand other kids who hadn’t doe anything close to what he had done got admitted.</p>
<p>I know your question was about test scores and not extracurriculars - but in the end, it’s the extracurriculars that’ll get you in. As I said, you need to have an amazing score to be worthy of applying - but you need great ECs to be worthy of being accepted.</p>
<p>Einstein once said that God does not play dice with the Universe.</p>
<p>Well, Harvard does.</p>
<p>So there’s nobody in the world who can tell you what a good score is to get into Harvard. Nobody can tell you the secret formula of getting into Harvard. D’you know why? Because there isn’t any.</p>
<p>^he applied to MIT</p>
<p>If you’re a crack bassoonist the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra needs a bassoon, that might get you in. I’d bet that they have an overabundance of violinists applying. All schools build their classes with criteria that go beyond scores and numbers, but as an applicant this is all unknown.</p>
<p>Read this thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1530362-what-makes-you-so-special.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1530362-what-makes-you-so-special.html</a></p>
<p>And this excellent article:</p>
<p>[Applying</a> Sideways | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways]Applying”>Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>Read this thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1530362-what-makes-you-so-special.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1530362-what-makes-you-so-special.html</a></p>
<p>And this excellent article:</p>
<p>[Applying</a> Sideways | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways]Applying”>Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>^Apologies for posting twice.</p>
<p>Another set of really good materials to read is included in the excellent thread gibby created that is permanently stickied at the top of the index to all of the Harvard threads: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1420290-chance-threads-please-read-before-posting-one.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1420290-chance-threads-please-read-before-posting-one.html</a>.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Pursued our passions.</p></li>
<li><p>Remained super-motivated throughout high school and made use of all and any opportunities available to us(in both academic and extra-curricular terms) and, in many cases, created for ourselves opportunities where there were none.</p></li>
<li><p>Kept up our grades and were largely able to position ourselves consistently within the top 10% of our classes.</p>
<ol>
<li>Also, as an aside, SAT scores really don’t matter a bit as opposed to extracurricular activities, academic transcripts and teacher recommendation. I am an incoming freshman for the Harvard class of 2017 and I can safely assume, from the many exchanges I’ve had with my future classmates, that there really is nothing like a ‘benchmark score’. I’ve run into as many sub-2200 kids as those with a perfect 2400.</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>May I ask what your passion was adi295 because it seems like everyone that gets in plays some sort of instrument or is talented in that field.</p>
<p>I cured cancer :sly:</p>
<p>It’s not really about what you did once you are in the competitive pool of applicants. Once there, it’s more about how you present yourself.
There are a couple posts here about getting into college.
[Writing</a> not what matters most to you, but to the admissions officers. | After Admission](<a href=“http://afteradmission.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/08/17/writing-not-what-matters-most-to-you-but-to-the-admissions-officers/]Writing”>Writing not what matters most to you, but to the admissions officers. | After Admission)</p>