What exactly goes on behind the admission office doors?

<p>Okay, that helps. Thank you. I'm worried because I go to boarding school in CT, and CT is a highly academic state, so I think the regional pool will be much more competitive than the regional pool where I live. But, my school is known to be pretty rigorous, so I guess it doesn't matter. Thanks..</p>

<p>Hmm is that true? Being in particular regions effects your chances because of its competitiveness?</p>

<p>I believe so, they want to maintain diversity...</p>

<p>in terms of states, do you guys think the number of students from Florida is over, under, or accutrately represented at Harvard?</p>

<p>
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Hmm is that true? Being in particular regions effects your chances because of its competitiveness?

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</p>

<p>First off, it's "affects," not "effects." Second, it may or may not. Remember, each application is decided in context. If you had 20+ AP courses and a wealth of resources at your disposal, having scores below 700 might not look too fantastic. If you came from South Dakota where there were no AP classes in your high school and still were able to find information on your own to attend summer programs and perhaps take an AP test on your own, that would be different. It's all contextualized, which makes it hard to find a surefire way of your being accepted.</p>

<p>ok..this is a gr8 thread!!..it feels better when u know that the process is truly so detailed, as in around 3 or 4 looks to ur apps before they go to committee..</p>

<p>BUT, what about internationals?....let's see: 1st, a regional rep for, say, the middleeast, looks into the app. from a student in the middleeast .And the rep for east asian places like singapore,malaysaia,korea, looks into apps from those places..But guys, it will turn out to be weird;there are like ~170 places for intls in the freshman class...i would guess around a toal of 5000 intls apply. SO, it is 0.034%, or 1 in 30!!!!
And believe me guys, almost all intls are v.v.v talented academically...
So is the process in any way 'seperate' for intls?? do they read intl applications as subjectively as US student's applications??--example:a student has v v rigorous academics, all As, sat2s 790-800s, but only a 2010 SAT1>>>if this student is american, he/she will not be cut out based on that minor SAT1 blemish, and i know that...but ,if the same student is an intl, will this single blemish be cause enough to cut this otherwise academically able student(eg.~6 A levels); in other words, will they be extremely EAGER to find just "anything wrong" so that they can "trim" this very overqualified, and overflowing pool of 5000 intl applicants?....
i hope u understand what i'm trying to ask!</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
ok..this is a gr8 thread!!..it feels better when u know that the process is truly so detailed, as in around 3 or 4 looks to ur apps before they go to committee..</p>

<p>BUT, what about internationals?....let's see: 1st, a regional rep for, say, the middleeast, looks into the app. from a student in the middleeast .And the rep for east asian places like singapore,malaysaia,korea, looks into apps from those places..But guys, it will turn out to be weird;there are like ~170 places for intls in the freshman class...i would guess around a toal of 5000 intls apply. SO, it is 0.034%, or 1 in 30!!!!
And believe me guys, almost all intls are v.v.v talented academically...
So is the process in any way 'seperate' for intls?? do they read intl applications as subjectively as US student's applications??--example:a student has v v rigorous academics, all As, sat2s 790-800s, but only a 2010 SAT1>>>if this student is american, he/she will not be cut out based on that minor SAT1 blemish, and i know that...but ,if the same student is an intl, will this single blemish be cause enough to cut this otherwise academically able student(eg.~6 A levels); in other words, will they be extremely EAGER to find just "anything wrong" so that they can "trim" this very overqualified, and overflowing pool of 5000 intl applicants?....
i hope u understand what i'm trying to ask!

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<p>First off, just based on your post and the way you posed your question (not to mention the incorrect word choice of "objectively" and "subjectively") does not give anyone a first impression. You sound very immature.</p>

<p>To answer your question, Harvard is an American institution, not an international one. Obviously, its priority is to admit students from the U.S. first, would it not? However, Harvard does strive to admit students from all over the world, and a full 15% of the student body come from overseas, which is much higher in comparison to our peer institutions.</p>

<p>Furthermore, as I have stated again and again in this thread, all admissions decisions are contextualized and so it will be hard to say if a 2010 SAT I will be the reason for your rejection. However, from knowing my admissions officer and many others, I can say with full confidence that your SAT I score will not be the basis for rejection at all, but something else may be. Harvard does place a greater emphasis on personal qualities than anything else, which makes explaining admissions decisions hard.</p>

<p>WOW, v quick reply. thanks!!</p>

<p>Actually i had a chuckle reading your post.very ruthless. XJAYZ, u gotta understand: 1)english is my 3rd language after bengali and arabic...cut me some slack man!! 2)it's hard to be coherent at 9 in the morning,especially when u had just 3 hrs of sleep the night before! </p>

<p>so i gotta be careful...did i spell CHUCKLE corectly above??!!</p>

<p>AND if we are doing grammar checking, then am i wrong in noting an apparent error in this sentence of your's?(or shld i say "yours" instead?): "..does not give anyone a first impression...".I guess u meant to say "does not give anyone a favorable first impression".....haha but i dont care really!!</p>

<p>I truly understand that all american institutions will cater to american students, 1st and foremost, and that the intl students are meant to, in a way, enrich the student body. i was just expressing disbelief at the level of competition in the intl pool: 1 in 30 sounds, well, very competitive.</p>

<p>your last paragraph nicely answered my question, so many thanks!</p>

<p>ANYONE ELSE THINKS XJAYZ IS, ALTHOUGH HIGHLY KNOWLEDGEABLE ON ADMISSIONS, SLIGHTLY RUDE AND TOO WORRIED ABOUT CHOICE OF DICTION,GRAMMAR, etc?...</p>

<p>OK me DONE HERE...</p>

<p>
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i was just expressing disbelief at the level of competition in the intl pool: 1 in 30 sounds, well, very competitive.

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</p>

<p>I don't know where you got that figure from, because it's certainly not the case.</p>

<p>For the record, AboutTime, 1 in 30 is not .034%. It's 3.4%.</p>

<p>well..the 5000 applicants figure is conjecture. Actually, upenn's website says ~3000 intls applied, and MIT says around 2800 appied. So i thought,given the greater international recognition of the harvard name, more ppl would be applying, though i guess 3500-4500 applicants would have been a more accurate guess...Let's say it's 3500 applicants;even then it comes to 0.05%, or 1 in 20...which still is insanely competitive. And the 170 freshman class figure is from harvard's stats(i think)</p>

<p>ahhh crap!!!!!MY BAD!!
3 hours of sleep taking it's toll!!! i made the same mistake in my previous post;hope i didnt annoy everyone!!</p>

<p>so "1 in 20=5%" is what i actually meant! </p>

<p>WOW, xjayz corrected my word choice but didnt pick up on the percentage error thingy!</p>

<p>xjayz,</p>

<p>I've read many of your posts, and I just want to thank you for all of your valuable information.</p>

<p>Seeing as you have so much in-depth knowledge on the admissions process, how many applicants (on average) apply from a state like Connecticut for Early Action? I was just wondering, because I remember when I had my interview, my interviewer said there were about 6 applicants in these two counties for EA.</p>

<p>There is a thread on cc that showed how many applied from each state early action last year. I believe Connecticut was around 225. Bear in mind that if there was a 17.7% acceptance rate last year, and that 17% acceptance rate was pretty much the same state by state which was probably likely - (except if coming from a state like Wyoming in which there are only a few applicants), that it does not really matter how many applicants are in each state.</p>

<p>Do you remember what the thread was called?</p>

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[QUOTE]
xjayz,</p>

<p>I've read many of your posts, and I just want to thank you for all of your valuable information.</p>

<p>Seeing as you have so much in-depth knowledge on the admissions process, how many applicants (on average) apply from a state like Connecticut for Early Action? I was just wondering, because I remember when I had my interview, my interviewer said there were about 6 applicants in these two counties for EA.

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>Thank you for those kind words, harvmath. Your interviewer would be the source of that information. But be rest assured, the admissions office takes great pains to make sure it is not easier/harder to get in from one geographic region than another. Clearly, if you went to Greenwich High School, the adcom would expect a lot more from you than if you lived in inner-city Hartford. It's really all in context.</p>

<p>The thread is called "EA stats from Yale" it is a thread from December 15 or so of 2005</p>

<p>Oops sorry that was a Yale thread. I am guessing however there would be similar numbers</p>

<p>so only 225 applicants from yale's home state?...isn't that kinda low?</p>

<p>xjayz,</p>

<p>Anytime! Also, if you happen to have any knowledge about Connecticut, would a city like Waterbury help in the application, because that is where I go to school, and the school happens to be public.</p>