Who gets into Harvard EA?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
61

<p>A girl in my school was recently accepted to Harvard EA!! She found out 3 days ago ( Tuesday I believe, ). Shes Korean
Her stats</p>

<p>SAT 1 1570
SAT 2 : Im not sure but she took tests in MATh 2, Physics, Writing and Literature
Her senior Courseload:</p>

<p>AP Calculus AB
Symphony Orchestra
College Writing
Spanish 4
Honors Physics
and one other class ( pretty sure its Gym because all "new" students MUST take the course)</p>

<p>She plays in our school orchestra and the local youth orchestra ( Both 5th chair first violin)
Very reticent and shy
Cant think of many leadership positions</p>

<p>Any theories are welcomed on how she got in.
But I think she got in because she challenged herself but didnt OVERWHELM herself.
I think she's a perfect example of an applicant who just went along with the flow of high school and life. She wasnt the type of applicant who boasted about huge national accomplishments. In fact, she didnt obtain many at all. She wasnt the type of applicant who joined many clubs just to impress colleges. In fact, her only few ECs are the two symphony orchestras.</p>

62

<p>"Who gets into Harvard EA"</p>

<p>Well.. I know a couple people who got in last year EA.</p>

<p>-Girl
-11 APs --> 5.0 average --> missed the International Scholar Award by the lack of 7 APs. (how sad..)
-she went to this top magnet school in Korea dedicated to sending every kid to an ivy (and amazingly with success) that has morning sports + afternoon music lessons for all students. (school's name is Minjok Leadership Academy).. so her ECs were like: Kumdo (korean swordmanship), kajakum (korean traditional harp), community service (her school forces everyone to work entire Saturday at this center), President of Cartoon Club, President of Drama club (wrote two scripts in English, performed at a national + regional level drama competitions with her team)
-SAT :1560
-SAT II: 800 Writing, 800 Physics, 800 Math IIC, 790 Biology E, 780 Chemistry, 770 Japanese
-finished high school in 2 years.</p>

<p>hmm... does this help?</p>

<p>By the way.. she published a book in Korea about how she got into Harvard, so I know her stats from that.</p>

63

<p>also.. another girl (Nana Keum) who got in, had sat score like.. 1270 (800M, 470V) ..(she also published a book, just to let you know.. about how SHE got into HARVARD)..</p>

<p>-22 years old
-no APs..
-went to a science intensive public school in Korea
-MISS KOREA 2002
-competed in the MISS UNIVERSE 2003 competition
-International Physics Olympiad in Singapore 199? i dunno..
-SAT II: 800 Physics, 800 Math IIC, 800 Chemistry</p>

<p>does this help?? :)</p>

<p>anyone know how to link..? </p>

<p>--> check out:
<a href="http://www-tech.mit.edu/V124/N16/PositiveSinking.16f.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www-tech.mit.edu/V124/N16/PositiveSinking.16f.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Emericle/Friends/friends.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~mericle/Friends/friends.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

64

<p>StaticSoliloquy---Just saw your post. Well..okay. Congratulations, then. I have never in my life heard if a high schooler winning an NIH Grant. You are the principal investigator, then, I assume? I apologize, and I'm very impressed. I would think that any school in the country (or out of the country, for that matter) would pay dearly to have you attend their school. Are there other high schoolers like you being awarded NIH Grants? If so, I'd love to read more about you and about them. Thanks for the post. As stated before, I am sure you will do well anywhere you go.</p>

65

<p>actually...i got deferred from Harvard, jack. I'm not the principal investigator though, although that would be awesome! I haven't heard of anyone else, but if I do, i'll let you know. Wish me good luck in March when the reviews come in for my 2nd one. I'm requesting 2 million dollars for 5 years to develop a gene therapy treatment for SLOS.</p>

66

<p>Jack, I would just like to give you kudos for admitting when you were wrong and apologizing. That shows great character, and I at least appreciate it. You're awesome!</p>

67

<p>Ms Korea is hot. Now ** that's ** 'love story in harvard'</p>

68

<p>schools dont like pretentious young upstarts, and they dont like kids who try to guess their way through the admissions process (ie: they sign up for the commnity service club for brownie points). don't TRY to make yourself the perfect applicant for any school, becuase if you dont get it itll just be even more upsetting. after reading thousands of applications, they can spot the fake ones. be yourself, and youll have surprising results.</p>

69

<p>Hey I applied to Harvard too for EA, and got deferred. I am your average Harvard excellent student applicant, so I am not surprised that I did not get in. But you, staticsoliloquy, are CRAZY good. I can not imagine how the hell you didn't get accepted. Well, if I have a hook it would be business. I am starting an corporation with my dad for selling Asian convenience foods imported from Shanghai, China to American supermarkets and clubs in the Michigan-Ohio region. It is a new business venture, and I have not written anything to Harvard about it. I think I will; it doesn't hurt to try. </p>

<p>Anyways, did you staticsoliloquy clarify exactly what your accomplishments were and tell a little about it? Maybe they doubted it like the other guy on CC who posted his message. I don't know, but good luck with Harvard. A 17 year old guy doing the things that you have done is AMAZING. I have a friend who made it in EA, but I don't know anything he has done that would distinguish him from 90% of other Harvard EA applicants. Pretty confusing, the whole process.</p>

70

<p>I'm not exactly sure why I got in EA, but I can tell you this. My interviewer seemed very impressed with the fact that I am a self-taught sax player and have been since I was 8. Also, when we discussed sports, he seemed equally impressed with my track record because I broke 3 records this year in XC. My SAT/SAT II's weren't discussed, but I know they must have been a huge contributing factor. Other than that, I don't see why I made it in and others were deferred. I have seen much more impressive stats than mine on this board.</p>

71

<p>static soliloquoy: What was the amount of your grant? That is pretty damn amazing, and the only reason I can think of for Harvard not accepting you is that you weren't clear about the fact that it was solely your grant. Did you give them the grant number and all that information so they could verify? Still, the fact that you were an RSI scholar should have given you credibility. Did you do Siemens and apply to Intel?</p>

72

<p>What did you write your essays on Navgirl? Maybe they made a big difference too.</p>

<p>Really, I think with the huge number of excellent candidates Harvard recieves for EA, it is really hard for them actually to pick the best. I feel a lot of it also has to do with luck-like having the right person read your essays and stuff. OF course luck only plays a small factor. Being a self-taught sax player is awesome and having broken 3 records is too, but I know a lot of other applicants that have done equally amazing things that did not get accepted. Don't take offense by what I say please! I am sure you deserve to be in Harvard, but I think so do a ton of other peeps who get deferred.</p>

73

<p>thank you so much you guys. I think I will write to them about how I got my grant. Getting a grant is a very esoteric process that the general audience doesn't know. If i mentioned a gov't grant to a historian, he'd have no idea of its caliber. But if I mentioned it to another PhD, I'd earn his respect immediately. For example, my co-worker this summer was a Harvard PhD, she applied for a grant, and her priority number was in the 300s, and THAT WAS GOOD.</p>

<p>I will write a letter clarifying my papers and recent projects. There were many reasons why I COULDN'T apply to Siemens or INTEL. My mentor didn't let me and she made up some really obvious bs-ed reason to not let me, even my tutor viviana (intel sts winner 2000) said so too. To me, the reason is that she she didn't want the public to see the data. In my experiment, I show a different role for this protein. The role contradicts a few published papers already, and the reason I always speculate was that she wants to verify my experiment before publishing it. </p>

<p>I forgot to include my grant number in the resume, but I did sent them an email about it. </p>

<p>nvagirl: my interview went pretty well too. The man cried. He was overwhelmed by the tribulations I had to overcome to get to where I am today, saying how in his 20 yrs of interviewing (he graduated in 1968) he had never met anyone like me. I hope this doesn't sound arrogant but I just want to prove the point that this process is very mystifying. There's no objective grounds that you can rank yourself against.</p>

<p>Anyway, I will also write another essay about the different roles I play outside of school and my enviroment so they could establish my context. I'm a 2nd parent to my little sister; I worked 2 jobs during the school year to pay bill, and I still have time to pursue what I love. Anyone ever heard of Oakland, CA? The ghetto. (and no i don't live in the hills)</p>

<p>I don't think I presented myself as lop-sided because I founded the french club at school, actively involved in student gov't (class officer), etc. I do my community service at church every sunday for the last 6 yrs.</p>

<p>When I applied to Harvard EA, I really believe in the American Dream. I thought that this was the one school which would give me a full ride because of my financial circumstances. But I was wrong.</p>

74

<p>Amen, staticsoliloquy. I really did believe in this "American Dream" and Harvard seems to be the embodiment of all the years' of work and sacrifice that we put in to obtain it. However, it is definitely odd how Harvard can make mistakes in decisions too, not seeing an applicant for who he/she truly is. I don't know; I'm definitely not going into the specifics of my case and my merits (because it is a public forum), but I don't know anymore, I've always seen Harvard as some dream institution who really does build the best and dynamic class possible, but now, it is...really... a crapshoot.</p>

75

<p>Can you find anything else better to do with your life? Seriously.</p>

76

<p>I know two people who got into Harvard!</p>

77

<p>i know at least 17, and they're all RSI scholars.</p>

<p>jayz, who are you referencing in your latest post "can you find anything else better to do w/ your life?"</p>

78

<p>I was wondering if you could elaborate on your grant a little more..."Northern California Comprehensive Sickle Cell Centers, Summer for Sickle Cell Science Program"...this sounds very much to me like a summer internship program, rather than the sort of grants most post-docs would be competing for. I looked online and found a reference to a "summer for sickle cell science program" which details the procedure for getting a $3000 stipend from NIH (no small feat I might add) <a href="http://www.rhofed.com/sickle/direct.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.rhofed.com/sickle/direct.htm&lt;/a>. </p>

<p>However, if this is true, than it would seem to me that you are inflating this grant to be something that it is not. I too, applied and received a government-grant stipend from NSF when I was in high-school, and in the lab I work now, I have been able to supplement myself with further stipends designed to support undergraduate education in the sciences.</p>

<p>It is quite an accomplishment to receive an award like this, but definitely is not the same as getting a "real" NIH/NSF grant. This is not to discredit your accomplishments in the lab, because I have no doubts that you are capable of doing independent research and preparing to write your own paper. But it seems to me like this grant-recipient thing you are touting is not what you're making it out be.</p>

<p>Please correct me if I'm wrong about all this. I would love to here about a high-school kid who yanked my boss's grant money away during the last grant reviews; he'd never live it down :)</p>

<p>All the best,
-Scott</p>

79

<p>I was talking to a friend who got rejected at harvard, and I was amazed.</p>

<p>He had:
1580 (800M 780 V), 800/800/800,
Ranked NUMBER ONE in the state out of around 50000 seniors (from state-run exams in our country)
Editor of Newspaper/Music leadership positions
Played 2 sports at varsity level.
Top recommendations</p>

<p>I mean wtf!? Sure lots of people may have those test scores, but he basically had EVERYTHING going for him, great test scores, high school transcript, Extracurricular acitivities, leadership, sports... and still he didint get in.</p>

80

<p>20 pts... haha that MUST be what killed him, maybe he was just apathetic and wrote crappy essays</p>