I’ll add another data point. Both my kids went to Stuyvesant High School where about 150 to 200 students each year apply to Harvard. Over the past 15 years, Harvard has taken no fewer than 8 students and no more than 24 students per year. And they don’t just take the very tippy-top students – they cherry-pick them, some years passing over the Valedictorian and Salutatorian for students with lesser stats. That said, no student in the last 15 years has been admitted with an unweighted GPA below 93 (out of 100), no matter what their SAT/ACT score. No one – not a legacy, athletic recruit, or an academic applicant, not in the SCEA round or RD cycle.
Just offering my two cents and the intention is to describe as best as I can the reality. My child was waitlisted at Harvard and besides the fact that he was coming from a feeder HS, had great academic results 95+ GPA/ lots of APs / 2300+ SAT/volunteering work/ sports/ great interview/ etc. Forgot to mention… he was an INTEL qualifier and winner in his category. While he went on to another fantastic Ivy (he was a likely candidate- not an athlete), it was difficult to comprehend the final decision. Please keep in mind that admission is "holistic’- whatever that means…and follow your dreams not matter what- it is a risk worth taking! Good Luck to you all !
@Hamshank I’ve actually decided to go REA to Harvard. Although I love penn im spooked by the fact that I have to commit. I’d rather risk my early application on Harvard and apply to Penn regular then be forced to commit early (although I still love Penn!).