Would it be possible for me to get accepted to Harvard?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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Hi, everyone!!! Although Harvard decisions for the Class of 2020 are coming out in a little less than two weeks, I’m getting nervous.

Everyone that I have talked to that knows me very well and has been with me through this whole application process tells me that I am overreacting and that I have nothing to worry about. They say that I will get accepted to Harvard and that there is no doubt about it. I guess they don’t exactly comprehend the bigger picture of their admissions process. After all, I am only 1 out of 37,000 applicants, but then again, so are all of the other applicants.

I am posting this because I am looking for honest feedback and opinions on whether or not I may be accepted or not.
I am Caucasian (I am only saying this because I know that some races are minorities and that is what some colleges look for because they may or may not be trying to create a diverse class.
I am a female and want to major in Biomedical Engineering
I am visually impaired (blind in one eye and have about 20/100 corrected vision in my other eye
I am valedictorian of my class with a 4.2 cumulative weighted GPA and a 3.93 unweighted GPA
I am from a small southern town
Since I go to a VERY small high school who is limited on resources and faculty members, they only offer the ACT test and not the SAT test (I tried to take the SAT test at another high school in the area, but they would not provide me with the accomodations I needed as a visually impaired student). My highest composite on the ACT was a 28. I got a 32 in Science and a 33 on the writing section while the math was 26, english was 29, and reading was 22 on that test but that was because I didn’t have accomodations to be able to read all the passages quick enough.
Since I do attend a small high school, there are limited resources and faculty members, so they don’t offer any advanced courses besides like one honors level course.
So, I found another public school in the area that I have been attending part-time in 10th grade (taking honors Bio and Honors English 2), 11th grade (honors chemistry and honors english 3) and 12th grade this year (college level psychology and college english). Unfortunately, the small high school I attend only has 4 “blocks” in one day, each being two hours long. And the rule is that I can only attend the public high school for half the time as I am at my small high school. So, I can only go to the big public high school to take two calsses, excluding math, which I am not allowed to take there.
Also, I wanted to take college physics this year in place of college psychology, but the people at my small high school which Iprimarily attend, would not let me, because they said it would be “too challenging” for me.
Due to these unfortunate restraints, I have utillized online classes to take college algebra through the local community college. Also, I have used online classes to take honors level gov and econ on an online high school domain for the state I live in.

My schedule is:
1 College English: at the big high school
2 College Psych: at the big high school
3 College Algebra: online
4. Gov/econ: online

*I took honors precalculus first semester, finished that, and then started ocllege algebra 2nd semester.

I hate the fact that my small school only lets me take 2 classes at the bigger public school. They say I can only be at the bigger public school for half the time of the school day at the small school. Well, one “block” of the small school is about two hours, whereas one “period” at the bigger school is 45 minutes! Technically, I half the day is two “blocks” or four hours roughly. Four hours is equivalent to 4 “periods” at the bigger high school, not 2.

As for my essay, I shared my story. How I was born at 24 weeks (I know it is hard to believe) and I only weighed 1 pound 6 ounces. I wrote about how I developed a love of learning and how “the gift of life” has provided me with the opportunity to build my own destiny and create my own legacy. I wrote about how I want to give back to others through biomedical Engineeringf so that they, too, can have and celebrate the gift of life, just like I have been lucky enough to be able to do. :slight_smile:

My interview went GREAT!!! It was only supposed to last for an hour, but it lasted for two hours! At about an hour into the interview, my interviewer pointed out that it had almost been an hour, and I started to ask him nervously, “Does this mean that the interview is over?”. He cut me off (in a nice way) and said “No! I love what I am hearing! You are very interesting and I would love to talk to you more!” I’ll never forget the moment at the end of the interview when he looked me straight in the face and said to me, “Even though I have only known you for two hours, I firmly believe every word you have just told me”

I was ecstatic.

My letters of recommendation were also good. My teachers all talked about my character; how I am kind, willing to help others, selfless, dedicated to my studies, hard-working, cheerful, happy, and encouraging to those around me.

I have won a state wid STEM award
I have been a student rep on my school’s advisory committee since 9th grade
I have been a student rep on my school’s improvement plan committee since 9th grade
I was kindly awarded a women’s leadership award for my county (my country is big even though my school is not)
I am class vice president

Due to the fact that I do attend a small school primarily who is quite limited in resources, I am not the “typical” Harvard applicant. I was not fprtunate enough to go to a school that prepares students to apply to an Ivy League school like Harvard. For goodness sakes, my guidance counselor didn’ even know what the Common Application was. She says she doesn’t like using it because it is “complicated and difficult”.
She also encouraged me to only apply to in-state schools only. She said there was no point in applying to an out-of-state school (especially an Ivy) because it would be expensive, that I wouldn’t get any financial aid, and that I woouldn’t get in.

Basically, I was discouraged from applying to a good school because they thought I could not do it. They tried to limit my capabilities when it comes to college.

Part of me is doubtful that I will get into Harvard because I have not had access to resources that I am sure the majority of other applicants have had access to. My test scores are low.

But at the same time, I am unique in some ways, I guess. Also, I have taken all the opportunities I can, and have even created new ones for myself, in order to challenge myself academically when my small school would not do so for me. I have done verything I can.

I just hope it is enough.

To whoever is reading this; thank you for your time, I really appreciate it. I know this is long, but I wanted to write down every possible fact about me so that your can comprehend my circumstances and deliver feedback to the best of your ability. I would appreciate honesty, as I am an advocate of self-improvement and I appreciate honest opinions and constructive criticism. Thank you again for your time. :slight_smile:

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Of course, it would be possible! However, as Harvard receives more applications from qualified applicants than they have room for in their freshman class, Admissions uses a student’s teacher recommendations, guidance counselor’s Secondary School Report (SSR), essays and interview report to choose one high performing applicant over another. As we are not the ones reading that information, the best anyone can tell you from looking at your post is that you’re a qualified applicant. But, so are most student’s who will ultimately be rejected.

In less than two weeks you’ll have your answer. Best of luck to you!

“Waiting is the hardest part”
– Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

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Thank you @Gibby

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I would say you have a decent shot, however, your test scores are significantly lower than the average Harvard student. That being said, admissions officers will take into consideration your impairment. I would say it’s still a 50/50 shot but you have a better change than most. Most students interested in science usually have many awards and national prestige that are accepted to Harvard. I wish you the best of luck! Please do share whether or not you get accepted!

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This last post has many inconsistencies. Poster says the OP has significantly lower than average test scores but has a 50/50 chance of admission-- or a 1000% statistically higher chance than average…

It’s nice to be encouraging but to casually say ANYONE has a 50% admit chance is a bit overboard IMHO

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I was not implying she had a literally 50% chance of admission. I was only saying it could go either way in the admissions process. Obviously no one really has that actual percentage of a chance.

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For others reading this it is possible to get accommodations on the SAT’s and ACT’s. You have to apply well in advance . For the future this is also true of the GRE’s and other testing for grad school. For accommodations on standardized testing, there is an application and required documentation, including documentation from a professional and your school.

I sincerely hope that Harvard and other schools know that you are nearly blind and had no accommodations on the ACT. That is a very important piece of information for them to have had. Did you tell the interviewer?

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See ACT: http://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/taking-the-test/services-for-examinees-with-disabilities.html

See: SAT: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/special-circumstances/students-with-disabilities

In each case, student’s need to document the disability, which usually means having a physician/social worker verify that you meet the requirements for a section 504: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html

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I’ve been through so many problems in middle school that messed me up psychologically and academically. I am no longer a girl with good grades and a clean reputation.

I wanna move cities but that isn’t easy because of my mothers job and I don’t really have anywhere to turn to.

It’s been three years since I left my middle school, I went back to my home country where I learned many things but also started healing a little. I came back last November and have started course recovery with k-12. I have no one to guide me as I have no friends or family other than my mother and my sister.

Before my grades suffered incredibly but now I’m getting A’s in most of my classes except Math where I got a B+. I have read extensively on articles on former Harvard students who write about what it takes to enter Harvard and also college admission faculty who have stated that the school is looking for students who have a passion and invest their time on their subject. But it’s for people that have incredible outstanding achievements in their interests, I’ve never participated in anything and I don’t play sports.

I am willing to learn more languages, I also wish what I can do because I don’t only like one subject but many such as history, English and science. I also have an interest in culture.

What is it I can do?
I need someone to guide me as I don’t even know about anything related to tests I should take to even get to any college or most of everything.

I feel lost, I talk to both my mother who doesn’t even know English and my father who lives wherever he is about these dreams and none can give me a proper answer, my father even gets mad so I need help.

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^^ It’s not about what you can “do” but about what you “are.” The only thing that is a sure-fire thing you “can do” that will increase your admissions chances by 10x (from 5% to 50%) is to be a REALLY GOOD athlete (state honors) in a sport, and preferably a sport that Harvard loves: squash, hockey, lacrosse, football, crew.

This is truly, truly the secret to “getting in.” Absent this, you are just in the herd, even if you have spectacular grades and STDs (standardized test scores). There is only one “guarantee” at Harvard, and this is sports. Bizarre, I know, for a premiere “academic” institution, but there it is anyway.

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I was not accepted :frowning:

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@compmom the man who interviewed me did not ask about my test scores / GPA or anything of that nature. The one thing I don’t understand is that he told me at the end of the interview that he would contact me in April. He never did contact me in April.

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I meant did you tell the interviewer about the fact that you had no accommodations.It is incredible to me that you took standardized tests without accommodations when you are legally blind. Did you ever tell admissions this? Did Harvard admissions know you are legally blind?

If you are not happy with the results of your college applications (and of course you can be engaged and happy at many schools other than Harvard), take a gap year and get accommodations on standardized testing. If you are going to a state school, you may belong in an honors program and need to discuss your disability and test scores with them, if you can.

The SAT site cannot just give you accommodations. There is an application process with the College Board that takes 8 weeks or more.

Furthermore, wherever you do end up, get documentation together and visit the disabilities office right away.

ps the interviewer no doubt expected you to be admitted and was going to call you to congratulate you perhaps…if he didn’t know your test scores, that would have been a reasonable expectation.

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@compmom , I did have accommodations on ACT test, but even that didn’t help me because I’m a slow reader, and no one told me that I could have accommodation which would allow me to hear the English/Reading sections auditorily. I also didn’t know that I was supposed to study for the ACT the firdt time I took it. Well before the secondeadline time I took it, I asked my guidance counselor where I could find a useful study book for the test and she never gave me one, and this same thing happened for the third and fourth time I took the ACT. One of the other things that I hate about my situation is that the school I go to has 4 “blocks” in a day instead of 7 periods. So in my freshman year I didn’t how to write efficiently in my English blocks, and we barely read books. All we would do is free write and the te A Cher would never edit it. In terms of math, which I scored the lowest in on the ACT all four times (I got a 26) jut school set up my schedule to where I had Algebra 1 in 9th grade, Algebra 2 in 10th grade, and then in fall of my junior year (when I took my first ACT) I fad no math! I took Geometry second semester of that year. In that came year (junior year) I had a direferent English teacher who taught me how to write and critically read. Thanks to him, I got a 31 on English and a 30 on Reading the 2nd time I took the test.

I just don’t even know where to start. I feel like I was shortchanged on that whole testing issue. I did mention to Harvard that I was legally blind, in both the “Additional Information” section on the Common App, and in my essays. My school unfortunately does not offer the SAT. I asked them if they could pdoctor it for me and they said "no, you have to go to another school to take it and you would have to pay for it. "

Not to mention that my guidance counselor did not go me with my college application process. I did it all by myself, and I still was rejected from 4 out of the 6 colleges I applied to. My school sent the collages my incomplete transcripts, and I found this out in the first week of March when one of the admissions officers from one of the bibeer universities I applied to e-mailed me to inform me of it. After I fixed my school’s mistake and asked my guidance counselor why she made that mistake, she said she wasn’t “in charge of that”. And I found out later that day when I called all the schools I applied to that she (my guidance counselor) had not filled out my mid-year grade report on the common app either. And when I asked her why she didn’t fill it out she said that she didn’t like using the common application for students because it was too much work. Which is probably why she discouraged me from applYing to any university outside the stateam I lI’ve in. She discouraged me from applyingetting to Harvard. Then, when I found out I was goin to be interviewed, she supported me.

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I am so sorry all this happened to you. For all intents and purposes, you did not have useful accommodations, and the negligence of your guidance counselor must be upsetting. Do you have a school to go to that you like? Are you going to meet with the disabilities office?

If you decide to take a gap year and reapply, PM me,

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@compmom it is okay, it is what it is I guess. One of the things that saddens me the most about the fact that I did not get accepted to Harvard,is that I know they would be able to accommodate me in the best way possible because they have the resources to do so, but I wasn’t accepted so I can’t take advantage of all the wonderful things Harvard could provide me with to help me with. It is just very hard to deal wit the fact that I did all I could do, I worked my butt so that colleges would see me as being more than just a girl wort a disability, and I went through the entire application process by myself because some staff at my school either can’t do their jobs or didn’t support me. I still did not get accepted to 4 out of the 6 colleges I applied to.

People say that everything happens for a reason, but I don’t understand why this happened to me.

I have decided to go to my state university, even though it wasn’t my first choice. I mean, I’m excited for college in general, but I am still quite sad over not getting info Harvard. I am a very ambitious and confident young lady and I have high hopes for myself in terms of which collegend I should go to. I wanted so much moreally than what my high school academis coups provide: I wish I had the opportunity to take more challenging courses. I thought I would be in a different situation, a better situation, than I am now.

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Your state school may be very helpful. I hope you have someone who can help you get your self-advocacy off the ground. I am a fan of our state university, to tell the truth. Feel free to PM me anytime.

18

It’s frustrating that you did not have help. Wish you had found college confidential sooner… You would have had an amazing shot at other top schools that are not the ivy league. There are many many great schools between Harvard and your state school that would have accomodated you. But like most in the process, there is a such a focus on ivy, and other schools are forgotten.

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When my kids applied to college, there were students in their school (Stuyvesant High School in NYC) who were rejected from ALL the colleges they applied to, even their safety schools – and they didn’t have disabilities. Many students have to scramble in April and May, applying rolling admissions at the last minute hoping for some miracle to get accepted. You may not realize it, but you are in a much better situation and should be very proud of yourself – congratulations!!!

Applying to any college that has a single-digit acceptance rate is like buying a lottery ticket. Yes, we all think we’re going to win when when we purchase the ticket, but the reality is that very few people are winners. Student’s applying to Harvard should be thinking the same thing. No student, no matter what their GPA or test scores, no matter what their accomplishments, ethnicity or disabilities have a good chance of being admitted. That’s the reality of college admissions today!

There is nothing wrong with going to a state university! In fact, my daughter is attending one right now, and is finding that the educational quality of her state school is on par with Harvard. To wit: one of her professors received her doctorate from Harvard and taught the same course there for a while. The professor is using the same materials and same syllabus at the state school that she used at Harvard.

I’m a very firm believer in Jeffrey Brenzel’s way of thinking. Dean Brenzel was the Admissions Director at Yale from 2005-2013 and teaches philosophy at the college.

Infinite opportunities await you at your state school. You just need to find them and take advantage of them. You should also read this article, as student’s with disabilities need to ask for services at college. They don’t automatically receive them: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html and http://www.pacer.org/parent/php/PHP-c51g.pdf

Best of luck to you in your endeavors.