<p>As sketchy as the above post may appear, I’d heed the warning it sets forth. To put it in perspective, I thought I had what it took to be accepted, but I guess I thought wrong. So here you have my Harvard saga.</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred
Then
Decision: Rejected</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2400 (single-sitting, one take)
[</em>] ACT: N/A
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Phys, 800 MII, 800 Chem
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on 10 APs, 6 self-studied
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2 utility patents regarding electrical engineering and inorganic chemistry technological advances, 1st place Moodys Mega Math Challenge, 3 publications, USAChO finalist, USAPhO semifinalist, AIME qualifier, US National History Bowl qualifier, national-level impromptu speaker and parliamentary debater.</p>
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Technology Student Association for four years (President), Model United Nations for four years (Undersecretary General VP basically), Student Government for four years, Science League for four years, Tennis for three years (Varsity captain), JV Basketball, JV Soccer, distance runner (Half and full marathons), heavily involved musician (piano 10 years, alto, tenor, baritone sax 6 years, drums played 4 years, was in a band)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Research positions at Princeton University and Rutgers University for four years. Tutor in SATs, math, physics, chemistry, and public speaking/debate.
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Help manage a local cultural school for younger children as president of the school, coach Dale Carnegie courses in public speaking and leadership, volunteer with a local physical therapy group.
[</em>] Summer Activities: Governors School, simultaneous research positions at Princeton and Rutgers, training for sports and distance running
[<em>] Essays: Pretty good, I thought
[</em>] Teacher Recommendations: Great
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Good, I hope we had a great relationship
[</em>] Additional Rec: Phenomenal
[li] Interview: Invited me to dinner with he and his wife after 2.5 hours of chatting about everything you could possibly think of</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Objective stats and academic honors/awards
[</em>] Weaknesses: Presumably subjective matters and the essays. It simply could not have been objective metrics.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Guess I just wasnt Harvards type.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]General Comments: Be really careful guys. I was rejected by Harvard, but ended up getting into all the other schools and programs I applied to, some of which are arguably more selective than Harvard (Jerome Fisher M&T at UPenn, Stanford for out-of-Cal students in metropolitan areas). I spent 5x more time on my Harvard application than every other schools combined, for basically no positive gain. I am a year older than you all I gain nothing by trolling you. Feel free to message me privately if you have any questions or concerns.</p>