Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93UW/4.6ish weighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7 or 8 out of 430
AP (place score in parenthesis): Didn't submit. They were meh...
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov, AP Lit, AP Chem, AP French, AP Psych, AP Micro, AP Stats, AP Physics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Presidential Gold Service Award (x4), NHS, FNHS, Misc. FBLA state/districts awards, nothing interesting.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Youth Group (Pres, VP, Web Editor 12th, 10-11th, 9th)
FBLA (senior member)
NHS (organizing chair)
Produce digital music - sent CD with dubstep, liquid, house to Harvard
Internships at hospitals
Play piano, guitar, violin. Was part of advanced orchestra
Varsity tennis -3 years and this year probably. Most likely (co)captain
Job/Work Experience: Tutor at local tutoring company about 8 hours a week
Volunteer/Community service: Lots of community service via Youth Group and with hospitals. More than 1000 hours over four years.
Tutor kids in my grade for 10-12 hours a week currently in calc, physics, etc.
Summer Activities: Internships in India, treating ill patients, visiting grandparents (deathbed - turned down Harvard SSP for this), France for a few weeks with school
Essays: Common App essay was amazing 10/10. it was about my grandmother's maid of 30 years and how she has become a second grandmother to me, Supplemental essay was pretty good 8/10. about a kid from slums with diabetic foot and my conversation with him as well as what he taught me.
Teacher Recommendation: Pretty sure I got deferred because of this alone. Both recs did not make it in until the 5th of December. Harvard admissions said they will decide what to do but it could involve that they disregard the recs, which should have been extremely strong.
Counselor Rec: New counselor but she said she wrote me an amazing rec. I'll take her word for it =]
Additional Rec: None but since I'm deferred, I have a couple really good ones from outside sources I will send in.
Interview: The best part of my app, but holds the least weight. Ate dinner with my interviewer and his fam because our conversation was so lengthy and engrossing. Awesome experience.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): KS
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Competitive Public
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: Upper middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None lol unless my mother not going to college makes me first generation (dad did however)
Reflection
Strengths: Test scores, GPA, Depth and range of EC's
Weaknesses: Number of EC's, no major awards really, rec's might not even have been considered...
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Recs had a big part for sure as well as not having any notable awards.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: KU Honors, K State Honors, U minn (honors pending), U ark (honors pending), SLU (honors pending) all with full rides + stipend. But state schools bleh...Real decisions come out late march early april
General Comments: Good luck to everyone who got in! You guys got selected and every one of you deserves to go to Harvard, no matter what people on the forum or in your respective lives say. To those who got deferred/rejected, don't lose hope! There are many schools out there that give quality education. Remember that none of the ivies come close to the top state schools in the number of high level corporate executives they put out. U of wisconson has the most Fortune 500 CEOs. However, Harvard is truly a magical school so disappointment is natural. You have to move past it though because it is not the end of the world! Cheers!
AP (place score in parenthesis): 18 5's and nothing else
IB (place score in parenthesis): Not Taken
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit, AIME 3x, National AP scholar
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Mediocre (NHS, Tennis, Math + Science Teams, Robotics, Piano, others but they aren't that important)
Job/Work Experience: Paid job at Starbucks after Freshman year
Volunteer/Community service: 100 hours
Summer Activities: COSMOS uc davis (math)
Essays: 10/10
Teacher Recommendation: Didn't read, I assume good
Counselor Rec: Same as above
Additional Rec: Same as above
Interview: Great
Other
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private, super competitive (I think we had over 20 kids with 2300+)
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: High (750k)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflection
Strengths: Grades, scores, essay and interview maybe?
Weaknesses: ECs, Asian, No hooks, High income but not enough to donate, No legacy, Not much service, Not great summer activities
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No idea, but the acceptance rate was pretty high
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
General Comments:
I couldn't access CC when I got the decision. I am really happy I got in. To all the unhooked kids with strong academics reading this: Keep your head up! You don't have to be an extracurricular superstar to get in although from reading this site you might think an hooked 1800 with great ECs will get in while a unhooked 2400 with poor ECs has no chance. I'm living proof that they can still get in. Write good essays, choose teachers who like you, be personable in the interview, and hope for the best.
Glad I chose to apply to Harvard early instead of Caltech. I'm withdrawing a lot of my apps so I don't take anyone's spot.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn't rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5's for all (World, US Hist, Lang, Psych)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Vergil, AP US & Comp Gov, AP Calc BC, AP Euro, AP Enviro, Journalism 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Lots of JCL (latin) awards (top 3 on most state tests, top 10 on most national tests, best-in-shows for many spoken latin competions and highest vocab score in state), perfects on NLE, awards on NGE, NRCE, Medusa, CAMWS tests. Some state certamen (latin quiz bowl awards), highest being 2nd at state finals. Basically, all are classics awards. Also, lots of local TKD tournament wins.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): School Paper (Editor-in-Chief), Latin Honor Society (president), JCL/Latin Club (president), Certamen (captain), Taught attic greek to several classmates of mine and prepared them to take NGE, translated defunct AP Latin lit syllabus for enrichment, Tae Kwon Do (brown belt), English Honor Society (lots of tutoring involved) and Excel (tutoring struggling elementary school kids)
Job/Work Experience:none, but don't think it was noticeable
Volunteer/Community service: Minority Student Panel, Student rep for school materials review committee, Mentor for struggling youth
Summer Activities: National JCL Convention (2011), Latin Governor's School (2010)
Essays: Both were told in narrative form, first was about my father who works hours as a busboy to help make our rent and can only express his feelings to me when inebriated and likewise, I can only express my gratitude for his hard work through my intense dedication to my schoolwork and Latin. Made several people who read it cry. Second for supp was about my first experience at a certamen and how I initially found it hard to succeed as a one-person team but was able to overcome the atmosphere of intense intellectual apathy at my school to discover my identity as a classicist. Maybe it was too long.
Teacher Recommendation: Lang teacher (didn't see, prob pretty good), Latin (really good and specific, prob not amazing tho)
Counselor Rec: Not sure. Packet I filled out for her rec was full of extremely personal specifics about challenges I've faced, my intellectual interests, etc.
Additional Rec:
Interview: Wasn't perfectly smooth, but once we got to the part where I ask questions, it turned into a natural conversation where we found we had a lot of the same principles about hard work after coming from immigrant families. I made it very clear that I knew everything I would take advantage of at the school and everything I would contribute to the school. She kind of badmouthed stanford a lot as Harvard's antithesis and I made it clear that, for my major, the choice was definitely between those two schools, but I would pick Harvard in an instant
Other
State (if domestic applicant): See below. I reside in Virginia
Country (if international applicant): Reside in US, but only a citizen of El Salvador
School Type: Public, medium, gets 2-3 kids into ivies every other year
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: M
Income Bracket: ~60,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Not technically a URM but probably received a similar boost, first generation, financial troubles
Reflection
Strengths: Very focused on classics, high stats (except for SAT math, lol), lots of awards, and diversity factored in as well. Also, at least one of my essays definitely conveyed the intense challenges I've faced and overcome.
Weaknesses: Supp essay may have been superfluous, not sure. Recs may have been generic. SAT math was low. Half of my extracurriculars are pretty bland
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I had high stats for a hispanic and an extreme classics interest and intellectual passion for teaching, tutoring, etc
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: It's SCEA, but plan to apply to Yale, Princeton, and Dartmouth.
General Comments: Woo! Still hasn't sunk in yet. If you're an international residing in the US, please look at this post. I know I had a tough time wondering how my race/citizenship would affect my admissions as I am not technically a URM, and there were no other examples of internationals in US to learn from. Good luck!
SAT II: 770 Math IIC, 760 Physics, 690 US History, 800 Korean (didn't send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% of class.
AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics C Mech 5, Physics C E&M 5, Calc BC 5, Bio 4
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs, the rest were required courses.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None. I didn't participate in any "major award" type activity.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
2 Charity Rock Bands -- (Founder of both) raised large sums of money in the US and internationally. (80K, 2 mil)
Violin Performance -- International Competition, ranked third
Debate -- ranked at State
Varsity Swimmer
Job/Work Experience:
Internship at a major company -- designed and programmed a prototype that is currently in production.
Web designer
Starbucks server
Volunteer/Community service:
Local music teaching group
Math Tutor during lunch periods
Occasional performances in veteran's homes.
Summer Activities:
Aforementioned internship, international charity band, and violin performance.
Essays:
Wrote one about a favorite teacher of mine, and another about getting hit by a tomato.
Teacher Recommendation:
Asked my Debate coach and Physics AP teacher, but didn't get to see either.
Counselor Rec:
Didn't get to see, but she mentioned it was the longest she ever wrote.
Additional Rec: None.
Interview: The interview was great! At first I worried I was talking a little too much about myself, and then the interview turned toward life at Harvard, and the interviewer and I had a great time from there. Lasted 2.5 hours.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): IN
Country (if international applicant): USA, but I'm a green card applicant.
School Type: Public, but very small
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: just below upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None.
Reflection
Strengths: I'm not the best judge for myself, but I'd guess it had to do with the intangibles -- like overcoming adversity, etc. PM me with any questions.
Weaknesses: Low scores for an EA applicant, somewhat off-the-wall essay.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Hell, beats me.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: A local state school.
General Comments:
Wow! I'm just totally humbled and amazed by this opportunity! For all those fortunate enough to have been in the pool of 772 acceptees, congrats, and I really can't wait to see all of you at Visitas! For those who were deferred, don't forget the acceptance rate from deferred status is around 10% -- know that there's still hope. Rejectees, it must have not been the right place, or mayhaps a terrible accident by the admissions committee. Don't be down though, I trust that you'll find your way to a wonderful institution that you will flourish! As cheesy as that sounds, I hope that this will happen -- all of you will be in my prayers. Good luck to all!
(sorry for the brevity due to privacy protection.)
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):-
ACT:31
SAT II:770,770
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2%
AP (place score in parenthesis): one 5, three 4's, one 3
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:toughest possible + more. Night class at a community college...junior year level course.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 3 national awards, many state/regional/school-wide awards. AP scholar, others in sciences, math, and poetry.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 11. Mostly science/math. 4 for cultural awareness. Founder of 3. President/VP/secretary of 10 EC's. National-level recognition, started parterships and free tutoring program. Started my own summer camp.
Job/Work Experience: private bio tutor
Volunteer/Community service: 250+. Mostly tutoring/ cultural awareness activites.
Summer Activities: Counselor of my summer camp, Nationals competition, tennis, travel, volunteering, etc.
Essays: Common app: 8/10 Suppplement: 8/10...
Teacher Recommendation: Not sure (they like me, though)
Counselor Rec: Not sure (I've talked to her in person and she likes me, but not sure beyond that)
Additional Rec: research mentor
Interview: eh. I got 3 hours of sleep the night before
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Not really well-represented at Harvard. In the South.
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public. Extremely competitive (this year...not usually)
Ethnicity: Middle-Eastern
Gender: F
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Reflection
Strengths: EC's, maybe?
Weaknesses: ACT, essays, many more, I'm sure.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Scores
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted- state school. Haven't heard back from anywhere else.
General Comments: Congrats to those who were accepted! Honestly, I'm shocked by this year's results(not my own, but other applicants' deferral decisions). From what I've noticed, this year was the harshest turnout. My theory is that Harvard is trying to discourage early action, as they've done in the past several years.
SAT I (breakdown): Total--2270; CR 800, M 740, WR 730
• ACT: good, but did not report
• SAT II: 680 USHistory, 680 Chem, 690 Literature, 710 MathI
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Not sure unweighted, probably around 3.95. My school weights; 5.0 weighted.
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Probably 4-6 out of 450
• AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem 4, USHistory 5, Environmental Science 5
• IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
• Senior Year Course Load: AP European History, AP Biology, Honors French 4 (No AP available for French 4), AP Statistics, AP Literature and Composition, AP US Government and Politics
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, NCTE Writing Contest Winner (Very prestigious national award given by the National Council of Teachers of English--I submitted a 25-page philosophical memoir that my English teacher said was the most incredible, moving, fantastically-written thing he's ever read), National Merit Letter of Commendation (step below Semi-finalist, top 5% nationwide), National Honor Society Member, one of 7 girls voted onto the Homecoming Court, Best Hair (lawls didn't actually tell Harvard that)
Subjective:• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Student Council/Government: Homeroom Rep Freshman-Junior Year, Junior Class Treasurer (almost single-handedly organized a large school dance that raised many thousands of dollars, 1.5k of which were donated to Animal Friends in memory of our classmate and my close friend), Senior Class Treasurer and Student Body Treasurer (a huge amount of work per week), Junior Varsity and Varsity Rowing all 4 years, usually 30ish hours a week, varsity lettered sophomore year, semifinals at Midwest Championships (a big deal in the rowing world), various other medals, team captain. Existentialist club, officer in club, aided in club's creation. Substantial amounts of hiking, organic gardening, baking, and cooking for my family throughout the year. Poetry and creative writing on my own time, with several county-wide poetry awards a few years ago. Member of Arrested Development club ("the money's in the banana stand!").
• Job/Work Experience: Babysitting full-time in the summer (8am-5pm) to fund a month-long trip to Florida (to see old/best friends) every year, babysitting almost every week in the school year. Box office and concession stand worker at Carmike Cinemas -- huge responsibilities and a lot of incredibly stressful work; catering to a grouchy, upper-middle-class group of patrons; about 10 hours a week.
• Volunteer/Community service: Very minimal--just met requirements for NHS plus a little bit.
• Summer Activities: Traveling to Florida for long periods of time all on my own money and my own organization. Working for my dad in our yard doing manual labor at $5/hour 8 hours/day; full-time babysitting for several weeks at a time, this past summer worked at Carmike for all of August. lots of road trips too.
• Essays: Common App-incredible. I wrote about growing up essentially on the Florida prairie and loving earthy, home-made sports but being terrified by the mechanization of real sports--transitioned to LOVING crew because it's not a sport, it's a way of perceiving life / embracing physical pain for a greater goal as transcendental. talked about sunsets over the river and then broke down the emotional experiences of each part of a race and practice, then talked about how it feels to win. sounds a little cheesy but everyone who read it loved it. i was verrry happy with it. supplemental essay--instead of a basic essay i submitted my philosophical memoir because it covered a lot of the "special circumstances" that harvard asked the applicant to talk about in the supplement.
• Teacher Recommendation: One from my APUSH teacher, said i was one of the two hardest working students he's ever had--fanastic. one from english teacher who read my memoir--didnt read it but im sure it was goodddddddd. • Counselor Rec: new counselor this year but one of her best students ever so again im sure it was good though i didnt see it.
• Additional Rec: hm. perhaps i shall be sending in some more.
• Interview: decent i believe? a little choppy at first but she warmed up to me and we were laughing at the end, talking about her opinions on the ridiculousness of harvard social life.
Other• State (if domestic applicant): PA
• Country (if international applicant):
• School Type: Competitive Public
• Ethnicity: White (oh the woes of being the majority)
• Gender: F
• Income Bracket: ~180k
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): lots of subjective stuff like adversity. best friend died last year, massive concussion that caused me to miss half of junior year but i still got straight a's and good test scores (at least on the sat) and a giant writing award. also watched a woman get hit by a car and die, called 911, saved her two children who were hit by a car, been involved as a witness in the criminal trial for 1.5 years now.
Reflection• Strengths: adversity, creative writing, good recs, essay
• Weaknesses: scores not ridiculously high per harvard's standards and other statistical stuff, minimal volunteer work, ehhhh
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: i guess nothing quite outstanding enough or perfectly-well-rounded enough. seems fair after reading other accepted applicants' information.
• Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: unofficially offered money at a few very prestigious places, waiting on RD's at Cornell, Michigan, UNC, Duke, Vandy, Tulane, UVM, Dartmouth, Yale, Princeton, Colby.
General Comments: Let's face it: we deferrees don't have good odds. But think of it this way: Harvard is the best university in the world and wants to keep you and me on their radar! That's commendable...to the extreme. Congrats to everyone who got in; reading through your little bios, you all deserve to be there .
...At least my deferral letter was on nice paper. I appreciate the implied thought.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn't rank, but #1
AP (place score in parenthesis): 10 5's
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs and post-AP foreign language at high school, 2 math/science college courses
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ISEF alternate finalist, lots of national/regional stuff for math, science, German, and a bit of writing/debate
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): classical piano (couldn't get more Asian), Math Team/Literary Magazine/NHS/Newspaper (president, all of the above)
Job/Work Experience: vocal accompanist
Volunteer/Community service: charity recitals for juvenile illness
Summer Activities: music festivals, engineering camp
Essays: revised/redrafted the Common App essay over 30 times
Teacher Recommendation: highly enthusiastic
Counselor Rec: highly enthusiastic
Additional Rec: amazing
Interview: we clicked immediately
Other
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: competitive public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: idk
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Reflection
Strengths: music, essays
Weaknesses: Asian male, no major awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I got incredibly lucky
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
General Comments:
It feels unreal. Best of luck to everyone in RD- Fitzsimmons has said that the EA pool was exceptionally strong and that Harvard plans to consider deferred apps very seriously.
Last edited by Princetin; 12-17-2011 at 01:17 PM.
Reason: minor error
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):---
ACT: 30 (combined from different test dates)
SAT II: US History--740; Lit--620
Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 97.??
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/336
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH-4; AP US Gov-5; AP macroecon-5
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP lit; AP Human Geo; Yearbook; Dual Enrollment Psych; AP Stat; Peer leadership; AP environmental science
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Governor's Honors Program; USSYP congressional Distr. rep; American History Award; GA Certificate of Merit; Outstanding Junior; State Superintendent of Schools Student Advisory Council
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Yearbook (Co-editor); student body president; sr class president; NHS secretary; bulldogg (yes, my school spells it with 2 g's) pride; french honor society; SACS re-accreditation student representative
Job/Work Experience: light administrative work for my dad's business
Volunteer/Community service: various through my ECs
Summer Activities: GHP 2010; Harvard SSP 2011
Essays: great!; they showed my personality and my influences
Teacher Recommendation: waived my right to see them; but assuming amazing
Counselor Rec: great!
Additional Rec: amazing--from my SSP professor
Interview:very well; I made her laugh
Other
State (if domestic applicant): GA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: rural public
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: F
Income Bracket: idk
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, rural community (no one has ever gone to Harvard in my town as far as I know); Harvard SSP--is that a hook?
Reflection
Strengths: ESSAYS, recs, ECs
Weaknesses: scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: blessed; showed how I went above and beyond the limitations of my community
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: --
General Comments:
I can't believe it; I still don't believe it! I am extremely thankful! It became more real when my interviewer e-mailed me to congratulate me. Best of luck to all of the RD applicants!
Last edited by Quillabee93; 12-17-2011 at 02:12 PM.
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus, IB TOK, IB Biology, IB 20th Century World Topics, IB English IV, Computer Apps I, IB French V
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Theatre for five years, Writing Club (Secretary), Science Club, French Club, National SAG commercial
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities: Grand Western Tour, Trip to WWII Europe, Boys State, French Immersion Experience
Essays: Great
Teacher Recommendation: Good, didn't read them
Counselor Rec: No idea
Additional Rec: Letter from Harvard alumnus
Interview: Very Good
Other
State (if domestic applicant): NC
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Super Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nothing at all, unfortunately
Reflection
Strengths: Essays, Additional Rec, Passion for Theatre
Weaknesses: Scores, GPA, Rank
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: See above
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nothing yet
General Comments:
I feel that I could add a special personality to campus if I get accepted, and I really thought I would get rejected!
SAT I (breakdown): 2240 (CR: 700, W: 740 (Essay: 12), M: 800)
ACT: n/a
SAT II: Math II 800, Chemistry 770, Biology M 770
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a (however, was ranked number 1 when applying to schools in the UK)
AP (place score in parenthesis): n/a
IGCSE (score in parenthesis): English First Language (A*), English Literature (A*), French Foreign Language (A*), Coordinated Sciences Double Award (A*A*), Mandarin Chinese (A*), Drama (A*), Music (A*), Economics (A*), Mathematics (A*), Additional Mathematics (A*)
IB (place score in parenthesis): PREDICTED GRADES - English A1 HL (7), Mathematics HL (7), Biology HL (7), Chemistry HL (7), French B SL (7), History SL (6), TOK (A), EE in Biology (A)
Senior Year Course Load: English A1 HL, Mathematics HL, Biology HL, Chemistry HL, French B SL, History SL, TOK, EE in Biology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): UKMT Maths Junior, Intermediate, Senior Challenges - Silver Award, Nan Shan Academic Scholarship, Academic Awards for High Achievement in IGCSE and IB, International Award (Duke of Edinburgh), DELF/DALF Diploma for French Foreign Language (A2, B1, B2), Letter of Academic Honor, ABRSM Grade 8 in Flute and Violin (Pass with Merit), 2nd in National Baroque Music competition - Flute, 3rd in National Baroque Music Competition - Violin, RAD Ballet Examinations Grade 5, 6, 7 all pass with merit, 18th Golden Melody Award for Best Children's Album (Taiwanese Equivalent to Grammy's)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Council (President), Orchestra (Deputy Concertmaster), String Quartet (Violin II), Taiwan Model United Nations (Chair), The Hague International MUN Singapore, Peer Mentoring, Solo Flautist (School Representation in South East Asia Honor Band), Solo Violinist, Select Choir (Head of Soprano Section), Dale Carnegie Training (Graduate Assistant), "Football" - Soccer, Volleyball, School Musical for 8th, 9th, 10th Grades (All lead roles), Musical Director of the Middle School String Quartet, International Schools Choral Music Society Festival Shanghai,
Job/Work Experience: Shadower at the ShinKong WHS Memorial Hospital Surgical Ward, Internship at the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Department at the National Yang Ming University, Professional Voice Actress for Children's English learning materials, Singer for Children's Music Albums for the Ju Percussion Music School
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at the International Flora Expo 2010, Fundraising for the SOS children's village, Fundraising and Raising awareness and building houses for the Tabitha Cambodia House Building association (Leader of Promotional Group), Fundraising and Education work with Harmony Home (Leader of Awareness Committee), Volunteer at St. Ann's Orphanage,
Summer Activities: Doing some of the above, Vacation in the UK, Reading Literary Classics
Essays: Pretty good (?) I wrote about freedom of speech and internationalism and the relationship to "Veritas"
Teacher Recommendation: not a clue
Counselor Rec: haven't seen it but he did say "I had difficulty fitting all the great things you do into 2000 characters"
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: not given one
Other
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Taiwan
School Type: International
Ethnicity: Asian (Taiwanese)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none (?)
Reflection
Strengths: ECs and a certain degree of well-rounded-ness
Weaknesses: SAT Score and perhaps lack of a WOW factor.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Deferred because I didn't show that I'm extra special? I also think that because my school doesn't send GPA or Class Rank or Percentages, the admissions office would like to see my mid-year report for more information on where I stand in the academic context of my school
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: none yet!
General Comments:
Harvard is definitely my first choice. Any advice? Should I call the Admissions office and pester them politely?
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs, most possible without giving up Band & Senior Leader status
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Illinois State Scholar
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Drama (Speech Officer, Drama Captain, Drama Mama, Two-Time State Qualifier), Band (Field Commander), Tri-M (President), NHS, Improv Group
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at Hospital over the summer.
Summer Activities: Summer school & volunteering
Essays: Totally Me. Very proud of 'em.
Teacher Recommendation: Didn't read them, but I trust them.
Counselor Rec: I mean...it's a counselor rec. It's about the school.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: If anything, the lady was kind of bogus.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Not rich, not poor.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
Reflection
Strengths: My personality. And the fact that hey, I'm the only one in my school applying Ivy and I'm pretty damn smart. I'm a leader in basically everything, too, because I'm passionate about what I do.
Weaknesses: Test scores for SAT. But honestly...in Illinois, NO ONE takes the SAT unless they want to go Ivy.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No idea! I'm just happy to say I applied to Harvard and DIDN'T get rejected. Yet....but still. Good enough for me.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: None yet, still waitin' for that mid-year report.
General Comments: Hey, it is what it is. No one should ride their self-worth on whether a school will take them or not. The dots will connect, but until then, keep your chins up!
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350
ACT: 36
SAT II: Math II - 800, Bio-E - 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.00/4.75
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):3/815
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry-5, BC Calculus- 3 (AB subscore 5), Microecon-5, Macroecon-5, Lang-5, Bio-5, World History-5, Art History-5, Chinese-5
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics, AP US Government & Politics, AP Lit, AP Comp Gov, Calculus 3 H, Differential Equations H, Debate H, Spanish 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar w/ distinction, National Honors Society, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): YouthRoots (President, raised 11,000 for charities through corporate fundraising.) Senior Home Volunteer (300+ hours.) Debate (Captain, NFL Academic All-American) Denver Post Reporter (publish 12 articles on community events.) Science Olympiad (won numerous state awards.) Writer+TA for Denver Chinese School (100+ hours, publish articles in Chinese and English newspapers.) AmeriCorp (Group leader, won President's Volunteer Service Award.) Paid Intern at multinational accounting firm. 3-year varsity tennis. Destination Imagination (Captain, placed 10th at Globals.)
Job/Work Experience: Worked in Multinational Accounting Firm, Worked in a research lab at University of Colorado-Denver, Basketball Referee.
Volunteer/Community service: Over 500 hours
Summer Activities: Volunteer at Senior Home, Tennis, various community service and business camps.
Essays: Talk about impacts of raising money through Youthroots. I hope good
Teacher Recommendation: Good
Counselor Rec: Good
Additional Rec: From boss at internship, really good
Interview: Decent
Other
State (if domestic applicant):CO
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender:Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflection
Strengths: Academics
Weaknesses: No focus in extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No focus in extracurriculars
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
General Comments: Sad but its all ok
SAT II: 800 Math II 790 U.S. History 790 Biology M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/~300
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 5 4
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Govt., AP Lit., AP Psych., AP Stats., Physics, Leadership, Debate
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Scholar Semifinalist (Finalists Pending), AP Scholar, President's Volunteer Service Award Gold, State-Level Debate Awards
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Executive Student Council (Student Body President, Soph. Class President, Jr. Class President, Executive Student Body President), Debate (President, Captain, Assistant Coach), Harry Potter Club (Founder, Headmaster/President), Hospital Volunteer in Radiology (Head of Junior Volunteers) Key Club (Vice President, President), PEACE Club (Vice President, President), Spanish Club (President), National Honor Society (Honorary Chairman)
Job/Work Experience: Fargo's Drive-Thru (shift leader), Saint George Roadrunners Concessions
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering through Smile Train Project in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Radiology Dept. Volunteering, Key Club Volunteering, PEACE Club Volunteering, Exec. Volunteering, NHS Volunteering, etc. (over 1500 hours)
Summer Activities: various leadership camps, Boys State, Volunteering for Smile Train Project in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Essays: Common App- about riding through a cemetery Harvard Supplement- about Harry Potter
Teacher Recommendation: phenomenal
Counselor Rec: phenomenal
Additional Rec: from Smile Train mentor, phenomenal
Interview: over the phone, good
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Utah
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Medium-Size Public, never sent a student to HYPS
Ethnicity: Bengali
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~$100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): maybe geographical residence, but probably not
Reflection
Strengths: pretty well-rounded, lots of leadership, good academics, great essays/recs,
Weaknesses: not truly jaw-dropping or super outstanding, I've never cured cancer
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I wish I could tell you.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: nowhere yet
General Comments: I never thought I would be able to post this! I hope this helps anyone who is the in the position I was in just a few months ago. Good luck to you, and congratulations to everyone who applied. You're all truly outstanding people. I hope you've all enjoyed high school as much as I have! So, so many good memories. I can't believe that senior year is almost over! Time to live it up.
It seems that I am one of the very few international students here! ATTENTION: I'm from China. Things are quite different back here...I guess I would just show some other pieces of this picture...
•SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (760CR 780MA 760WR) Single-sitting
•SAT II: 2400 (math/physics/chemistry)
•Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/300
•Awards & Extacurricular: One international math award bronze, national math & physics olympiad 2nd prize, national math&physics elective camp, research in national institute of Zoology, president of student government, president of humanity society, Qin society, lots of merits, community work, etc, etc. OK, I give up translating.
•Essays: Nearly drive me crazy, but work out fine. I write about the educational system I'm in and fully explore all the possibilities. An additional one on Qin, the ancient Chinese musical instrument I play. I love it. One of my best works.
•Teacher Recommendation: From my physics and English teachers, and they LOVE me.
•Counselor Rec: I'm pretty sure it will be brilliant.
•Additional Rec: Very strong. I have one recommendation from our principal. Two other recommendations from Harvard professors, in statistic and math department.
•Interview: Alumni interview, and it is fantastic. Still in contact with my two interviewers now. Basically we just sat there and chatted for 2.5 hours.
•Country (if international applicant): CHINA!!!
•School Type: Public
•Gender: Female
•Income Bracket: Mid-class Chinese
Reflection
•Strengths: My recommendations are very strong. And I guess my additional essay is pretty unique, unique topic in unique prose style. Chinese tradition is cool! I also submit a paper in number theory, pretty innovative work.
•Weaknesses: Other parts are rather common. My social work is VERY weak. Just consider where I am from, and I have spent so many hours studying...
•Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My strengths...Besides, I guess I have a VERY classic Chinese background, LOVE traditional culture while able to write about it in comparatively great English...Is this what they are looking for, the diversity?
The Best thing ever happens to me! Literally.
I haven't found any other Chinese admitted students yet, so it is still like a dream to me. I have hoped for this, of course, but the whole thing just seemed to be so random, especially when you are in China. For any international student happens to pass by, who study in a totally different world like I do, just BE YOUR BEST! Don't try to accomodate yourself to any college, as there are no set rules. For those in the U.S, every one here just seems to be so perfect and brilliant! So I guess I should just come and say hi, to represent a minority(I love to do this)! It is great to be able to meet some of you in the near future! The lucky ones, see you in Visita and in September(most likely)!
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Our school doesn't do ranks
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): 41/42, A in ToK
Senior Year Course Load: Full IB diploma - History HL, Economics HL, Biology HL, English HL, Maths SL, Mandarin B SL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Absolutely NONE -_-
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model United Nations 9-12 (chairing, organizing of conference in Mongolia, etc.), Debate 11-12 (international tournament, Director's Award), school play 9-12 (director of school play in 10th grade, backstage work throughout high school), student representative on school board 10-12, school newspaper 11-12 (managing editor), varsity softball and cross-country 11-12 (neither of these sports are very competitive at my school though)
Job/Work Experience: French-English Translation work with Sante Sud Mongolia for 2 years, internship with Reuters Video International Beijing over summer
Volunteer/Community service: Run For Water 10 (chair of activities committee in first Run For Water in Mongolia, raised money for water sustainability project)
Summer Activities: Internship, exchange program in Spain
Essays: Common App was about how my internship with Reuters had made me realize how sheltered I was living in the expatriate community; Harvard supplement was more light hearted, talked about how softball helped me overcome my natural klutziness
Teacher Recommendation: Didn't read, but both teachers like me
Counselor Rec: Very nice - my counselor wrote a special rec tailored for Harvard
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: I had two interviewers (one had just graduated, one was the father of a girl at my school). I was a bit intimidated and blanked out on one or two questions, but on the whole we had a lot to talk about. Went okay.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): French/Swiss, but living in China
School Type: Private international school in Beijing
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $80,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Living abroad, very international profile? Because of my parents' work I've lived in Mongolia, Pakistan, Thailand, Rwanda, etc. - a lot of off the map countries.
Reflection
Strengths: My international profile, which tied in well with my career interest (international relations). I really liked my Common App essay.
Weaknesses: No major awards of any sort, activities a little all over the place -_-
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Honestly, I have NO idea. I was so sure I would be rejected that I'd already ordered rejection cupcakes. I had to re-read the email at least 10 times and it hasn't completely sunk in yet O_o
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nowhere else yet
General Comments:
I'm insanely excited!! This proves to me that a lot of the process is luck though. Don't let rejection get to you. Best of luck to future applicants, I hope my stats can help you the way previous posted stats helped me.
