SCEA Harvard- What should I do to improve my chances?
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 800 M 800 CR 730 W
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Phys, 800 World History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/431
AP (place score in parenthesis): 7 5's on APUSH, AP Eng Lang, AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C Mech, AP Physics C E&M, AP World History
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Biology, AP Statistics, AP Economics, AP Chinese, AP Gov't Politics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): US Physics Team Semifinalist, US Chemistry Team Semifinalist, ARML State Team A, AIME Qualifier, 1st Place Local Math League
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate Team (Captain, 3x state team champion), Math Team (Captain), Interact Club (Vice President), Piano (1st Place Local Piano Competition), Violin (2x All-State Orchestra Qualifier)
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 30 hours total in random places
Summer Activities: None really, went to a math camp one year
Essays: Should be OK, I plan to write about my grandpa's cancer, is that way too cliche?
Teacher Recommendation: Should be OK, my math teacher said it'd be "very good," my English teacher said I was a "wonderful student"
Counselor Rec: Don't even know him
Additional Rec:
Interview:
Other
Should be OK
State (if domestic applicant): Connecticut
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Zero. My sister did amazing at Harvard and got a 4.0 GPA, is that going to help me?
Also, I won 3rd place in an International piano competition in middle school. Can I put this down? Does winning an international piano competition carry a lot more prestige than a local one? Will colleges figure out that I won it in middle school and not high school?
At this point, with about a month to the SCEA deadline, there is absolutely nothing you can do to improve your chances. You have a great GPA and fabulous test scores. You are a competitive applicant. Beyond that, no one can tell you what chances you have, as so much of the applications process depends on comparing your teacher recommendations and essays to all other applicants. Provided you apply to a broad range of colleges -- reach, target and safety -- with your stats, you WILL end up someplace great. Whether it is Harvard or not, no one can say.
BTW: Don't put down any awards from middle school -- that's a big no-no. Colleges are interested in what you have done from 9th grade on.
