lowellbelle

LOL...this whole forum entertains me. Yes, I was hardworking and "really bright" (I've found you're "allowed" to say that at Harvard, )...I guess I just wanted to help people not freak out about the whole application thing
What house are you in if you don't mind me asking?
And thanks you guys...I just looked at "URM" and was like waa?

sunglasses

Adams. Not far from Lowell!

lowellbelle

Excellent! I love Adams...I took some friends to see it and they're like "I HATE YOU"...I was like "yes, well..." I'm so kind, no?

sunglasses

I love Adams too, but Lowell's grounds win for beauty. Great house--my mom was in Lowell (but my father in Adams!).

Oh, there...back to the subject of getting into college: apply to wherever your parents went. ; -)

Signed,
Undeserving.

anagarcia987

sunglasses are you hispanic?

tofulover

lowellbelle good advice. I trust that your suggestions are geniune based on your profile/scores. But your title is misleading in the sense that you should state some of the MOST crucial requirements for Harvard Admission are solid, no, spectacular academia like yours. But nevertheless, many of the wisdom you give sheds light on common misconceptions.

gadad

True tofulover, but bear in mind that the academic credentials of most of Harvard's applicant pool are virtually equal. A 1600 SAT might sound like a great advantage over a 1400, but it's really the difference between the 99.9th percentile and, what?, 98th percentile? Grades that are all A aren't really of much greater significance than ones that are mostly A with a few Bs. In the long run, the strong academic credentials will only get an applicant into the running for spaces that must eventually be determined on some other basis. But you're right, an academic record that is merely solid probably won't get the passionate pursuits looked at.

sunglasses

Anagarcia: No, I am not. I am about as waspy as they come. Sadly, I am incredibly boring ethnicity-wise.

oracle1

lowellbelle-

I think what you were saying (and lots of people have been interpreting wrong) is that to go to a school like harvard the adcoms only use gpa's and SAT's to weed out the bottom half. From there, the only thing that matters is passion.

yahooo

I hope this "PASSION" CCer's mention all the time is really true. Can "PASSION" compensate for mediocre scores?

anagarcia987

haha sunglasses--i could have sworn you were for some reason hehe

sunglasses

Well, I am from Arizona.

lowellbelle

oracle1:
EXACTLY. Although a few people *may* bypass (partly) the scores thing, it's very unlikely. Thanks much! Sorry I didn't clarify before...

oracle1

lowellbelle-

I've got plenty of documented passion with EC's and great things to write for the essay. As we were talking about the stats needed to get through the gatekeeper of places like Harvard, I'm curious to see what you think.

I have a 4.0 uw (4.5 w) at a fairly elite prep school
but my first round of SAT's are surely lacking.
2000 SAT1 690 chem; 660 math2c

As is, would you say those are enough to get through.

And if not, what would be the minimum needed if I retook the tests?
(still waiting on ACT...which i think will be a little bit better)


Thanks for all your help!

Blue_Blooded

Unless you're an under-represented minority, I suggest you retake both your SATI and those two SATIIs.They're extremely low by Ivy standards.