H-Bomb

glucose101 · 05-22-2005, 04:31 PM

Ok...I know this is the H-BOMB!!!

I don't mind whether I will get in or not, but is it worth it to apply to Harvard? I should try...I know. Thanks in advance.

School Type: Magnet High School
Location: San Antonio, TX
Race/Gender: Hispanic
Prospective Major: History
AIM: libricrucis
Weighted GPA: 96.600
Class rank: 30 of 220

ACT Scores
ACT Composite: 30-31

Long-form Info

Extracurricular Info
UIL Activities (all invitational competitions, unless stated):
13th Place, UIL Regionals
2nd Place, UIL Spelling, District (Regional Qualifier)
1st Place, UIL Spelling
3rd Place, UIL Spelling
4th Place, UIL Spelling

On 1st place UIL Science Team
4th Place, UIL Science
8th Place, UIL Science
9th Place, UIL Science

Clubs at School:
Red Cross Club
Dance Revolution Club
H.O.S.A (Health Occupational Students of America)

National Clubs:
National Honor Society (predicted)
Spanish Honor Society
Mu Alpha Theta

School Stuff:
Student Council Representative
Medical Mentorship Program
B.E.A.C.O.N. (Gifted and Talented Program)
Help out at Ronald McDonald's House

Summer Stuff:
CSM Inner-city Youth Trip (~30 hours, 5 days, Working with homeless, HIV/AIDS patients, cleaning, assisting)

Other Info
I'm a sophomore attending a very well acclaimed, magnet high school, specializing in the medical field. The name of the school is Health Careers High School, which has won several awards demonstrating its excellence, such as being one of Intel's Scholastic Top 6 schools in academics, a National Blue Ribbon School, has a 99%-100% TAKS passing rate, has had several teachers reach state level for Best Teacher of the Year, and has had National finalists in the Intel Science Fair, History Fair, and first in state for Latin. My only fear is that from this great reputation, comes weakness. The weakness is that though I try hard in my classes, people at my school are geniuses, so my class rank will look horrible.

bandit_TX · 05-22-2005, 04:48 PM

Yes, you should apply. I would try and raise the ACT/SAT score. Re-take late jr. year. You can take again early sr. year if needed. You need any 3 SAT IIs for Harvard. Schedule them to your advantage, as soon as the course finishes. Your rank is not bad, but top 10% will help. However, challenging courses are more important than rank. Look for some leadership positions among your ECs.

Tami · 05-22-2005, 04:57 PM

I don't mind whether I will get in or not, but is it worth it to apply to Harvard? I should try...I know. Thanks in advance.

You just answered your own question...

Just apply. It'll be a reach, a big one, but who knows.

glucose101 · 05-22-2005, 05:21 PM

Being Hispanic doesn't help?

TakingBackSaturdayx · 05-22-2005, 06:06 PM

Is it all ivys that rank doesnt matter?

glucose101 · 05-22-2005, 06:52 PM

Quote:

You need any 3 SAT IIs for Harvard.

I wasn't gonna take these if I don't have a chance...lol

TakingBackSaturdayx · 05-22-2005, 07:44 PM

anyone has a chance.....

bandit_TX · 05-22-2005, 08:39 PM

Being Hispanic does help somewhat. The Ivies do consider rank, but your's is adequate with strong course work.

glucose101 · 05-22-2005, 08:45 PM

I'm taking the strongest courseload, I'm a sophomore taking Comp Sci AP. Next year's Schedule:

English III AP
Physics B AP
US History AP
PreCal Dual H
Concert Choir
Campus Rotation (medical rotations at school)
Campus Rotation (medical rotations at school)
I'll be a student CIT, meaning I'm working before and after school to help with computers; it's a class (no credit though), and I get paid

Duffman28 · 05-22-2005, 10:38 PM

^ Hehe, I took AP Comp. Sci. as a sophmore, thought I was the only one.

damitssam · 05-22-2005, 10:50 PM

Your at a HUGe advantage since (not to be rude) your latino. I really think you have a great shot.

xindianx · 05-22-2005, 10:56 PM

I don't think you have a "great shot." You have an okay shot (50/50) only because you are hispanic (not to be offensive). If you weren't, I'd say your chances were below 5%. You still have to remember in all honesty almost all of the applicants to Harvard are either Top 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 Rank. And Rank does play a significant factor in admissions these days to seriously weed out how you are in your own school.

TakingBackSaturdayx · 05-22-2005, 11:16 PM

Im hearing that rank does not matter at the Ivy

xindianx · 05-22-2005, 11:24 PM

That's totally false takingback, that's why you heard it and were not told it by a reliable source. Rank most definitely matters, not only because it is seen in correlation with acceptance and also because many experienced people will tell you, but also because if you go to the collegeboard website and go under colleges and their requirements or for the yahoo search for colleges, it says clearly for all top tier schools Rank is either an extremely important factor in admissions or an important factor in admissions. So yeah..

ebonytear · 05-22-2005, 11:45 PM

Rank totally matters. My dad is a Stanford alum; most of the people at Stanford and the Ivies are, at the very very least, in the top 10% of their class, if not the top 5% or 1%. Rank matters at all Ivies; the one thing that you guys may be confusing is the flawed ranking system (valedictorian having 4.0 but easy classes). Most of the people who are affected by that are still in the top 1% - if you go to the Valedictorian thread on the HS forum, there's a discussion about it - they talked about how rank didn't matter as much in their case because they took more challenging classes - but the important thing to look at is that most of the people there were in the top 1% already, if not 2nd, and were only cheated out of 1st by a one teeny tiny easy class.

With that said; your rank is pretty low for an Ivy. No matter how hard your course load is, or if you are a URM - there are plenty of minorities out there who are valedictorians of their school with the hardest courseload. Ivies, esp. Harvard, gets plenty of these each year. I think rank and standardized testing, as well as ECs are problems here. I wouldn't give up on Harvard; try to improve. I am taking the most challenging courseload at my school, and yes, I'm aggravated because some people have a higher unweighted than I do because I'm taking twice as many AP classes as they are...BUT I am still 1st (barely....) weighted and in top 2% unweighted. Rank matters!!!!!! Colleges see how well you suceeded at your school! A challenging courseload will only bring you so far, and will not excuse a rank outside of the top decile. CHALLENGING COURSES ARE NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN RANK. They figure into the IvyWise formula as the same amount, and only really 'are more important than rank' when there is a small difference - i.e. btw. #1 and #2....

Your standardized tests are week; but since ur soph, u can definitely pull them up.

The other major problem is ECs. Regional awards have very little signifiance! Because one region might be super-competitive and have ntl champion, and the other might not! If you want to put Spelling Bee and such on your App, make sure you win a state award. Otherwise, its not worth listing. (sorry if i am coming off a bit strong...not meant towards u, don't take it personally). Also, the 13th in Regionals does not really help your app. Try to get Nationals or State. Then it is worth listing. Gifted program doesn't matter. Get leadership positions; get activiely involved in one EC. Make yourself unique.

Good luck! And still apply, if Harvard is still your dream school as a senior.