Both of those schools look for more than stats and awards. And vision, stretch, and impact can be equally strong in one's local community. It doesn't need to be national. And certainly not just for the sake of "national" in the award name.
Plus, don't forget there's an entire app to complete. Not just the box for stats and the resume. As it is, many kids are so convinced this is about 'run faster, jump higher' that they miss the entirety of holistic. And so on.
My comment that QB is not a hook comes from my experiences. I'm familiar with QB applications. A student's match for whatever college and its work is more. OP has some issues. How adcoms view his/her full app is up to those adcoms. And institutional needs.
I'd think most students would have either stellar scores or other things that distinguish them above local and regional activities-except legacy and development admits. I know more students who've attended that other school down Mass Ave and most of them certainly have such credentials; and the same has been true for students I've known at Harvard. I'm surprise that it's not true for most students at Harvard. Not all. And maybe not a while ago. But now.
Harvard's student body is much more dispersed in their abilities/strengths than MIT's. Their best students are more similar, though.
skieuropeSuper ModeratorPosts: 39,480Super Moderator
edited January 3
SkiEurope, looking forward--Yes it would surprise me if there were many Harvard admits with scores such as those listed above (very good but not stellar) who are not legacy/development admits and who have not been involved in any national activities (ranked player in a sport, academic competitions, music performances, publishing, etc) or have won national awards of some sort.
That was not how I interpreted what you originally wrote @lostaccount Your earlier comment was, by me, interpreted to apply to all successful applicants regardless of stats. So, yes, I would agree that successful applicants with lower stats often have some type of hook. And for the record, I'm still in college.
@gibby while its true that " "Harvard "misses out" on the best-of-the-best QB finalists", or even had to accept some QB rejects, OP's profile doesn't look like a QB reject. If I have to guess, OP was matched somewhere in early round. There are ONLY five schools basically that offer EA---Stanford, Princeton, Yale, MIT and Caltech; If OP still can apply to Harvard, it means that OP has probably had an offer from one of the above five schools.
Despite many of you not being optimistic OP's application was apparently strong enough to gain admissions at SPYMC. I think he/she has a reasonable chance at Harvard too (Needless to say, nobody can count on that).
Where's OP say there's an EA admit? How's that logical? And IF there was an admit to a tippy top, why would this kid p post about uncertainty?
This is a kid with 1 post. All we know is what's in that original, sole post. A tippy top adcom won't be focusing on the QB aspect as much as this thread is. It doesn't change what this applicant offers. Or not.
If OP had said there's an offer in hand, via QB, that would be different.
With a little bit of math/logic it is not difficult to figure this out: OP was either matched or rejected in early round--->if matched she was either ED or EA--> if she can still apply to Harvard then she was EA--->if EA then it was one of the five schools.
How about OP let us know what's what. Until then, we don't know.
Per QB, "If you are selected as a Finalist, you can apply through QuestBridge Regular Decision in the event that you are not matched, or chose not to rank colleges."
Sorry everyone for vague information. I am a questbridge finalist but did not participate in the match round since it is a binding process. After reading a few posts, I really appreciate everyone for taking the time to respond. I think that with my profile, applying to top school is like a gamble. I think that going to my safe school is the best choice.
Replies to: Is it possible that I can be accepted to Harvard?
Plus, don't forget there's an entire app to complete. Not just the box for stats and the resume. As it is, many kids are so convinced this is about 'run faster, jump higher' that they miss the entirety of holistic. And so on.
My comment that QB is not a hook comes from my experiences. I'm familiar with QB applications. A student's match for whatever college and its work is more. OP has some issues. How adcoms view his/her full app is up to those adcoms. And institutional needs.
Despite many of you not being optimistic OP's application was apparently strong enough to gain admissions at SPYMC. I think he/she has a reasonable chance at Harvard too (Needless to say, nobody can count on that).
This is a kid with 1 post. All we know is what's in that original, sole post. A tippy top adcom won't be focusing on the QB aspect as much as this thread is. It doesn't change what this applicant offers. Or not.
If OP had said there's an offer in hand, via QB, that would be different.
How about OP let us know what's what. Until then, we don't know.
Per QB, "If you are selected as a Finalist, you can apply through QuestBridge Regular Decision in the event that you are not matched, or chose not to rank colleges."