yikes these responses are very discouraging. I’m a fellow hs class of 2021 student so I certainly don’t have any wisdom on this, but good luck! my area of focus is very very far from neuroscience (and tbh there’s a very decent chance I won’t apply to Harvard), but it’s very clear that you’ve worked incredibly hard all through high school.
The text style is a superficial problem. But the mismatch between that style and the content of the first message is jarring.
The OP wrote: " I started a non-profit that raised about 25K for international education equality, and in a co founder at a nonprofit which helps provide medical equipment around the world (still kinda in the works). I did independent research about mental illness and the neurological basis of it and used it to creat policy change in three states. "
These are fairly ambitious claims, frankly, and if I were an admissions person I would want a lot more details. What exactly are you contributing to “international education equality” and how? And what kind of medical equipment are you hoping to provide “around the world”? What specific policy changes in mental health was a high schooler able to create?
I don’t mean this unkindly. I do a lot of tutoring of essays and many writers want to assert things like “Someday I hope to cure cancer.” It is much better to come down to earth and be specific. You don’t need to solve all the world’s problems to get into good schools, including Harvard. And character is a factor too, so you want to be humble and not overstate.
Part of being an adult is knowing how to use the right language depending on the situation. You don’t go to the doctor and say “My tummy hurts” when you are a HS junior. Presumably you are able to use the appropriate language to describe a sharp, stabbing pain in your abdomen vs. a mild burning sensation in your upper GI tract when you swallow. You don’t ask a financial aid officer to review your file by saying “we need more moola because we are low on cash”; you describe your assets, income and other financial obligations in order to set up a successful meeting where someone takes you seriously. And you don’t take your car in to be serviced by describing “it says bang bang when I go SO fast”; you are able to describe a ping or a clatter or a chirp or a whistle when you accelerate.
That’s all the “adults” on this post are asking for. I don’t know what “hella” means in this context although I would love to be helpful to the OP. And the OP will get much better and more appropriate advice once he/she switches out of text mode and into standard, colloquial English. Doesn’t need to be Winston Churchill announcing the storming of Omaha beach- just standard English.
No one has a “very strong chance” of being admitted to Harvard unless their family has made a major donation to the university.
Acceptance rates to Harvard are below 5%. Only about 15% of the top applicants by academics are being accepted. We aren’t being discouraging, we are being realistic, it is reality that is discouraging.
Well, to be honest, reality is only discouraging if one believes that Harvard is the only place where they will truly get the education that they need and deserve. On the other hand, for people who look at Harvard as one of a list of colleges, all at which they would do really well, and each with its pros and cons, this is not especially discouraging, just some more information which helps them with their list of colleges.
Harvard does not do its admissions on the basis of who has worked incredibly hard and who has not For the students following this thread- this is the single most important lesson you can take away. If you love Harvard- figure out why, (not “it’s Harvard”) and then come up with a list of colleges which share those elements but are more likely to want what YOU bring to the table. Harvard’s odds mean that a strategy of “Harvard or Bust” is a pretty stupid one unless you’ve got a lab or library with your last name on it in Cambridge AND you are a solid student.
If you want to give Harvard a try, as @blossom says, go right on ahead. Understand the numbers , your chances are not good. The math is right out there. I believe every student who wants to apply to certain schools should go on ahead and do so.
So apply to Harvard and other schools in your wish list. That’s the easy part. The tough part of college search is finding schools that you like that are not so selective and well known. It’s easy to cherry pick the big name schools off any list that is easy access. Finding colleges that are guaranteed ins and affordable that you can like is a challenge. Make sure you spend the time researching those type of schools too. Don’t end up spending more time on the schools where you have the least likelihoods of attending. No reason not to give he reaches a try, but don’t schloff off the real possibilities.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: While true, assumes facts not in evidence re the OP, so I have deleted the OT posts.