Any spark of hope?

Colleges & Universities Harvard University
1

<p>Sup, I plan on majoring (or having a concentration I suppose) in Government and Economics for Pre-Law. I’m a white male from rural Pennsylvania. My parents announced their separation a week before I started my freshman year, which severely impacted my grades. Then a close friend of mine killed herself when I was in 10th grade, which also impacted my grades for a bit. But I got through all of that and got a 4.0 junior year, which gave me an upward trend.</p>

<hr>

<p>Total Unweighted GPA: 3.65
Weighted GPA (No real scale): 97.701</p>

<p>Rank: 33/415</p>

<p>SAT: 2070/2400 or 1450/1600 (CR: 660, M: 790, W: 620) I’m expecting a 2250+ in my next sitting
SAT II: Literature: 660, US History: 710. I am expecting to improve these scores and get an 800 in Math II</p>

<p>Visual Representation of my Extreme Upward Trend:</p>

<p>9th grade:
English 9 CP: A-
World Honors 9: B
Biology Honors: B
Geometry CP: A
Introduction to Business (0.5 credit): A+
Advanced Seminar: B
Concert Band: A
Instrumental Tech (.5 credit): A
Physical Education (.5 credit): B</p>

<p>10th grade:
English 10 Honors: B-
American History 1 Honors: B+
Chemistry Honors: C+
Algebra II CP: A
French I: A
Concert Band: A+
Instrumental Tech (.5 credit): A+
Health (.5 credit): B-
Driver Education (.5 credit): A-
Physical Education (.5 credit): B+</p>

<p>11th grade:
AP English Language and Composition: A
AP US History: A-
AP Psychology: A
Pre-Calculus Honors: A
Physics Honors: A
French II: A+
Concert Band (.5 credit): A+
Instrumental Tech (.5 credit): A+
Physical Education: B+</p>

<p>AP Scores: US History (5), English Lang&Comp (5), Psychology (4)</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP Literature
AP US Government
AP Microeconomics
AP Statistics
AP European History
French III
Concert Band (.5 credit)</p>

<p>Only 14 APs offered at my school by the way.</p>

<p>ECs:
Marching Band (6 years)
-USSBA 2007 and 2008 Grand National Champions and 2010 Group IV Open National Champions
-Won hundreds of other awards in the USSBA circuit
Percussion Ensemble (5 years)
Wind Ensemble (2 years)
PMEA District Band (2 non-consecutive years)
-Ranked 4th best percussionist in the district
Creative Writing Club (3 years)
-One of the founding members
Interact Club (2 years)
-Raised thousands of dollars through school functions to give to local charities
Young Republicans (1 year)
-Founded the club in my school. First subjective political club in my school.
Blue Eagle Ambassadors (1 year)
-Student Government of hand picked students by the principal
Ski Club (7 years)
Scholastic Scrimmage (2 years)
-2nd place at districts
French Club (2 years)
Fellowship of Christian Students (3 years)
-One of the founding members</p>

<p>Leadership:
Marching Band: Lead Tenor
Young Republicans: Founder/President
Blue Eagle Ambassadors: Student Government
Creative Writing Club: Treasurer</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:
ArtsQuest: 100+ hours (It’s a local arts and music plaza)
Interact Club: 30+ hours
Church: 30+ hours
Concert for Cancer: Participated to help raise money for cancer treatment</p>

<p>Other Awards:
AP Scholar
National Honors Society
High Honor Roll
Recognition from Principal for Advanced on 4Sight Tests </p>

<p>Hooks: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING :D</p>

<p>Essay: Still in the works of it. I was told that it displays my passion for band and leadership excellently, but I do not focus on myself enough. If I rewrite it correctly, it should be an awesome essay.</p>

<p>Recommendations: From the three best teachers I know.</p>

<hr>

<p>So yea, I’m under the impression that my chances are 0.001%. Is that accurate?</p>

2

<p>Here’s a little tip:</p>

<p>Harvard uses you’re academic GPA, math, science, english, history and foreign languages (which means no band, health, drivers ED, etc.) The one you’re showing is most likely your overall GPA. If you recalculate it, it might not be as bad as you think.
Quick Advice: -Ace the Interview :)</p>

<p>P.S. sorry about the friend :(</p>

3

<p>I did what you said, and my GPA went down to a 3.58 lol…or if I take advanced seminar out of the picture (not sure if it counts), it’s still only a 3.61…</p>

4

<p>Uhh… if you do well Senior year that would definitely help. Also, I would suggest that you’d highlight your academic interests along with your passions in your essay.</p>

5

<p>That’s another problem. I have no idea how to “highlight my academic interests” within my common app essay. I could do it in the supplement essay but I honestly have no idea what to write. I know what my interests are, but I don’t know how to make an essay out of it…</p>

6

<p>Tell specific stories. (This entire post is based on a hypothetical dude who likes volunteering and biology, because I’m not exactly sure what you do like, and because I want to give examples for the principle, rather than, even accidentally, directly giving you a topic. I’d feel weird.) E.g., rather than “I like biology because of the promise of the thrill of discovery,” “One day at the lab, I discovered that if you put jxkljzlkja chemical on cancer cells, they all die. My theoretical knowledge of jxkljzlkja chemicals combined with a spark of creativity to produce a breakthrough, which is why I love biology.” (only more detailed, of course).</p>

<p>Here are some questions to help you remember specific stories to use in your essays:
What are your academic interests? How did you get into them? Why do you like them? What activities have you done relating to those interests? Have you helped anyone else understand your passion in mentoring or tutoring or something?</p>

<p>If I were you, I’d make a list of possible themes (“I am a curious person;” “I enjoy helping other people;” “whoamygod biology”) and stories relating to them (“That time I didn’t recognize a fungus in the woods, sent a picture to a local nature journal, and then discovered that it was a species thought extinct in my area,” “how I helped my younger cousin understand osmosis with an experiment I set up in my kitchen,” “that time I realized my experiment had worked”).
Then look at what seems most compelling. Some of these stories will prove multiple points, like the osmosis experiment: you + biology + helping others. Those are probably better, all else equal, than the ones that prove just one. You don’t need to explicitly explain everything it shows about you, of course. You could pick “helping others” as the theme of that essay, and explain both the tutoring organization you run, showing your helpful spirit nowadays (directly on point), and this one time when you were thirteen with your younger cousin and a piece of wax with holes punched in it [having written this example thus far I can’t actually think of a semipermeable membrane one would have around the house; just go with it] and a set of vials in your kitchen and some colored water (on point, and also lookit I’m a nerd I do biology), which really exemplifies how the helpfulness isn’t a resume-padding thing, but that you’ve been a helpful person ever since you were a wee laddie. I’m crafting these examples, of course, so no worries if your real ones fit less perfectly. But once you’ve brainstormed your stories and the points you want to demonstrate about yourself, those are the sorts of things you should be looking for to narrow down the possible range of essays.</p>

7

<p>I could discuss my shadowing of a lawyer, which sparked my interest in law a lot. And how I have had an interest in the world since I was a very young boy (I would literally read Atlases in 1st grade for fun). And, when I went away to France and Italy this summer, my passion for international studies grew even more. Then with Economics I had two influence: my 9th grade Business teacher who sparked my interest in the subject, and my uncle who is heavily invested in the stock market (and is quiet successful) which created an interested for Economics within me. Which is why I am interested in International Business and Law. <-----My career goal.</p>

8

<p>Yes, that sort of thing. Two suggestions.</p>

<p>*If you do the lawyer thing, make sure you make it absolutely clear that you are not expecting to be majoring in pre-law, as Harvard had no such major (nor do almost any top schools, I think).</p>

<p>*“My ninth grade business teacher” (etc.) Nonono. Too vague. Your ideas are on the right track, but I was thinking more “the stock market simulation my business teacher ran that I won and that sparked my interest,” or “over the course of the year I went from not being able to manage my money, and so had a humiliating experience when I had $50 at the start of a day at the mall, which I spent, and then met a girl I really liked for a date and then realized I had run out of money and she had to pay and it was embarrassing to being really financially savvy at the end of the year to the point where my parents were consulting me for investment advice.” Keep brainstorming to get more specific. To go back to our previous example, “the one day in the lab that I made a great discovery,” not “I liked my lab class and sometimes discovered things.”</p>

<p>Edit, third suggestion.</p>

<p>*Finance is not the same as economics. Finance is fine as an interest, but you should call it that. Neither a business class nor a rich uncle (I might not make my only essay about him, non?) is economics, per se. They’re both finance.</p>

9

<p>He’s not rich, he just does well in the stock market. But I catch your drift :P</p>