Harvard early action chances (also Wharton?)

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Harvard and Wharton are my top 2 choices. Also looking into Columbia, Stanford, Duke, and Vanderbilt.</p>

<p>Grade: 12
Race: White
Income: Probably won’t get any financial aid lol
GPA: 3.9 Weighted: 5.01
Rank: 4/331
ACT: 35 composite
SAT: 2200 (thinking about retaking)
Subject test scores: 760 physics and 740 literature</p>

<p>APs Completed: Human Geo (5), World History (4), Chem (4), Calc AB (5), Language and Composition (5), Environmental Science (4), Physics (4), and European History (4) (all of my elections for Key Club required me to travel around the state from January until late April so I didn’t have very much time to study)</p>

<p>Senior year courses: AP Calc BC, AP Gov/Econ, AP Psych, AP statistics, AP Lit, Yearbook, TV, American history at community college, and gym online</p>

<p>ECs: This is where my application becomes interesting.</p>

<p>Key Club International Trustee: Oversaw 3 Key Club districts (essentially states) and served on the international board of an organization with 270,000 members. This is the third highest position you can hold in Key Club, right behind International President and International Vice President.</p>

<p>Key Club District Treasurer: In charge of creating and maintaining a $750,000 budget and overseeing more than $220,000 of investments. Oversaw dues collection for 360 clubs in the state. Increased on time dues submission by 6%, something that is unheard of. I was one of 2 treasurers to receive the Distringuished District Treasurer award. 33 treasurers were eligible. </p>

<p>Grant program committee chair: Chaired the committee for my Key Club district that disbursed more than $20,000 in funds for projects that Key Clubs put on. All excess funds went to scholarships. </p>

<p>Key Club Lieutenant Governor: Oversaw more than 1500 Key Club members in 15 clubs in my geographic region. Chartered/reactivated 3 clubs in total, received Robert F. Lucas Outstanding Lt. Governor Award which is given to about 10 out of 41 LTGs in my District. Improved my division a lot.</p>

<p>While serving as LTG, I was also a member of the District Conference committee. This event attracts more than 1800 members from around the state and costs $500,000 to put on. Got a current US Congressman and former Key Club International President to speak at the event.</p>

<p>St. Baldrick’s Day Chairperson: One of 4 chair people for an event that raised $75,000 for Pediatric Cancer research. Hundreds of students from 4 schools in my county participated and shaved their heads in honor of children who had cancer. Hugely successful event. Even had the mayor shave his head.</p>

<p>Class council VP: Since my freshman year, I’ve been VP. I’m hoping to be reelected again. Been in charge of planning prom, spirit week, fundraisers, and other class activities.</p>

<p>Yearbook editor of Academics section: Section editor for a nationally recognized publication. We received a Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown for our book. I applied to be editor in chief for the next year.</p>

<p>TV Production show member: Received 2nd place in the nation at the National Scholastic Press Association’s in the PSA competition. I’m also our show’s political correspondent. I’ve interviewed a former governor, 4 congressmen, 2 senators, and a few mayors.</p>

<p>NHS president: all the usual stuff. Made application process stricter to prevent academically dishonest members out of the society. Created committees and held more hands on service projects.</p>

<p>I also recently got a job that I work at for about 8 hrs/week. Not sure if this is something to include in my apps, but I get paid $20/hour. I reorganized the company’s files into a paperless file management system in order to be eco-friendly.</p>

<p>I probably forgot to list some stuff, but I didn’t forget anything super important. Weaknesses and strengths? Chances for any of the schools I mentioned are appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Definitely include that you have a job. It’s a differentiator. </p>

<p>Most of what you list sounds like standard over-achieving. I would say yes retake the SAT if you can, because the test scores all indicate grade inflation (a 3.9 unweighted GPA not being a true reflection of your work level, if the teachers aren’t preparing you well enough for standardized tests).</p>

<p>Good chance at getting into one of the Ivies, if you can up your SAT scores. You should try to put together how many hours you spent, either total over a date range or average per week on your ECs.</p>

<p>(and what praytell is gym online, or is this an elaborate ■■■■■?)
(And how did they not elect the senior class student council yet? Most schools have been planning this past summer for senior year activities.)</p>

3

<p>@rhandco I’m not going to submit the SAT score if I don’t take it again. My ACT score converts to about a 2360 so I think the only reason I would retake the SAT is to show that I’m versatile/can adapt to different tests. </p>

<p>I know I have roughly 900 service hours right now, but it’s hard to estimate how long I spent for each activity without inflating or deflating anything :(</p>

<p>In my state, a lot of students take gym as an online course so that they can take more AP classes in school. Students also tend to put it off until the end of senior year (just like me) in order to keep their rank as high as possible when they’re applying to schools. As far as class council, I did get elected. I copied and pasted a lot of this thread from one I posted last year and I guess I missed that error. </p>

4

<p>bump</p>

5

<p>@shanethesemi - is the 35 on the ACT with writing?</p>

6

<p>@BldrDad‌ yes. I got 35 math, 36 english, 34 reading, and 35 science. I think I got a 10 on the essay.</p>

7

<p>Wharton is looking pretty solid. Managing 750k is really impressive.</p>

8

<p>@shanethesemi - you’re a strong candidate wherever you apply. I think Harvard SCEA is an excellent idea, with the higher acceptance rates, the odds of being one of the supremely qualified applicants they have to reject due to lack of space is a lot less. I’d think your odds of acceptance are much above 50%, unless you have so-so recommendations, dull essays and/or a poor interview (which seems unlikely).</p>

<p>Regarding the SAT - with that ACT score, I really don’t think the 2200 will hurt you. Submit it if you have to, otherwise, just submit the ACT and SAT subject test scores. FYI, my daughter sent her AP score report to Harvard…it wasn’t required, and I’m not sure it made a difference but it obviously didn’t hurt her.</p>

9

<p>How do you take gym as an online class? I’d put your chances at 45% for Harvard SCEA.</p>

10

<p>@onlythebest13‌ I guess being able to take gym online is a reflection of how terrible my state’s educational system is. Essentially, you just write essays, fill out workout logs, and track your progress for the class. It’s really easy and honestly a lot of people just make everything up. So many kids at my school just take gym online that they had to fire the full time gym teacher and hire a part time one. </p>

<p>Honestly though, I don’t see many benefits to making gym a graduation requirement for students. You’re not going to make a meaningful difference in someone’s lifestyle by forcing them into this class when they’re like 15+ years old. I think that money would be better spent on actual academics or better gym classes for children in elementary school. It’s easier to make a lifestyle change in a kid than a teenager, so why not make them more physically active at a young age? </p>

11

<p>Also, this is just a small detail, but a 35 on the ACT is equivalent to a 2330 not a 2360. <a href=“http://www.act.org/aap/concordance/pdf/reference.pdf”>http://www.act.org/aap/concordance/pdf/reference.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And what is your intended major? </p>

12

<p>deleted </p>