Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 34 (35E,36M,36R,27S) and 34(36E,33M,36R,31S)
SAT II: 800 Math Level II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.889
Weighted GPA: School doesn’t weight
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): Didn’t take any APs
IB (place score in parenthesis): No IBs
Senior Year Course Load:
English 4 Honors
Advanced Physics
Advanced Biology
Linear Algebra
AP Calculus BC
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Attended SAMS
Couple of local research awards
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Math Team
Science Team (Captain)
Student council
School Newspaper (Editor-in-chief)
Job/Work Experience:
Have a job out of school
Did some research at a local college
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities: SAMS, research at local college
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7-8/10 (unique but could be better written)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 (super close with her and she’s really experienced)
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 (really close with him and he writes the best letters)
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 8/10 (She read it to me and it was really good)
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details): two additional recs from community members and such (7-9/10)
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): We really hit it off and she was super nice (8-9/10)
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biological Science
State (if domestic applicant): From a big city in a midwestern state
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: African/African-American
Gender: Male
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, First-gen, low-income
Reflections:
Strengths:
Very pointed in terms of STEM and STEM accomplishments
Good enough grades and scores
Some hooks
Unique essays
Weaknesses:
My course-load is very STEM focused, especially in senior year with only 1 non-STEM class. So I thought that a liberal arts place like Harvard would see that as a bad thing. And from the lawsuit, we see that Harvard is reluctant at admitting very STEM focused people because they a.) don’t want to become like MIT/Caltech and b.) think that STEM students would be better served at tech. schools. But I think that applying EA showed that I was interested in the liberal arts philosophy of Harvard and how I didn’t want to attend a tech. school.
Only took three years of a foreign language (Spanish) and got a B in as a final grade for Spanish in sophomore year.
Submitted 1 subject test instead of 2. I didn’t have the time to study and do well in another subject test.
Maybe GPA, but I think it was enough.
Another Biological Science major, which is a popular choice.
Competitive region and competitive school
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Really can’t tell you. Probably SAMS helped a lot and I was lucky to have a great interview
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: UMichigan (accepted EA)
General Comments (if any): It all comes down to who you have review your file and the priorities of the school that year (Ex: We have a new science building, lets get more STEM majors)
I was fortunate enough to applying a good year but I know that I could’ve easily been deferred/rejected later on if I didn’t have something the school was looking for. For the people accepted, be humbled and look forward to the opportunities you have and the people you will meet For those not accepted, don’t worry. There are a lot of schools who’d be lucky to have you. You didn’t get in because you’re a bad student or bad applicant. It’s because there weren’t enough seats and “institutional priorities” got in your way.