Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1240 (630 EBRW, 610 math)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 690 BioE, 700 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.68
Weighted GPA: 4.14
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 37/615
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP US History (4), AP Environmental Science (4), AP Biology (4), AP Lang (3), AP World History (3), AP Calc AB (2)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Statistics, AP Human Geography, Honors Economics, Spanish III
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Third place in regional solo music performance, Student of the Month
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Key Club (Vice-President), Band (Section leader), Yearbook (Treasurer), National Honor Society (Secretary), Environmental Club (member), Fitness club (member)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: 20 hours per semester for Key Club plus summers so maybe ~200 total?
Summer Activities: Community college courses, summer program at a prestigious college
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Commonapp was about my commitment to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and racial justice in general. Supplemental was about how a trip to Haiti at 12 changed my views on global justice.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 10/10
Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): From Environmental Science teacher. I had one of the highest grades in the class and she was also the advisor for the club I’m in. 10/10
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): US History teacher who I wrote a really good term paper on Ralph Ellison’s impact on American political thought for. 10/10
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): Loves me. 10/10
Additional Rec (if any) (rating 1-10, details):
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): A guy in his thirties. We had a lot in common and talked about a lot. 10/10
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Suburban public
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: Male
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflections: Attending Harvard has been a dream of mine since I was a 5 and to see it come true is just incredible. I’m in disbelief. I had good but not eye-popping grades so it really goes to show you that they care a lot more than just GPA and test scores.
Strengths: Personal character, essays, extracurriculars, rec letters, interview.
Weaknesses: Grades and test scores not as good as some others.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Solid academic performer with commitment to a cause (racial justice) rather than just wanting to attend Harvard for the sake of attending Harvard.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Pretty certain I’ll be attending Harvard this fall, but will apply to Stanford and Yale just in case.
General Comments (if any): Don’t ever give up. Try to be a genuinely interesting person. Harvard is admitting a person, not a collection of stats, extracurriculars, and awards.