<p>I think that Harvard would be a great fit for me (I recently found out that Harvard has a Neurobiology concentration so I think that it’d be good for me). As I said before, I want to major in Neurobiology. But, I want to know what I can do to be on the right track. So:</p>
<p>Class Rank: No class ranks</p>
<p>GPA: no unweighted at my school, Currently my GPA is 4.33 (will be about 4.55 end of junior)</p>
<p>Classes:</p>
<p>7th
Alg. 1 HN (A)</p>
<p>8th
Geom HN (A)
Spanish 1 (A)</p>
<p>9th
Bio HN (A)
Photo 1 (A)
World History HN (A)
English 9 HN (A)
Spanish 2 (A)
Alg. 2 HN (A)
PE 9 (A)</p>
<p>10th
Chem HN (A)
AP Stats (A)
AP World History (A)
English 10 HN (A)
Precalc w/Trig HN (A)
Spanish 3 (A)
Leadership/Student Gov. (A)
PE 10 (A)</p>
<p>11th (planned)
AP Chem
AP Calc BC
AP Us History
AP Lang
AP Physics B
AP Spanish
Advanced Composition/ Writing Center</p>
<p>12th (planned)
AP Bio
Multivar Calculus/ Matrix Algebra
AP US Gov./AP US Comparative Gov.
AP Lit
AP Physics C
AP Physics C
Spanish 5
Advanced Composition/Writing Center OR Human Anatomy </p>
<p>ECs:
Model UN since 9th grade (running for leadership pos.)
Debate Team (10th grade, almost gar. Secretary position)
Math Honor Society/ Mu Alpha Theta
Art Honor Scoiety
History Honor Society (next year)
Science Honor Society (next year)
Volunteer at highly renown hospital (app. 250 hours by end of Junior year)
Rec league basketball since 4th grade, plan to volunteer coach next fall and then rest of highschool</p>
<p>Summer:
Gov. School or Penn Summer school or Harvard SSP this summer
Research internship at local college next summer</p>
<p>Scores:
SAT: Taken many practice tests, estimate 2250-2350
SAT II:
Bio: 740 (Took last year after Bio HN should I retake)
Will take World History and maybe Chem this June</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with your ECs. It’s not always what you do that matters. More important is their capacity to demonstrate your leadership ability, character, and whether or not you made an impact in your school (and will likely do the same at Harvard).</p>
<p>I don’t see what’s inherently wrong with “generic.”</p>
<p>@Dwight- You don’t see what’s wrong with generic? Harvard’s an Ivy. Generic doesn’t cut it. For top tier schools you need to do something extraordinary. I’m just saying, generic means there are hundreds of other applicants doing the same thing who are more qualified/have a hook in other areas. </p>
<p>OP- no clue how that would look. I never started any clubs but I know a lot of people who do.</p>
<p>The reason I do debate and MUN is because I’m interested in Politics and International Relations. I plan on taking high level science classes and volunteer in the hospital because I want to major in neurobiology. Would these ECs express that?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I am aware Harvard is an Ivy, given that I am a current Harvard student. No need to be condescending. </p></li>
<li><p>This is a common misunderstanding. You can be an extraordinary applicant with tried-and-true ECs. Often times applicants come from backgrounds without the resources to do groundbreaking activities (and with the over 200,000 applicants who have applied in the last decade, what is truly groundbreaking anyway?) and often times ECs come from family connections or the precedents of a high-achieving school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My ECs, put succinctly on paper, were:</p>
<p>–Mock Trial Captain
–Led an already-existing soup kitchen program at my high school
–Chess club
–Summer camp counselor</p>
<p>Of course they’re generic and boring when merely listed like that. But there is a lot more to say about them. There are a lot of things my recommenders could say about them. There were a lot of ways I could incorporate them into my essays.</p>
<p>Again, it’s not always what you do that matters.</p>