My Dad is pushing me to apply for Harvard Early Decision, but I know that I will not be allowed entry.
I am Hispanic, born in Puerto Rico, and moved over and I am part of the lower class. I am part of a magnet program for my high school which is a very bad high school with bad reputations, but because of the district I am assigned there. I have a 3.1 unweighted and a 4.0 weighted for my Junior year. My SAT was 1290. These scores aren’t getting me nowhere. But my Dad still says that because I am Hispanic and all that stuff I have a shot.
The problem is that Harvard doesn’t let me apply early to other colleges while applying for their early admission, which early admission give students a greater chance of getting in. I know that with my scores I will at least make a living selling newspapers at stop lights. So how do I get myself out of this Harvard delusion?
I should have stayed in Puerto Rico where the private school I went to was better than this one and might have allowed me to get admitted at least one technical college.
Show Dad the admission stats. If he still wants to make what amounts to a donation to Harvard then insist on doing it in the RD round.
There are plenty of schools that will be delighted with a B student. It’s just that Harvard isn’t one of them. Read the book “Where You Go is not Who You Are” by Frank Bruni. You’ll feel MUCH better about your possibilities. This book should be required reading for ALL high school sophomores or juniors. How about it, teachers??
Sure they do. You just can’t apply early to any private colleges.
You can also show him the Common Data Set. https://oir.harvard.edu/files/huoir/files/harvard_cds_2017-18.pdf
93% of accepted students have a 3.75+. You should assume that the 7% that don’t (A) have a GPA fairly close to 3.75 and (B) are heavily hooked like a recruited athlete or child of a major donor.
There are plenty of options for college for someone like you, but Harvard is not likely to be one of them. Good luck.
ED applications are due November 1st. Even if you convince your dad to let you apply ED to another school, it’s a little late in the day to start the process. Also, with your stats and URM status, you should have plenty of good options. There are tons of great schools out there beside Harvard.