Likely Letter Stats

Colleges & Universities Harvard University
41

<p>I just got a call today, and was told I’ll be receiving a likely letter later this week.</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<ul>
<li>SAT I : 730 Math, 800 Critical Reading, 750 Writing; (2260)</li>
<li>SAT II: Bio M 730, Math II 800</li>
<li>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/265</li>
</ul>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<ul>
<li>Extracurriculars :
Clubs: Earth Corps (President Senior Year), French Club, NHS, Math Club
Music: Cello (8 Years, principal in local youth symphony for 4 yrs, string quartet member [way more cello stuff I’m not going to list]), Bass Guitar (6 yrs, Jazz band all six)
Sports: None
Volunteer/Community service: Recycling and Composting through Earth Corps (which is a LOT of time), fundraising to send kids in Burkina Faso to school for my senior project.</li>
<li>Summer Activities: Trip abroad to Spain/France after sophomore year, but nothing too big outside of general work outside.</li>
<li>Essays: Common App Essay: I talked about my Honors English 10 teacher and how he completely changed my viewpoint on school and essentially taught me how to write. Supplement: I don’t remember right now… possibly on my senior project.</li>
<li>Teacher Recommendation: Two VERY good letters, from my BC Calc teacher (who I’ve had for Geo, Alg 2, and AB Calc) we’re honestly good friends and he is basically a genius when it comes to literature. The other is from my AP French teacher who I have had for 4 years.</li>
<li>Counselor Rec: No idea, honestly. We don’t know each other that well, and I don’t have huge faith in her abilities as a writer.</li>
<li>Interview: I think my interview pushed my application over the top. The day after, she emailed and let me know that she was sending a specific email to admissions to have them pay special attention to my app.</li>
</ul>

<p>Other</p>

<ul>
<li>State (if domestic applicant): Washington (state, not DC)</li>
<li>School Type: Public</li>
<li>Ethnicity: White (Mom is a German citizen, Dad from US)</li>
<li>Gender: Male</li>
<li>Income Bracket: Upper Middle Class</li>
<li>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Uh… from a very rural area? (VERY rural)</li>
</ul>

<p>Reflection</p>

<ul>
<li>Strengths: Interview, as I mentioned before. Also, course load (currently 4 AP classes) and I already have taken (and passed) Chem, Bio, and AB Calc. SAT scores (although not math), but my SAT II made up for it, I think. Also, I think the rural small town in WA helped.</li>
<li>Weaknesses: No athletics, but I might have made up for that by all the music.</li>
<li>Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nowhere yet. I’m still waiting on Princeton, Harvard, and Cornell. (And the University of Washington, I suppose).</li>
</ul>

42

<p>Congrats thewes6! I’m sure you’re very excited! I couldn’t believe it when I got the call. Will you be attending the visiting weekend in April?</p>

43

<p>@Edwards: Congrats yourself! (And everyone else). I’m not sure if I’ll be going… the trip across country and scheduling might be tough.</p>

44

<p>congrats thewes6! Who did the call come from?</p>

45

<p>@thewes6</p>

<p>What is your definition of rural? I do not consider a class size of 265 to be from a “VERY” rural area… I’ve lived in the rural countryside of China and am now dwelling in South Dakota, where we have a class of around 180, so I may have a overestimated perspective on the word.</p>

46

<p>Congrats thewes6! I hope I end up meeting you at accepted students weekend, but being from Louisiana I understand that the trip is heinous, though even more so for you. Nevertheless I’m sure you are incredibly excited! Do you think you’ll be attending?</p>

<p>Judgementday, I know my state lists my school district as a rural district, but my class size is >400. I don’t think the classification has much to do with school enrollment. I’m actually not sure how they arrived at the fact that my district is rural, when, in fact, the area is rather suburban. Oh well. </p>

<p>Any other liklies feeling senioritis hit hard? My mind keeps wandering to April 17th and Cambridge instead of my term paper! I can’t stop creeping Harvard forums and blogs when I should be researching. I might not get in after all, haha!</p>

47

<p>Also, on another note, I’m now in the awkward position of being offered a phone interview weeks after I received my likely. Has anyone else been in this situation? I know it’s not in good taste to mention the letter, but I’m afraid I’m going to sound like I think I’m for sure going (because I have a letter on my fridge that says almost exactly that…) and he’s going to think I’m arrogant. Ugh, I don’t know!</p>

48

<p>There’s no point in wasting your interviewer’s time. You can politely decline by telling your interviewer about the letter, then tell him you’d still be interested, especially in the informational aspects of the interview and his experience at Harvard.</p>

49

<p>Yeah, I definitely understand that the travel is far. Is Harvard your first choice? Also, yes, aleader, I feel the same way! A lot of times I just don’t feel like doing things since I’ve already accomplished my goal, haha. But about the interview, I had my interview before, so I’m not sure what to do.</p>

50

<p>Well I already accepted my interview, but he said it will only be about 20 minutes, and I got the feeling that it would be more informative than evaluative. (<– I think I made that word up.) </p>

<p>Haha, exactly. But then our grades will drop and we won’t get accepted and my mom would be so disappointed, haha.</p>

51

<p>Yeah, if I didn’t have to set an example for the other students, I would definitely slack enough to get low A’s instead of working to keep my 98 grade limit lol. But I enjoy the challenge and it is not as hard as it used to be, so I don’t mind doing it.</p>

52

<p>Someone posted a thread once asking whether it was appropriate to write essays about suffering from a physically abusive relationship. That was the most shameless thing I’ve ever seen on this website.
However, if you are an URM, and you report it in your applications, and it “helps you get in,” you ought to feel nothing less than absolute shame.
You are knowingly capitalizing on a ludicrous system which values superficial, accidental, and meaningless qualities of diversity (skin color, where your great-grandparents were born) over deep, cultivated, meaningful qualities of diversity (cognitive style, academic passion, practiced abilities).</p>

53

<p>You’re bringing such new and refreshing ideas to the table, ones that have never been expressed before on this website!</p>

<p>I’m lying.</p>

54

<p>Hahah I know! Actually I am currently trying to find any old debate threads over URMs. I would love to see some attempt at a cogent rebuttal.</p>

55

<p>If you’re having trouble finding a “cogent” counterargument…you’re not searching very well.</p>

56

<p>Enlighten me.</p>

57

<p>[Godwin’s</a> law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin’s_law]Godwin’s”>Godwin's law - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>Except for with affirmative action.</p>

<p>As a college confidential discussion progresses, the odds of an affirmative action argument beginning approach 1.</p>

58

<p>Funny you should should bring that up. I personally know Mike Godwin. I used to date his daughter.</p>

59

<p>I just got called by a Michigan Harvard Admissions Officer! Congrats to everyone else, I’m so excited! :)</p>

60

<p>At least with athletic likely letters–and most likely for the others as well, don’t blow off the interview. The likely letter is just that-- “likely” but it is not a contractual obligation on the part of Harvard. If the interviewer writes that you are arrogant and no way should be admitted–while that may not mean your letter will be withdrawn you can be sure it will raise at least a “yellow flag”. so go into the interview as if you don’t yet have the letter.</p>