Nearly 35,000 applications for the Class of '15.

[Jimmy797]

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@hopingdad I may have been as high as top 15%…I really don’t know. My recommendation probably helped a lot. My college counselor said that she wrote me one of the best of the year, based on holistic college-worthiness, if not grades. I’m a humanities person who went to a science-specialty public high school routinely ranked much higher than Stuyvesant on USNWR/just a few lower on gibby’s list. I have a national championship in my field of the humanities. I did try very hard at science, taking the most challenging courses, which is where the Bs came from.</p>

<p>And yes, I am a legacy. I get testy about it because several people from my high school heard that and then told me (in person) that I was clearly admitted on that basis alone. I still would like to hope that winning a national championship was more important to my admission than who my parents were… But I do sometimes doubt myself, too.

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<p>Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say you were admitted on that basis alone.
From Harvard’s website:

Are a student’s chances of admission enhanced if a relative has attended Harvard?
The application process is the same for all candidates. Among a group of similarly distinguished applicants, the daughters and sons of College alumni/ae may receive an additional look.

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<p>You definitely got to the final-ish rounds of admission, metaphorically speaking. You may have gained admission over someone with slightly better stats because you were a legacy, perhaps, but Harvard wouldn’t have admitted you if you weren’t worthy. I’m hoping the same will happen with me (sort of top 10-15%rank with excellence in both humanities and sciences, but not in social sciences which is where I tank) - except I’m not a legacy. But hoping that well-roundedness will serve me well :)</p>

<p>To those inquiring about the SAT and its lack of importance:
Trust me, the SAT is less important. I really really want to believe otherwise, because my SAT score greatly overshadows my rank (top 0.5% or so vs top 10%), but it just isn’t as important. While it does show great competence in English if you ace it, it shows close to nothing about your math skills (perhaps your logic skills a bit), and absolutely nil about your background in everything else. While great SAT scores will without a doubt boost your application, a great rank is a lot better (note I say rank because rank takes context into account, while GPA doesn’t, and admissions officers always consider context, because it’s extremely important.)</p>