***Official Harvard University 2015 Decisions Thread***

jsungoh
Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:18:26 +0000

I posted much earlier with barely any info, but decided to post my detailed one now:

Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2210 (750 M, 750 CR, 710 W, 11 Essay)
[] ACT: Never Took
[] SAT II: 780 Math IIC, 740 US History
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): UW: 3.95, W: 4.52
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/500+
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus AB (5), AP Calculus BC (5), AP Biology (4), AP Psychology (4), AP Chemistry (3), AP US History (4), AP World History (4), AP English Language (3)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): Never Took
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP French, AP Music Theory, AP Physics C, AP English Literature, AP Statistics, Student Govt, Independent Govt/Econ
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None really. I have over 10+ Violin competition wins (With recognition as State Panel Masters), Collegeboard AP Scholar with Distinction, President Obama Education Award- Gold Seal, Congressional Award from Congressman Brad Sherman, Letter of Appreciation from L.A. Regional Chairman (I also sent in an additional award- Gates Millennium Scholar Finalist, which now I’m a Gates Millennium Scholar)
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Government (President-12th, Treasurer- 11th), Class Board (President- 9th-11th), Junior State of America Organization (State Director- 10th-12th), Junior State of America High School Chapter (Co-President- 12th), Korean Club (Co-President, 11th), Chamber Club (Creator/President- 11th-12th), College Orchestra (Concertmaster- 10th-12th, Associate Concertmaster- 9th)
[] Job/Work Experience: Private Tutor (12th)
[] Volunteer/Community service: Hospital (10th-12th: 160+ Hours), Nonprofit Organization work (9th-12th: 100+ Hours)
[] Summer Activities: Nonprofit Organization Internship (12th), French at Community College (11th)
[] Essays: One was about my passion in violin performance, and it’s experience bringing me to places like the Walt Disney Hall, Another was about successfully creating new parks in Los Angeles, my Harvard one was about my two favorite books and how they relate to me
[] Teacher Recommendation: English Teacher’s: Very personal and caring
Math Teacher’s: Never seen. But, I’m assuming it was superb, since he wrote my recommendation for Gates Millennium
Student Govt/Psychology Teacher’s: Never seen, but I heard from a friend that my teacher writes a wonderful recommendation
[] Counselor Rec: Never seen, but assuming it was good (since I’m pretty close to my counselor)
[] Additional Rec: Amazing, since my internship president (who graduated from Harvard) wrote about my passion and what we successfully achieved
[] Music Supplement: Decent. Performed two hard repertoires, one by Sarasate (Zigeunerweisen) and another by Bach (Ciaconne). My music supplement recommendation was good, as my recommender was a music professor at one of the top music schools, and talked about my dedication to the college (been in the different level college’s orchestras since my 2nd grade)
[] Interview: I was interviewed twice. First time was sort of average, since my interviewer didn’t seem to be very positive nor negative about Harvard. My second interview was from an Assistant Admissions Officer (who is specialized with low income students). I really enjoyed this interview, since she was really nice and I loved talking to her (:
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: 20k ~ 30k
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Disadvantage: ORM. But, I believe that my brother who attends Harvard may have helped me a little
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: My passions
[] Weaknesses: My scores (even though many people keep telling me they’re superb. I personally believe that as an Asian, mine are sub par)
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Originally, I think I was a Wait Listed student, until I sent my Gates Millennium Scholar Finalist status. This may have got the admission’s officers realizing that I was struggling through financial difficulties (that I did not mention), thus the second interview ensued, and eventually got me in
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Harvard, Stanford, Tufts, Pomona, UCLA (Regent’s Scholar), UC Berkeley, UCSD
Wait Listed: Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia
Rejected: Yale, UPenn
[/ul]General Comments: I posted very late partially due to uncertainty whether I should post it (since time did pass), but decided to post in the end. Struggling not only through low-income life, but also high expectations due to my brother (and having English as my second language), I never knew that I would have been considered by ivies. My peers were jealous about my brother’s acceptance and constantly talked behind my back, making my life more difficult. But, in the end, I told myself that I will go wherever a school sees my passion in public service, and this is the result of all my hard work. I wish everyone the best of luck in their endeavors! Harvard Class of 2015