@Verizonwireless: Colleges use test scores to gauge how you well you would do if admitted to their school. The HIGHER your score, the less an Admissions Directors will question if you can handle the work load on their campus.
Once your test scores reach a certain threshold – about 2200 SAT and 34 ACT for Harvard, which is about their mid-point, having a higher test score DOES NOT necessarily increase your chances. That’s because other more subjective factors such as your teacher recommendations, EC’s and essays reveal more about your “character” than a number on an SAT score.
That said, if an applicant’s test scores are below Harvard’s mid-point, to be admitted they MUST have something else going on in their file to compensate for the lower test scores, such as being a recruited athlete, concert musician, Intel Science winner etc. Do you have something like that going on?
@bravesirzaphod, I see where your coming from and I apologize for my tone, I just don’t like someone accusing me of something that they know nothing about. Regarding your comment about it being a crapshoot, I totally agree with you but I have a few comments. My cousin, who lives in New York, attends Stuyvesant High school, EVERY SINGLE YEAR, 8-12 kids get into Harvard. I don’t go to Stuyvesant and therefore I have no one to “advise” me on my decisions regarding college. My school doesn’t even have a guidance councilor. I realize that Harvard is looking for kids who can add to their student body. I may not be Black or Native American, but I’m Jewish, coming from a school with about 40 kids, and I was raised by a single mother, so therefore I believe it isn’t a “crapshoot” it’s more of a shot in the dark with a flash light in the room. I know that I may not know SO much about college admissions, but the sheer fact that I’m not a typical WASPy American rich kid who attends an elitist school (private or public) gives Harvard a minor sense of diversity
Sure, diversity, but you’re competing not against that “WASPy American rich kid” (way to generalize?) but against extremely driven Indian students who have been placing internationally in math competitions since they were 7, et cetera. The international pool is killer.
@Gibby, not necessarily, no, I used to play piano when I was 12, (even played in carnegie hall once), but I will definitely try to shoot towards the 2200 range. Also, I wanted to ask you, if I have many (11ish Not including my summer activities, which were internships), extra curricular activities, 90% of them are leadership, but they aren’t necessarily oriented in the same field, (I’m captain of the debate team, president of the student fund raising committee, president of the stock market club), so there isn’t necessarily a clear correlation, so is that a disadvantage? Also, regarding Major Awards, my school cant really participate in MAJOR competitions because I’m a religious Jew, and EVERY competition we tried to enter was on Saturday, so will the college take that into account? I know this response is filled with LOTS of questions, but you seem like the best person to ask
@bodangles, I heard that international students make up 10% of the incoming class, so therefore 90% are American, and isn’t that my competition. BTW, I’m not generalizing, but 50%+ of Harvard’s incoming class is made up of these “WASPy Americans”, so they want to shift a change in the class dimension. BTW @gibby can you find the statistic where it says how many (percentage) of Harvard’s incoming class is from religious schools?
When colleges say they are interested in leaders, many students assume they are looking for captains of athletic teams, or presidents of student councils, or editors of newspapers, or captains of the debate team, etc. And sometimes they are. But more often than not, as colleges are academic institutions, and not extra curricular camps, they are looking for leaders in the classroom. They are looking for students who not only contribute to the classroom conversation, but dynamically lead the discussion. They are looking for students who constantly raise their hands and have thoughtful opinions. They are looking for students who are respected and admired by their peers and teachers alike. They are looking for remarkable scholars who will be remembered for years to come after they graduate. Colleges are looking for your teachers to confirm your leadership qualities in their recommendation letters with concrete examples. So, it’s NOT about leadership in EC’s, it’s leadership in the classroom that counts!
I know, I believe that, At HMC, they told me that teacher recs and councilor recs are the most important important part of the application. ANYWAY, can you answer the other two
Yes. The recs that matter don’t just tell how smart Johnny is; they tell of his being a class leader and a thoughtful presence in the classroom. The know-it-all and the A+ robot won’t get that kind of rec nor the nod that comes with it.
Sweet, there are plenty of academically talented kids who go to terrible schools and still manage to do well on the SAT. There are plenty of kids who don’t have advisors or people who know their way around the process, but figure it out themselves. Harvard won’t cut you that much slack.
There are so many great schools out there. I’d recommend finding some that are more attainable than Harvard.
Why would you apply to all eight of the Ivy League schools?
They are hardly similar. The fact that you think that you would be equally at home in the more rural environment of Princeton and Dartmouth along with the rural environments of Penn, Harvard, and Columbia makes me believe that you’ve created a list based more on prestige than how much you actually connect to each school.
Applying to schools that you have no actual connection to will come back to hurt you in the end.
@tiberium, thats not actually the case, I fell in love with HYP because they are all so to speak “similar”. I’m not applying to Columbia (sorry that I didn’t mention that previously) and I’m not applying to MIT or Stanford, even though those schools have immense prestige, so therefore your wrong. I may not apply to Cornell, it’s still a maybe, but anyway, I’m looking for a school with a “college”, and yes it should have prestige as well. I will apply to Uchicago as well. Everything is subjective with college decisions, and the school that I resonate most with is … Harvard… but being that there is a 94% chance that I wont get in, as stated by @BraveSirZaphod, I cant commit.
Look. With your current stats and without a hook, the Ivies are not attainable for you. You can still find a school where you’ll get a great education and be happy. But you need to expand your search and look beyond prestige.
If you can’t prove you will succeed academically, your ECs, essays, and recs matter very little. That is why your SAT sticks out. How is your course rigor? You go to a small school, but did you take the most challenging courses available?
And I’m talking about the hundreds of great colleges and universities in the U.S., some of which might offer you a merit scholarship for that 32 ACT. There are small LACs and big universities that might turn out to be an even better fit for you than Harvard.
@glittervine, not only did I take the most advanced course load possible (Took all the APs my school offers), and I want a top 50 school, (preferably top 20), because I know I’ll meet amazing people there
Honestly, just study and do your best. There are exceptions to every rule here. If you feel that everything you do besides your SAT score is Harvard material, and your score at least begins with a 2, chances are, that won’t hold you back.
Your posts suggest that your relatively-low SAT score is a product of the school that you attend. But you appear to be taking a rigorous curriculum, taking a number of AP courses. Why do you think this? What is it about your school that’s keeping you from a 2200?
@notjoe, well the first thing is that I only found out about the SAT in January of 2015 and I don’t have the formal means of study. My family is poor so I cant really afford a tutor. My school doesn’t have any formal SAT program or any advice or guidance councilor for the kids (me) to talk to and get advice on taking the SAT. By AP’s, my school offers 6, I took one last year and am taking 4 this year and one next year, I didn’t take the exam for last year because we had no money. So, I sort of “stagnated” in the 18-1900 range … BUT I’m still a junior so with the help of g-d, I can get a 2200+ by october. So I need your help, all of you in particular.