<p>I only took 7 triemesters (2 years + 1 tri) of science? (Chemistry, Advanced Biology, one triemester Cosmology/Physics)</p>
<p>I plan on replacing junior and senior year’s science slot with political science, history, and econ courses since I plan on majoring in poli sci or economics. I attend AESD and students are only required to take 2 years of science… I plan on taking the Biology AP, as well.</p>
<p>Do you think Hahvahd would see this as honing in on my passions or poor preparation for college?</p>
<p>They would see it as avoiding “the most rigorous curriculum available to you”, and might assume you were not up to the challenge of critical thinking skills. If your school offers 4 years of science and math, they expect those to be conquered, preferably at Honors or AP level.</p>
<p>It would really depend of course. If you can show some really expectational accomplishments in political science/economics (published articles, national debates, active political activity etc.), then your decision to forgo the science courses may not be as bad as fauve says. However, if there is nothing else to back up your ‘passions,’ having only 2 1/2 years of science doesn’t look to good.</p>
<p>Hmm…
would being the VP or President of the Republican Club, VP of the Economics Society, editor of the school newspaper’s Commentary section, exec board member of the Debate Club, scoring high on the Econ AP be considered as exceptional accomplishments? Or is that mediocre compared to other applicants?</p>
<p>Also, what if I take an advanced physics course for credit through summer school at my local public hs next summer?</p>
<p>ould being the VP or President of the Republican Club, VP of the Economics Society, editor of the school newspaper’s Commentary section, exec board member of the Debate Club, scoring high on the Econ AP be considered as exceptional accomplishments? Or is that mediocre compared to other applicants?"</p>
<p>There’s nothing exceptional about those accomplishments in the Harvard application pool. Stronger politically-related ECs would be being the student rep on your county’s school board, being governor of Boys or Girls State, heading a countywide high school group of a political party, being a Congressional page. Even with such accomplishments, however, a Harvard admission wouldn’t be guaranteed.</p>
<p>Boarding schools only limit one’s options as much as you allow them to. The kind of people whom Harvard wants make options for themselves even when others don’t see those possibilities.</p>
<p>I also assume you are not in boarding school over the summer.</p>
<p>Northstar, I can’t get off campus… that pretty much limits it completely when I’m in school… " your county’s school board, being governor of Boys or Girls State, heading a countywide high school group of a political party " <– NONE of those options are available to students at my school… we have plenty going on, on campus.</p>
<p>No, I am not in school over summer, but all the programs I’ve seen cost big $$ that my family can’t afford (example: JSA programs… I’m going to work all of next summer to get enough money for maybe 1/3 of the tuition…). I want to do the congressional page program, but I live on the opposite side of the state from our capital. </p>
<p>If you’ve taken one AP-level science and a lot of AP social science classes, you should be fine. But speaking for myself (a “Social Studies,” aka Political Science and Econ concentrator), I took:</p>
<p>5 years Social Science (4 AP) + 1 self-study AP
5 years Science (2 AP)
5 years Math (4 AP, 1 beyond AP)
4.5 years English (2 AP)
3 years Spanish (1 AP) + 2 in MS</p>
<p>Essay contests? Poli sci/ econ/ history types or just essay contests in general? Writing is my forte so I’m very interested in nat’l level contests…</p>
<p>"No, I am not in school over summer, but all the programs I’ve seen cost big $$ that my family can’t afford (example: JSA programs… I’m going to work all of next summer to get enough money for maybe 1/3 of the tuition…). I want to do the congressional page program, but I live on the opposite side of the state from our capital. </p>
<p>…is there something I’m missing here? "</p>
<p>Yes. First, the summer programs that cost a lot of money don’t impress colleges like H, which is impressed by things that students do on their own by either working hard or creating program.</p>
<p>Working can be a very strong EC even if it’s a low level job. Working indicates a sense of responsibility, maturity, etc., and can be far more impressive thanbeing sent by rich parents to a summer program at an Ivy or at something like JSA.</p>
<p>What are you doing with your time this summer? If you are old enough to work, why aren’t you working? If you are interested in something like politics, why not volunteer for a public official or local political party? Doing volunteer work in any field that interests you also could be a good EC. The time and effort it would take for you to create such an opportunity for yourself also would be impressive.</p>
<p>This is what Harvard says on their website in the FAQ section about HS preparation:</p>
<p>High School Preparation</p>
<p>Are there secondary school course requirements for admission?</p>
<p>There is no single academic path we expect all students to follow, but the strongest applicants take the most rigorous secondary school curricula available to them. An ideal four-year preparatory program includes four years of English, with extensive practice in writing; four years of math; four years of science: biology, chemistry, physics, and an advanced course in one of these subjects; three years of history, including American and European history; and four years of one foreign language.</p>