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I applied EA to Harvard nearly 2 months ago. The wait is finally, almost over. I'm really starting to become a nervous wreck.
Decisions will be sent out by December 13. It's December 11. The paranoia is starting to take hold. If I were accepted, would I have received my letter/email yet? I mean, it does say BY December 13...
Of course it's a longshot. That's what everyone says. You see people with 2400SAT, 800SAT2 get rejected, and you think, "how the fuck do i have a chance?" Yea, everyone acknowledges acceptance being a longshot, but everyone expects to be the needle in the haystack, for various reasons.
What's so special about me? How would I differentiate myself from other applicants? From everything I've read, everyone I've talked to, that's your best bet at being the needle in the haystack. Especially if you aren't the Super-Academic.
Now you might say, sir darth, inform me of your credentials; why would you deserve acceptance?
+ Show Spoiler +
Pros:
-3.71UW/4.57W GPA (out of 4)
-IB Diploma Student
-5 years living abroad experience
-Bilingual
-4 year football player; 2X captain (led our team to first winning season in 13 years)
-3 year track&field
-Studied for a month in France as part of the Tufts Summit European Center Program
-National Honor Society
-Foreign Language Honor Society
-5 AP GOV, 4 AP USH (as a freshman)
-Attend a minority majority high school (avg SAT score is 1540/2400)
-Football accolades (1st team blablabla)
-Great rec letters
-Very good essays (e.g - "Sleeping With Monks: A Personal Adventure")
-VERY good interview with Mary Louise Kelly of NPR/Georgetown faculty
-Attended Harvard's overnight football camp last summer
-Helped out a lot at community events for the school, PTSA, summer camp, etc.
Cons:
-1940 SAT (made me want to kill myself lol)
-620 French SAT2 (i'm much better speaking than writing/grammar)
-600 Biology SAT2
-Caucasian
The one thing about the IB program, the classes are two years long. I had only had the first year of biology before I had to take the SAT2, so I had not learned neurobiology, hormones, etc. which show up very frequently on the SAT2.
The SAT really fucked me up. I see so many people with nigh perfect SATs, and SAT2s. It's really depressing.
Ugh. It's such a crapshoot. So many deserving individuals. Did I do enough to distinguish myself, to take away from my subpar SAT results? Only time will tell. I'm aware that people overhype Harvard and the importance of it, but I've invested so much time, effort...hope, into it. I will be elated or crushed.
I'm naturally pessimistic. Either I will be right, and I haven't been accepted, or I will be happy. Let's hope for the latter.
EDIT: http://postimage.org/image/nqsuu4kc3/
 
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Basically your GPA is higher than mine (cuz my school sucks and didn't implement any kind of system and was giving us straight percentages on IB things which aren't straight percentages. Along with that some of our teachers basically forced us to have B's and getting A's was like DAMN) so my GPA is like 3.3-4 and a 4.123. I'm really similar to you in pretty much every way except I'm not bilingual and my original AP's (took the same as you) were lower by a point  . I did get higher SAT II's but not by much except for the 700 i got on U.S. history. WE ARE LIKE THE SAME PERSON if you change out sports n stuff O.o, except I've never lived abroad  or really go abroad in general. I'm barely not bilingual too which sucks I can read and listen to hebrew and I can read spanish and I hear yiddish but FUCK ME I'm not fluent. GL, you have a great shot and you need to remember that college apps aren't as much about scores as they are about politics, what race they want, what area of the country, what religion, what X thing you have that they want that isn't your grades or essays.
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On December 12 2012 11:54 docvoc wrote:Basically your GPA is higher than mine (cuz my school sucks and didn't implement any kind of system and was giving us straight percentages on IB things which aren't straight percentages. Along with that some of our teachers basically forced us to have B's and getting A's was like DAMN) so my GPA is like 3.3-4 and a 4.123. I'm really similar to you in pretty much every way except I'm not bilingual and my original AP's (took the same as you) were lower by a point . I did get higher SAT II's but not by much except for the 700 i got on U.S. history. WE ARE LIKE THE SAME PERSON if you change out sports n stuff O.o, except I've never lived abroad or really go abroad in general. I'm barely not bilingual too which sucks I can read and listen to hebrew and I can read spanish and I hear yiddish but FUCK ME I'm not fluent. GL, you have a great shot and you need to remember that college apps aren't as much about scores as they are about politics, what race they want, what area of the country, what religion, what X thing you have that they want that isn't your grades or essays.
Thanks man! I appreciate it. It just sucks feeling helpless, knowing your fate is in others' hands.
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As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros 
And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything?
Being a white guy isn't the worst thing in the world, by the way. Not enough to put it under Cons, anyway. If you were like Native American or something though, I'd put that as a Pro lol.
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On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything?
Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so.
May I ask what you scored on reading+math?
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I'm a high school sophomore. Your Pros make me depressed.
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On December 12 2012 12:29 AgentW wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything? Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so. May I ask what you scored on reading+math?
I scored merely at 1300 flat on the CR/M.
Idk man, it's really depressing. The SAT just isn't my thing i guess. It really annoys me though because college isn't one 4 hour long test.
For my sake, i hope you're wrong. I'm unique and i hope it showed.
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On December 12 2012 12:31 Praetorial wrote:
I'm a high school sophomore. Your Pros make me depressed.
You always have time.
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On December 12 2012 12:34 darthfoley wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2012 12:29 AgentW wrote:On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything? Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so. May I ask what you scored on reading+math? I scored merely at 1300 flat on the CR/M. Idk man, it's really depressing. The SAT just isn't my thing i guess. It really annoys me though because college isn't one 4 hour long test. For my sake, i hope you're wrong. I'm unique and i hope it showed.
I'm rooting for you, I truly am. But I'll tell you, April 1 is probably the most depressing day in high schools across America. Perhaps I've been hardened by the experience myself :'(. What other schools are you looking at?
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I'm rooting hard for you man, but to be absolutely brutally honest, those test scores will kill you and I think get you deferred and ultimately rejected. You have essentially the exact same credentials as my sister (albeit probably better essays), who got rejected. She was an absolute model student but not great test-taker and harvard didn't accept her.
Personally, I applied EA to Uchicago, and they say decisions are finalized and will be sent mid-december. I want in sooo bad, and the wait is worse than anything. On the plus side, my backup school (Tulane University, still very good) accepted me and will give me half tuition (108k over four years) in scholarships. I want Chicago so bad though, will almost definitely go there if I get in.
SHARE IN THE DREAD OF WAITING WITH ME!
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On December 12 2012 12:44 AgentW wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2012 12:34 darthfoley wrote:On December 12 2012 12:29 AgentW wrote:On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything? Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so. May I ask what you scored on reading+math? I scored merely at 1300 flat on the CR/M. Idk man, it's really depressing. The SAT just isn't my thing i guess. It really annoys me though because college isn't one 4 hour long test. For my sake, i hope you're wrong. I'm unique and i hope it showed. I'm rooting for you, I truly am. But I'll tell you, April 1 is probably the most depressing day in high schools across America. Perhaps I've been hardened by the experience myself :'(. What other schools are you looking at?
I'm applying to stanford, northwestern, cornell, richmond, amherst, middlebury, dickinson, f&m, rice, vanderbilt. The only thing positive about my SAT, I don't come from a... high performance SAT school.
I hope that the 1940 doesn't look AS bad because my school avg is 1540. +400
If i were going to a school with an average of 2230 or something, i'd surely be screwed.
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On December 12 2012 12:34 darthfoley wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2012 12:29 AgentW wrote:On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything? Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so. May I ask what you scored on reading+math? I scored merely at 1300 flat on the CR/M. Idk man, it's really depressing. The SAT just isn't my thing i guess. It really annoys me though because college isn't one 4 hour long test. For my sake, i hope you're wrong. I'm unique and i hope it showed.
I agree with AgentW that the uniqueness of the applicants (that X factor that each student needs to bring out in their applications) really starts to become important with the Ivy League schools... but the pool of students they care about is still in regards to the top scoring individuals as far as I know. I'm pretty sure the understanding is "Okay, a hundred kids all have 2400s on their SAT... now which of them has that X factor we want?" I don't think X factor > solid test scores.
Regardless, good luck I hope I'm wrong ^^
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On December 12 2012 12:55 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2012 12:34 darthfoley wrote:On December 12 2012 12:29 AgentW wrote:On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything? Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so. May I ask what you scored on reading+math? I scored merely at 1300 flat on the CR/M. Idk man, it's really depressing. The SAT just isn't my thing i guess. It really annoys me though because college isn't one 4 hour long test. For my sake, i hope you're wrong. I'm unique and i hope it showed. I agree with AgentW that the uniqueness of the applicants (that X factor that each student needs to bring out in their applications) really starts to become important with the Ivy League schools... but the pool of students they care about is still in regards to the top scoring individuals as far as I know. I'm pretty sure the understanding is "Okay, a hundred kids all have 2400s on their SAT... now which of them has that X factor we want?" I don't think X factor > solid test scores. Regardless, good luck I hope I'm wrong ^^
Yea, you're probably right. Oh well
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On December 12 2012 12:56 darthfoley wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2012 12:55 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:On December 12 2012 12:34 darthfoley wrote:On December 12 2012 12:29 AgentW wrote:On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything? Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so. May I ask what you scored on reading+math? I scored merely at 1300 flat on the CR/M. Idk man, it's really depressing. The SAT just isn't my thing i guess. It really annoys me though because college isn't one 4 hour long test. For my sake, i hope you're wrong. I'm unique and i hope it showed. I agree with AgentW that the uniqueness of the applicants (that X factor that each student needs to bring out in their applications) really starts to become important with the Ivy League schools... but the pool of students they care about is still in regards to the top scoring individuals as far as I know. I'm pretty sure the understanding is "Okay, a hundred kids all have 2400s on their SAT... now which of them has that X factor we want?" I don't think X factor > solid test scores. Regardless, good luck I hope I'm wrong ^^ Yea, you're probably right. Oh well
I agree with you that college isn't one 4 hour test. And as an SAT/ standardized test tutor, I could write a huge list of flaws that those tests have. But in general, that's as good a predictor of national, standardized high school proficiency for math and verbal skills that we have at the moment. Sucks
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On December 12 2012 12:53 darthfoley wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2012 12:44 AgentW wrote:On December 12 2012 12:34 darthfoley wrote:On December 12 2012 12:29 AgentW wrote:On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything? Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so. May I ask what you scored on reading+math? I scored merely at 1300 flat on the CR/M. Idk man, it's really depressing. The SAT just isn't my thing i guess. It really annoys me though because college isn't one 4 hour long test. For my sake, i hope you're wrong. I'm unique and i hope it showed. I'm rooting for you, I truly am. But I'll tell you, April 1 is probably the most depressing day in high schools across America. Perhaps I've been hardened by the experience myself :'(. What other schools are you looking at? I'm applying to stanford, northwestern, cornell, richmond, amherst, middlebury, dickinson, f&m, rice, vanderbilt. The only thing positive about my SAT, I don't come from a... high performance SAT school. I hope that the 1940 doesn't look AS bad because my school avg is 1540. +400 If i were going to a school with an average of 2230 or something, i'd surely be screwed.
I think in out of 1600, so that 1540 average looks very differently in my eyes now. Dunno how much schools look at how poor your HS is unless it's really, really bad.
On December 12 2012 12:55 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2012 12:34 darthfoley wrote:On December 12 2012 12:29 AgentW wrote:On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything? Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so. May I ask what you scored on reading+math? I scored merely at 1300 flat on the CR/M. Idk man, it's really depressing. The SAT just isn't my thing i guess. It really annoys me though because college isn't one 4 hour long test. For my sake, i hope you're wrong. I'm unique and i hope it showed. I agree with AgentW that the uniqueness of the applicants (that X factor that each student needs to bring out in their applications) really starts to become important with the Ivy League schools... but the pool of students they care about is still in regards to the top scoring individuals as far as I know. I'm pretty sure the understanding is "Okay, a hundred kids all have 2400s on their SAT... now which of them has that X factor we want?" I don't think X factor > solid test scores. Regardless, good luck I hope I'm wrong ^^
Sadly, I think your last point is correct.
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Welp, there's nothing I can do about it now anyways. Probably could've studied harder for the SAT, but the IB track really fucks up the SAT2s because its international curriculum doesn't account for having to take SAT2s after half the course...
ugh taking AP bio would've probably given me a 700+
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even if you don't get in, there's a lot of great schools that will accept you with those pros.
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I'd also like to point out that while it's not scoring you any points, being Caucasian is not hurting you much. What the Ivies really don't want more of are Asians and Jews. So as long as you are not Asian or Jewish, your race credentials are not too bad.
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On December 12 2012 12:56 darthfoley wrote:Show nested quote +On December 12 2012 12:55 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:On December 12 2012 12:34 darthfoley wrote:On December 12 2012 12:29 AgentW wrote:On December 12 2012 12:17 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:As I was reading down your list, I was really impressed with your Pros And then I was like Wow, your standardized test scores are crap Did you take the SAT more than once? Did you prepare or get tutored or anything? Exactly what I thought. Was really, really impressed by the pros, but my test scores beat his pretty handily, I went to a very good high school, did very well, extracurriculars etc. and didn't have a sniff at Harvard. I think the real chance he has is that big Ivys, like Harvard, don't necessarily care a ton about test scores, more the "uniqueness" factor that an applicant can bring. The real question, and I think this has been asked, is: are the scores good enough to not matter? Honestly, I don't think so. May I ask what you scored on reading+math? I scored merely at 1300 flat on the CR/M. Idk man, it's really depressing. The SAT just isn't my thing i guess. It really annoys me though because college isn't one 4 hour long test. For my sake, i hope you're wrong. I'm unique and i hope it showed. I agree with AgentW that the uniqueness of the applicants (that X factor that each student needs to bring out in their applications) really starts to become important with the Ivy League schools... but the pool of students they care about is still in regards to the top scoring individuals as far as I know. I'm pretty sure the understanding is "Okay, a hundred kids all have 2400s on their SAT... now which of them has that X factor we want?" I don't think X factor > solid test scores. Regardless, good luck I hope I'm wrong ^^ Yea, you're probably right. Oh well
No matter how cynical or perhaps realistic DPB and I are, you absolutely cannot think like that. I had a friend in HS who wanted to G'Town so badly, but she always said she wouldn't get in. She didn't get in.
Half of the battle is fought before the battle begins. Faith is critical to success. Sometimes you will fail, but you cannot be expecting failure.
Also consider we haven't read your essays, letters etc. If they were truly wowing, they can get you where you want to go.
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On December 12 2012 13:03 ampson wrote:
I'd also like to point out that while it's not scoring you any points, being Caucasian is not hurting you much. What the Ivies really don't want more of are Asians and Jews. So as long as you are not Asian or Jewish, your race credentials are not too bad.
They don't ask if you're Jewish....
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EPT
