Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

Posting this again because in my original threat some harvard nut took over and started a debate...

Hi all. I live within 15 minutes of Stanford University. Is my location helpful or hurtful to my chances of admission? I know my school sends about 2 ppl there every year. Just wondering what close proximity to a school means for admissions. thanks.

By Harvardguy (Harvardguy) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 06:49 pm: Edit

Yes, I understand you may not be that close to Harvard, and you may need to purchase an airline ticket for transport to Cambridge, Massachusetts. However, allow me to elaborate on some points about the admission process of Harvard College:

1)Proximity does not increase/decrease your chances of acceptance to Harvard College.
2)Harvard University's admission process is need-blind.

In recent years, many students have been attracted to colleges that are not truly comparable to Harvard. I am currently a sophomore at Harvard College. During the past twelve months of my enrollment at Harvard, I have become more and more familiar with the excellence of Harvard College. Therefore, during this memorial weekend I have decided to encourage all students who visit this discussion board to consider Harvard as their number one choice as they decide about their future education. Don’t even bother applying to other schools that can’t even compete with the excellence of Harvard University. You may feel that I am biased, since I am a Harvard student myself; but if you are not convinced about the excellence of Harvard University you can visit their website at www.harvad.edu.

In the following paragraphs, I have provided you with more information about history of Harvard College. All the information is available on Harvard’s web page:

“Harvard University, which celebrated its 350th anniversary in 1986, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Founded 16 years after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the University has grown from nine students with a single master to an enrollment of more than 18,000 degree candidates, including undergraduates and students in 10 graduate and professional schools.

“Seven presidents of the United States – John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George W. Bush – were graduates of Harvard. Its faculty have produced nearly 40 Nobel laureates.”

I sincerely encourage all students to visit Harvard some time during summer. Forget about all the schools you are considering as an option for your future education! Harvard is the best-fit school for all of you hard working students. I wish you best of luck! If you have any questions you can refer to Harvard’s website at www.harvard.edu or you can email me at: vban@fas.harvard.edu.

By Uclanerd (Uclanerd) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 06:55 pm: Edit

Hey didn't his email change? But anyway I don't think it will impact your chances for enrollment. However, I am not too familiar with stanford's policies.

By Nk110 (Nk110) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 07:04 pm: Edit

I agree with Harvardguy that proximity does not play a role in the admission process of Harvard. Harvard is definitely my first choice. I wonder if you can post your stats or possibly your essays for us. I appreciate your informative postings about the excellence of Harvard University, and also for your kind encouragements.

Anyone who has been accepted to Harvard, would you please post your stats?

Anyone who knows someone who has been accepted to Harvard, please post his or her stats.

I appreciate everyone’s help in advance.

By Nsk (Nsk) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 07:10 pm: Edit

Hi everyone, I know someone who has been accepted to Harvard from our school. Here are her stats:

Race: Black/African American
Standarized Tests: SAT I 1480, SAT IIs 750/740/790
G.P.A : UW- 3.96 W-5.01
Ranking: 7/435
ECs: Honors Society...she has one several math and science contests and is also a good athlete.

That's all I know! I hope it will be helpful.

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 07:14 pm: Edit

i plan not to visit harvard during the summer and don't care about harvard.

By John1600 (John1600) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 07:26 pm: Edit

Most people that are unhappy at Harvard came here because of the name without thinking about what type of school they actually wanted to go to. Harvard is not a school that will baby you. Fellow students are incredibly talented but also sometimes self-absorbed. That said, I have also met many amazing, talented, and very friendly people.

By May_1 (May_1) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 07:38 pm: Edit

I think this is exactly what Rockofeller DIDN'T want!!!

If you want an accurate answer to the question ask your guidance counselor what percentage of applicants from your school has been typically accepted to Stanford, and compare it to the average acceptance rate. That should give you a good idea.

By John1600 (John1600) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 08:13 pm: Edit

Accepted to Harvard! (class of 2005)

My stats are as follows:

SAT: 1600 (800 v/800M) SAT 2: 800 (2c) 800 (bio) 770 (writing) Rank: 1/576 male, applied to the physics major

Summer activities: 10th grade - Rutgers Young Scholars Program in Discrete Mathematics 11th grade - NJ Gov's school of Engineering and Technology

APs: - Calc AB, Bio, Stats -- all 5's this year - Calc BC, Physics C, Chemistry, US Hist, English, Psych

ECs: varsity swimming, student government, math league, science league, nhs, debate, key club, academic decathlon

Excellent recs. Very personal non-typical essays.

... They are really great with financial aid.

By May_1 (May_1) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 08:20 pm: Edit

Wait, you're a tranfer student?

By Andymcgav (Andymcgav) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 08:25 pm: Edit

Harvardguy I don't know whether you are being sarcastic or not, but it is annoying. I am still going to apply to other schools that CAN compete with Harvard's excellence.

By Rockofeller (Rockofeller) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 08:44 pm: Edit

I'd like to thank most of you for not answering my post and again talking about Harvard. TRUE thanks go to the few people who did reply to my post. ARGH STUPID HARVARD NUTS - ITS NOT PERFECT FOR EVERYONE!!!!GET A LIFE!

By Dream5 (Dream5) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 09:21 pm: Edit

What's the deal with Harvard on this website?

I thought that only asians had an obsession with Harvard. I guess I was wrong. lol

Amherst Guy

By John1600 (John1600) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 09:44 pm: Edit

You are welcome Rockofeller. Consider Harvard as your first choice. It's good a school! Don’t worry if it's not close to your home. Your education is far more crucial at this time. After obtaining your degree from Harvard, you can go back and enjoy the privileges of holding a Harvard degree at California with your family. Also, if you be far from your family for some time, then you will be more appreciative towards your family. I hope I'll see you in Harvard! And best of Luck!

By Harvardguy (Harvardguy) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 09:52 pm: Edit

You are very welcome Rockofeller. I agree with John1600. I hope that these statements from Harvard students have convinced you to consider Harvard as your first choice. If your are not yet convinced, please visit Harvard’s website at www.harvard.edu which will definitely give you a better insight into the excellence of Harvard’s academic programs.

By Harvardlover (Harvardlover) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 10:15 pm: Edit

Hi to all of you, I am a junior and I REALLY want to join Harvard. I would like to post my stats and I will appreciate it if you Harvard students or others who really know about Harvard's admission procedure give me an evaluation. Here are my stats:

Demographic Information
School Type: Public
Location (city, state, country): Pittsford, NY, USA
Race/Gender: White Male
Prospective Major: Economics

High School Information
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Class rank: 1/672

SAT I Scores
SAT I Math: 800
SAT I Verbal: 800

SAT II Scores
SAT II Writing: 800
SAT II Math IIC: 800
SAT II Chemistry: 790

Additional Info
Extracurricular Info: Started charitable organization collecting, refurbishing, and donating computers. VP of student council, Mock Trial 5th in state, Federal Reserve Challenge 1st in state, Model UN VP with many awards. Started "Political Discussion Group."

Other Info: 5s on 7 APs as of junior year. This year I spend 1/2 day at H.S., 1/2 day at community college.

By John1600 (John1600) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 10:18 pm: Edit

Hey Harvardlover, I am amazed! your performance on standarized tests is outstanding. Your ranking at school shows that you are a competitive person who really deserves to come to Harvard. In my opinion, you are the sort of guy that Harvard will definitely admit. See you next year at Harvard! focus on your application and write an expressive essay. Good Luck!

By Nk110 (Nk110) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 10:23 pm: Edit

WOW!! your stats are perfect.You are definitely in! I think my stats are not even comparable to yours, but I'll just post it. Hey all people who have information about Harvard: What are my chances??? Will I get in?

Here we go, these are my stats (so far):



Major: Political Science
Unweighted GPA: 96.6
Class rank: 7 of 400

SAT I Scores
SAT I Math: 790
SAT I Verbal: 780

SAT II Scores
SAT II Writing: 790
SAT II World History: 800
SAT II Math IC: 740
SAT II Chemistry: 720
SAT II Physics: 740

ECs: Football All-State, Basketball, Baseball, Tennis, Orchestra, Mock Trial, FBLA, Mentoring, School Paper, NHS

By Harvardlover (Harvardlover) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 10:25 pm: Edit

Quite impressive! why do you think you'll not get in. It seems like you are a great athlete. Harvard's admission procedure is undoubtedly one of the best ones in the nation. Don't worry! if your show genuine interest in Harvard; they will definitely accept you. Good Luck

By Rockofeller (Rockofeller) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 10:40 pm: Edit

If the people at Harvard are anything like you two, who won't even let me get my question answered and talk about irrelevant junk, then I would refuse a full scholarship to go there! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? Read my original post and tell me WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH HARVARD?

"Hi all. I live within 15 minutes of Stanford University. Is my location helpful or hurtful to my chances of admission? I know my school sends about 2 ppl there every year. Just wondering what close proximity to a school means for admissions. thanks. "

By ~the_Chosen~ (~the_Chosen~) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 11:49 pm: Edit

You Harvard goons need to learn how to respect a person's thread and not troll.

Stanford is probably the best university in the West, it is a great school.

I don't think they care if you live close or not, check Stanford's statistics for accepting Cali students.

Goodluck

By Rockofeller (Rockofeller) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 12:33 am: Edit

Thank you the Chosen. Unfortunate for me but I guess i'll have to get in under my own power...or with the help of a stanford professor who is mentoring me hehe. Thanks

By Harvardguy (Harvardguy) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 11:24 am: Edit

Mr./ Mrs. Rockofeller; to answer your question about Stanford’s admission process, I obtained the following information from Stanford’s website: (http://www.stanford.edu/home/stanford/facts/undergraduate.html#profile)
40 % of Stanford’s admits are from California. But this statistics does not necessarily demonstrate the fact that Stanford prefers to admit those applicants who live close to the school. Stanford realizes the fact that those applicants who live close to their school will most likely accept the admission offer in order to be close to their family. But there is also another possibility: number of applicants from California may be much higher than out-of-state applicants. Therefore, Stanford’s acceptance rate for California residents may be lower for in-state applicants. We cannot draw any definite conclusions based on these statistics. But in my opinion; if you live close to Stanford, you will have a greater chance of getting in.

If you receive a full scholarship at Harvard, don’t even consider going to other schools. Harvard is a great school and you should not lose this great opportunity. As I mentioned before, proximity to school is not a factor in Harvard’s admission process.

Profile of the Class of 2006
Freshman applicants 18,599
Freshman admits 2,368
General admit rate 12.7%
Freshmen entering 1,639
Male 51.9%
Female 48.1%
High schools represented
Public 69%
Private 30.5%
Home school .5%

Geographic Diversity
States represented 49
Largest state represented California (40.3%)
Countries represented 42

By Quarky (Quarky) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 02:09 pm: Edit

BTW, Harvardguy, I don't think it is possible for Rockofeller to be a Mrs., since the latter refers to a MARRIED woman! And nobody ever said that CC names are our real names. Does it look like Quarky is my real name? Of course not! Harvard education... how sad

By Lateralus (Lateralus) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 06:46 pm: Edit

his name is Zachary Landes

By Creatorcat (Creatorcat) on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 04:10 pm: Edit

greets to the tool fan

By Dxiw (Dxiw) on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 09:17 pm: Edit

hey harvard guys, harvard is my dream school. 3 of my friends are seniors and will be attending in c/o 2007 but i'm the only guy applying from my school this year for c/o 2008. I was wondering in general what are most people's sat score there? do you have any friends with 1400's? I have a 1470 myself which i kno is a bit low for harvard, but I have a LOT of awesome recommendations, and a LOT (4 pages typed) of e/c's and awards. I also do a lot of unique and interesting things like scuba diving and r/c flying and excell in them, as a matter of fact i have been internationally recognized in my underwater photography scuba diving and am a regional r/c flight instructor. I have also been dedicated to martial arts for over 12 years. I guess my question to you harvard guys is:

What are the chances (or rather are there a lot admitted) of ppl that have decent academics (4.5 gpa 1470sat) but are really interesting and are unique ppl that have passions that they fully engage in (read: many awards in) and e/c's that are not just participation but that they have risen to be top in (r/c flying instructor, underwater photography awards, 2nd black belt in karate (excellent recs)) and that also have leadership (pres/vice pres of every club i'm in, and these are 30ppl+ size clubs)? also, i plan to use rotc as my hook, I am top in my city for rotc and have recommendations from national colonels, I'm prob doing rotc scholarship (cambridge rotc, through mit classes), and i have over 50 school level and national level rotc awards...anyways thanks for any info. I also have a very very strong love for harvard and it is really the "place" for me, i am attending harvard summer school and have visited before, i simply love it. If it helps, i am applying to an underrepresented major prob computer science or engineering..and math wise i am pretty good, A+ average in diff eq, multivariable calculus 5 on ap calc ab/bc, 800 on sat1 and 2 math..all done junior year

By Collegeguy (Collegeguy) on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 09:38 pm: Edit

Dxiw (fellow businessman),

I'll tell you right now that SATs are trivial to Harvard (that's what current students tell me). From your post, I'd say you're a shoo-in. Your dedication to ROTC will stand out while the rest of the engineering applicants (myself include) are limited to the "asian" ecs. Do you mind elaborating on your four pages of ec's?

By Rowan (Rowan) on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 10:01 pm: Edit

Rockofeller: The only bearing I can see proximity to the campus having on your application is that if it is indeed your top choice school (is it?) you should know quite a bit about it and be able to coherantly and specifically tell the adcomm why you know you'd fit in there.

Other than that, I'm pretty sure there's no real advantage/disadvantage. Your school sending 2 people a year seems promising, though that's your school and not necessarily its location.

Good luck this fall; I'll be joining you in the applicant pool from SoCal.

By Dxiw (Dxiw) on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 01:50 am: Edit

well I have several regional and state awards in martial arts. I have a bunch of those academic excellence awards in AP classes taken. I have ALL of the possible ROTC awards at the top, for example I have the Superior Cadet award which is the #1 most prestigious school-level award, and I have 2 national level awards of American Veterans and Scottish Rite. R/C Flying is a hobby i really enjoy, i am an instructor. Scuba Diving i have been doing for years, and even before diving i used to go with my dad ever since age 6 or 7 to the ocean and he would teach me underwater photography. I have been to every carribean island and taken photographs of marine life there and I have entered my collection into several competitions before. As far as my business, I am ranked by Wirehed magazine as the #2 Geek Website on the web and I have been published before. I am the webmaster for many organizations like United Synagogue Youth and JSA. Speaking of clubs, in Junior Statemen of America, I am the vice mayor for the entire north texas region and the vice president of the chapter at my school. I am president of science club, and vice president of math club. I am vice president of the fort worth chapter of united synagogue youth and I should be june 8 the webmaster for the entire state of texas in USY. I took the most difficult classes possible and always did every possible thing to get the highest grade, I have completed full college math by junior year (yes that include diff eq, multivar calc, laplace transforms, calc ab, calc bc, vector calc, lin algebra). Anyways back to e/c's, i have varsity swimming and varsity golf, and i do competitive weightlifting for 3 years. I will have excellent rec's from 2 teachers in school + ROTC (will talk about my influence on the program, I turned a fully paper based system into a network of computers and websites for every school in the city) + karate instructor. Also, during 7,8,9th grade I studied abroad in Israel. I have been doing echocardiography and heart research in a medical office/company for 3 years while assisting the elderly, have over 1000 hours here. I am obviously part of all the stuff at my school like National Honor Society and all the UIL teams. I am fluent in 4 languages. Nonvarsity i've done tennis, track and soccer. I did research in 9th-10th grade on oral bacteria and won 1st place award in science fair and from Dental Association. And this year and senior year I'm doing research for Intel STS. I have a lot of prestigious ROTC awards like Staff Officer of the Year and such. I recieved a trophy for outstanding performance in diff eq and several nerd of the week awards haha. As far as volunteer I've been everywhere in the city and have done some paramedic volunteer work at big gatherings (total around 1500 hours). I am the head of the IT department at a medical company and will be getting an aweseom letter of recommendation. This year in rotc i got the sai proficiency award (1 out of 150+ ppl). I am currently working on learnign to play some instruments well enough to win some awards as well. I will have about 15-20 AP's when I graduate. GPA is 4.5W 3.8UW (damn fresh year), rank top 5%. Thats all I'm thinking of now I know I've got some other stuff too..

Also, this year from my school 4 applied and 3 got in, 1 waitlisted. Next year I'll be the only kid applying at all, if that helps me in anyway. I also plan to string together everything and my ROTC experience into my essays. Also, I met the admission officer for my area the other day and we talked for 3 hours and I got her number.

Summers:
7th,8th,9th - Research / Study abroad in Israel
10th - Volunteer / Job
11th - Harvard Summer School - Taking complete principles of economics: macro and micro (8 credits)

By Altereagle (Altereagle) on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 09:06 am: Edit

Rocko,
First off, if these are truly Harvard folks/fans, this definitely shows the arrogance they are noted for.

To your point. Since you most likely cannot or will not move from your current location, I suggest you find something else to worry about. Work on the things you can impact, and don't spend your time worrying about the things that you cannot change. This includes location, race, gender, etc. These are out of your control and whether they will impact a college's opinion of you is irrelavant. All you really can do is make sure that your application paints a great picture of you, and that you write some killer essays that are from not only from your heart, but that make you sound like that type of person Stanford wants on their campus. Now figuring out what that is, will be the challenge that you must face.

Good luck.

By Apguy (Apguy) on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 04:02 pm: Edit

Rockofeller- If some trolls are constantly annoying you just report them to a moderator.

By Asdf_1_3 (Asdf_1_3) on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 05:56 pm: Edit

Hey John1600,

I am interested in the Rutgers Young Scholars Program in Discrete Mathematics program and would appreciate it if you could give me some feedback on it. How did you like it? How were the kids there (super-geniuses?)? Also, do you know of any other summer programs similar to this one? I know many people who will be attending Ivy League summer schools, but I have heard that these programs are not valued much by admissions officers. Is this true?

Thanks a lot.

By Collegeguy (Collegeguy) on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 07:02 pm: Edit

Dxiw,

You are THE most accomplished poster on these boards. Even as people tell us that Ivy League admissions is a crapshoot, for cases like yours, it's just obvious that you'll get in.

Seriously, you have INSANE ec's, AWESOME AP's/GPA, and you've basically covered every area from mathematics to competitive weight lifting. If you don't get into Harvard or Oxford or whatever, I don't know who will.

This is the highest compliment I have paid anyone lol.

By Dxiw (Dxiw) on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 07:37 pm: Edit

haha its just i never seem to perform well on standardized test like sat. and although most of my aps are 4 and 5 i do have a 2 in ap lang, but I plan on keeping it secret hehe

By ~the_Chosen~ (~the_Chosen~) on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 09:11 pm: Edit

good Dxiw, I also received the Scottish Rite medal and Superior Cadet medal, but I never put these ROTC awards on my Cornell application. I just put that I attended the Primary Leadership Development Course.

If I added ROTC awards, I don't know how much longer it would've made my resume. But you using ROTC as a hook is great. The 4-year scholarships are very competitive for example a Virginia tech guy told me that 400 were applying to about 30 for those full tuition coverages.

I think you have a great chance, if you get interviewed that means you are a very competitive applicant.

By ~the_Chosen~ (~the_Chosen~) on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 09:13 pm: Edit

btw, what is your rank? I'm battalion cdr, cadet LTC, the highest position possible at my school, I'm in charge of two ROTC programs at two different schools, since 1 entire battalion fits within 2 small schools. Being commander of anything sounds impressive, also Saber Team/Orienteering Commander here.

By Dxiw (Dxiw) on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 11:18 pm: Edit

I am Captain of Rifle Team as well and I have led the team to be one of the best in the city. Anyways, I have some cool ROTC stuff. I also have medals for other stuff, Cadet Challenge and all..

By Calguy (Calguy) on Tuesday, June 03, 2003 - 12:59 pm: Edit

Take this from someone who knows- there are no "sure things" at Harvard. I had perfect grades, SATS SAT2s ECs Recommendations and played sports, applied EA, was deferred and did not even get on the waitlist. I was waitlisted at Penn and Princeton, accepted to Cornell Northwestern Cal UCLA, Williams Amherst and others. A classmate with good, but lesser stats got in to Harvard(his sister goes there). The same is true of most Ivies, perfection is no guaranty. (I can't prove it but I think being the son of 2 college educated professionals and living in the suburbs didn't help.)

Now back to the original question, Stanford definitely GAVE bonus points for Early Decision applicants. It was definitely easier (but not easy) to get in than regular admits.

I did get into Stanford, off waitlist, and I live 15 min from Stanford. I visited campus after waitlist called and met SEVERAL students from the immediate area who were accepted off waitlist. If you really want to go there, apply EA (they are starting non binding early action next year), and hang in there. Accept waitlist if offered, contact the Admissions office after you are offered waitlist, write a letter and send more recommendations. Good luck.