SAT 2200 Accepted by Harvard

汪小武

[From College Confidential]

Decision: Accepted


Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2200 (Superscore: 680 CR 800M 720 W) took it three times lol (didn't send)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 M, 35 R, 35 E, 36 S, 9on essay)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II:780, US History: 670 (didn't send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top10% I think I am 3/285
AP (place score in parentheses): 5's: USHistory, AP Calculus AB subscore (that's it)
4's: French, English Lang, World History, APCalculus BC
3: Chemistry, Physics 1
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Psychology, AP Econ,AP English, AP Bio, AP Physics II, Senior Independent Project
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing verycompetitive, Gold President's Volunteer Service Award, AP ScholarDistinction,$1000 Mid-Atlantic Lasallian Scholarship for Academic Excellenceand Leadership, several school awards, got a CTY scholarship to study at JohnsHopkins one summer

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):

Listed on app:
Heart for Vietnam Children's Initiative [10-12]:Founded and directed an unofficial non-profit organization with my dad thatfocuses on providing educational and nutritional resources, funding WASHconstruction, etc. for underprivileged schools in Vietnam. Over 2,000+ impactedin four Vietnamese cities
Baltimore Youth Project [11-12): Founded anddirected an initiative/club that collaborates with Baltimore City schools andorganizations to develop and provide workshops, curriculum, etc,, specificallyon nutrition and art.
Service [9-12]:
Research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine andthe Urban Health Institute [11-12]: Researched the effects of low-income andfood-insecure household environments on the brain and behavior (submitted toIntel). For UHI, I helped the director find local researchers at nearbyuniversities in order to collaborate with them. My experience at Hopkins hasbeen great, especially since the public health school is right across thestreet. The conferences there really sparked my interest in public health.
Work (paid) [9-12]: See job/work experience
Boy Scout since 6th grade: Eagle Scout, was anAssistant senior patrol leader, troop guide
Varsity Soccer [11-12]: Two year letterman,helped manage team. We were ranked #33 nationally for a while and #2 in state(#1 in state was also #1 nationally)
Job/Work Experience: I have been paid to tutorkids for test prep and also babysat my cousins since freshman year. I started asmall lawn service business to raise money for HVCI.
Volunteer/Community Service: mentioned abovethere was a lot (1000+). Service really opened doors for me. That was what myessay was about. I have learned so much from service and it has shaped my lifetremendously. I have assisted in filling cavities, taught classes in front offreshmen, served food, etc. All of these experiences helped me so much infinding my passion
Summer Activities: Habitat build in New Orleansafter 9th grade, in eastern shore of Virginia (after 10th), visited Stanford,Boy Scout jamboree, volunteered at camp for city kids (after 9th grade)
Volunteered in a hospital pharmacy after 10th,took a public health class at Hopkins, raised money for HVCI, volunteered alot, worked, took care of my mom, etc.
After 11th: research at hopkins, volunteered ata camp, finding partnerships for BYP, fundraised, etc.

Essays:
To be completely honest with you, I thought myessays were my weakest part especially since I had to edit them a few weekslater. These past few weeks I have been scrutinizing every single phrase, etc.
Common App: solid 8.5/10 I wrote about how Iperformed CPR on my mom in the middle of the night and took care of when shehad a stroke and cancer. These experiences led me to help out at a food driveand then the rest is history. Service became very important to me and I wroteabout how much it helped me understand my community and the world while pushingme to always be positive and grateful and a role model for others. Theneighborhood I grew up in Baltimore is notorious for murders. My grandfatherwas shot when I was a child. My uncles were mugged several times and I faced alot of bullying in school while caring for cousins who lived with me and my illmother. Service helped me get through that. It was my solace to say the least.
Harvard extra-curricular: 8/10 I thought it wasalright. Talked about HVCI but felt it was too detailed.
Harvard supplement: 7/10 Talked about mychildhood battle with obesity, homer simpson, anthony bourdain, leftoverquesadillas, but I felt it didn't express my personality that well.

Teacher Recommendations: I didn't read any ofthem, so i can't say. My history teacher is the director of this honors programat my school and knows me very well and the work I have been doing. He hashelped me a lot and I can always say or do anything with them (9.5/10).
My english teacher is very uncoventional andenglish has always been my weakest class, but I worked my butt off (8.5/10)
Third from retired math teacher: 7.5/10)

Counselor Rec: 10/10 she loved me even though Iswitched over at the end of last year.
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: Idk tbh, i thought it was one of theweaker parts of my application even though we talked for nearly an hour and ahalf. We had very different personalities to say the least, but I learned a lotabout Harvard.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration:Biology with aconcentration in urban studies and global/public health
State (if domestic applicant): the old linestate (MD)
Country (if international applicant): USA USAUSA
School Type: private, catholic
Ethnicity: Viet swag (Asian)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $40,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):first gen, low-income, personal hardships (see above)

Reflection
Strengths: EC's (even though I didn't have afour-year commitment for a lot of them but they showed my passion), Common appessay, some recs, test scores
Weaknesses: Supplement essays, didn't send twoSAT subject scores, lack of major awards, lack of 5's on APs
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:I think my passion for Baltimore, children, and food showed through. I hadpersonal struggles and talked about how they changed me and made me who I amtoday. My recs, even though I say they weren't good, probably got me through aswell.
Where else you are applying or have alreadyapplied: RD: USC, Duke, JHU, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford.
Applied: UMD, UCLA, Berkeley and UVA
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Just wantedto first say congrats to all who were accepted! I can't wait to meet you oneday. For those deferred, there is still a glimmer of hope. You have so much tooffer and will be so happy in three months I can guarantee it. Never think ofthis as a dead end. I applied for Questbridge and was heartbroken to not beselected as a finalist. I had Stanford as my dream school for so long, butafter Questbridge decisions, I rethought everything and saw that Harvard wasthe best option for me especially since I want to pursue public health studies.This is a hurdle to your road to success. Never give up, be yourself, lovelife, pray to God, and always be grateful and passionate. Being unique canovercome weaknesses in academics.

I always had hope, but there are so many peopleout there who deserve more this me. I just give thanks to God and my family. Ihope this post can help someone along the way. Never feel discouraged. Be proudof yourself that's all that matters!.