Hey, Collegevine is showing I have 14% chance at Harvard. How can I increase my chance if I have 1490 on my SAT and 4.0

Answered

Your SAT score is only one of 99 criteria that Harvard uses on their scoring rubric to determine a composite score for their applicants. Last cycle 55% of admits submitted SAT scores and 28% submitted ACT scores, and about 17%+ didn't submit any scores.

Harvard admits during the last cycle had an SAT score between 1490 and 1580 covering the middle 50% percentile of those admitted. The middle 50% percentile score was 1550 with 1490 being the 25% percentile score and 1580 being the 75% percentile score. This means 1/2 the admits had scores between 1550 and 1600 and the other 1/2 had scores less than 1550 and 1/4 and scores less than 1490.

I would surmise that most of the students admitted with less than 1490 were recruited athletes, legacies, faculty brats, VIPs, and wealthy donor kids. Also in this lower test band were black, Latina, and indigenous low-income, first-generation students. Therefore if you have ZERO hooks and are not a hooked applicant, I would not bank on admission with a lower 1490 SAT score at Harvard. Remember that at Harvard, having a good SAT score is more of a threshold barrier and not a key criterion for admission.

If you input a higher 1490 or 1550 SAT score on your CV Profile, you will see for yourself that your chances do not double or triple just because of 1 metric.

Key things that matter at Harvard and other Ivys and top Private colleges are the following:

-Evidence of intellectual vitality or curiosity. You must show evidence that you have a love of learning as evidenced by how you spend your free time in academic pursuits. This can be by supplementing your HS core curriculum with college courses, internships, independent or supervised research, or unique work experience. Even the types of books, journals, and magazines you regularly read matter.

-Showing that your choice of ECs you pursued led to some measurable significant impact for yourself, your family, or your community. So if you started a non-profit and helped tutor 100 low-income kids or feed 1000 people in your community, that matters more than being an officer in NHS or some other HS club.

-Showing some evidence that you are a self-starter and can hold some leadership roles and positions both at school and in your community. It's always good to be a Varsity Team Captain for a recruitable sport, Editor of your School newspaper, President of ASB, or holding board seats on your City Council, or being an active member in some community service org. Being a change agent is far more useful and important than counting volunteering hours.

-Harvard cares about their applicant's personal character so you have to think about what kind of things you need to pursue to gain notice of the people writing your recommendations and how your future Harvard interviewer would react to talking to you after 45 minutes in person. No one is going to care about your SAT/ACT score or discuss your grades because it's sort of given that you have to be an excellent student academically to get your foot in the door.

Good luck.