Thanks for the response. Joey is not at your daughter's level, and I'm not going to try to claim that he is. Scholastically, it sounds as if she's in the upper 99.9999 percentile. I'm not surprised that Harvard accepted her.
However, Joey is in a class of 500 students and I don't think there's anyone who is obviously more accomplished.
He doesn't know what he wants to major in. That makes choosing a college more difficult. At various times, he's expressed interest in majoring in genetic engineering, linguistics, architectural engineering, mathematics, biology. Coming back from All-state choir, he said he'd really enjoy being a choir director. I trust I'll be able to talk him out of that.
One of Harvard's real strengths is in helping students decide on a major. Aside from its prestige, I think that's what he likes about it. Harvard also has ENORMOUS endowments to reduce the cost. Although tuition is $70,000/year, I don't think we'd be charged even 25 percent of that.
I'm not sure what his overall high school GPA is. It was 4.0 through last year, but this year he finally received a B in English due to a misunderstanding about an assignment that wasn't turned in. He's happy with the adjusted (for AP classes) 3rd quarter 4.3 he's getting, but only because he was afraid of getting yet another B that looks to have been avoided. His overall 3-year GPA is considerably higher than 4.3. I'll tell you what it is when he gets his grades.
Excluding the AP bonus points (which many colleges disregard), he'd have a GPA in the ballpark of 3.95. His SAT score was 2280 which would be 1520 if it were still a 1600 point test. 2280/1520 is higher than what the majority of Harvard undergraduates scored. He's taking a specialized SAT test shortly since Harvard requires it, and he will take the regular SAT again in the Fall. He thinks he can improve on the 2280.
We'll never know what sort of grades Malia Obama received, whether she was in the running for her school's top student (there is no longer such a thing as 'Valedictorian' at Fairfax VA high schools. It's criminal what's being done in the interest of making every student feel like 'a success.'), how many 5s she received on AP exams (Joey expects to have seven or eight by the end of his Junior year), extracurricular activities she's engaged in (while in High School, my son has had named parts in two high school musicals, and been the pianist in four others (three of which were not with the High School), #1 tenor in his hgih school three times, #1 in the district once, qualified for an NBC trivia show, been on the debate team once and a trivia team twice.
I do know this: Malia's Letters of Recommendation to Harvard are undoubtedly more impressive than those Joey has obtained. (I wouldn't be surprised if she's got one from the dean!) I seriously doubt they are more heartfelt. And we do have one from a director at Wells Fargo. How's that for a hoot, given my attitude toward bankers??
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