Less than 10 Malaysians have gotten into Harvard. Will this improve or reduce my chances at admission? Answered
My country (Malaysia) is highly under-represented at Harvard. In fact, fewer than 10 Malaysians have ever gotten in. Will this improve or reduce my chances at admission? (I understand that admission chances of course ultimately come down to my profile; this is just to understand the impact of my demographics)
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2 answers
So as Malaysia broadly falls into the E Asia area your chances are likely decreased but due to your geography, it may be counteracted. It comes down to what Harvard institutional priorities are. Institutional priorities are in short what a school wants to focus on. Ivies love bragging that they have students from x number of countries so you likely get a boost there but at the same time they have a priority of becoming more diverse such as expanding their Hispanic and African American enrollment. So id broadly say that you may just be seen as non "asian" (as in not a Chinese or Indian student) but you are still an international student applying to Harvard.
I hope that makes sense and if it came across as offensive in any way my sincerest apologies. Please tell me and Ill fix it ASAP.
Hope this helps and feel fee to ask questions if you need clarification.
PS: Are you the student who submitted an essay review about being part of AIM and working for a senator? Cause if so that was a wonderful essay.
In my opinion, your country of origin probably won't affect your chances of admission. In your case, it could be either reduced or improved. On one hand, you come from a very underrepresented group- Malaysians. This could improve your chances. On the other hand, Asians are quite well represented at Harvard. IMO, the effect of being Malaysian could most likely overshadow that of being Asian, as you did say Malaysians are very underrepresented. College look to provide a diverse incoming freshmen class, so again being part of an underrepresented group could help you. But it mostly depends on your profile.
Hope this helps.
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Hi there! First off, omg yes, I did submit that essay! I was super bummed that I wasn’t able to thank the reviewer personally, so thank you very much.The review was really encouraging and well-written!
Your answer is also super clear and it makes a ton of sense (nothing was offensive; don’t worry). I’m obviously hoping that the underrepresentation works for me, but it all comes down to my profile I guess :/
Anyway, thank you so much again for the review and the answer! Much appreciated.