B+ and college admission

<p>Will one B+ hurt your chances of getting into MIT/Stanford/Harvard if all the other grades are good and the GPA is good as well.</p>

<p>Most students admitted to those schools do not have perfect 4.0’s. </p>

<p>When you said you have only 1 B+, I sort of assumed that all your other grades were higher!!!</p>

<p>That’s soothing to hear.</p>

<p>The one B+ alone should not be a major factor keeping you from the elites. Weight also varies depending on which year though too. The closer to Junior year, the more weight it carries.</p>

<p>Are you saying that if you get a B+ in junior year, that carries a lot of weight over the B+ in sophomore year ? and a B+ in freshman shouldn’t hurt you as much as the one in sophomore year ? Also are the grades in senior year first semester ( quarter for early app ) looked at even ?</p>

<p>There are plenting of applicants get in with more than one B+, but it takes more than a great gpa and test scores to get into most highly competitive colleges.</p>

<p>Thanks glido. My concern is that will that one B+ hurt my application, even though the rest of my application looks competitive ? I guess not.</p>

<p>^The simple answer is that an A will always look better on an application than a B, regardless of the circumstances. However, there are FAR more important aspects of your application that will affect an admission counselor’s decision, for better or for worse, than one B+.</p>

<p>In short? Don’t fret over it. Admissions is a holistic process; if you’re applying to Tier 1 schools, I’m sure you know this.</p>

<p>The bottom line is you will have very little chance either way. The simple fact is that almost everyone applying there will have an incredible GPA and SAT score. You too would have an incredible GPA, whether you get one B+ or not. </p>

<p>At Harvard this year there was a 3% admittance race for RD and something like a 7% IIRC for SCEA. So, your odds are very low no matter what. Just to give you an example. I know a kid who had the highest GPA in the history of our top HS, a 2390 SAT, the best ECs I have ever heard about, was an All-American, and an incredible kid, and he got turned down at H and either Y or P. </p>

<p>It’s a crap shoot whether you have a 4.0 UW or a 3.97 UW.</p>

<p>Would you call MIT a crapshoot ? I thought MIT is somewhat more predictable than most colleges. any comments on that?</p>

<p>MIT is can be predictable if a) you’re a female and/or b) you have the right awards. Otherwise, it’s just like the others.</p>

<p>No, I know plenty of friends who got in MIT/Harvard, and Ivys in general with more than 1 B. And they weren’t even B pluses.</p>

<p>Well it also depends on the gender. Two female friends of mine are majoring in engineering who received Bs and got into MIT, so their chances are higher. But a male friend of mine got a B in high school and was still admitted to MIT.</p>

<p>Not really, but It would be a tiny bit better if you didn’t have that B+ (but there are thousands of other factors). Mostly the effect will depend on the subject vs your major, the year it happened in, the grades in the other trimesters of this course, etc. Most people who get in statistically do not have a perfect (unweighted) GPA. Also to scare you a bit, private colleges sometimes rate A- as 3.7 GPA. DUN DUN DUN.</p>

<p>@dblazer, what are these awards?</p>

<p>Because MIT is primarily a Math/Science school, things like USAMO, Intel science awards, etc. are good draws.</p>