Hi! I am a junior in high school. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice as to whether or not I would have any chance of getting into Harvard. By the time I apply to college, I should be in the top 10% (but only barely) , have an unweighted GPA of around 3.75 out of a 4.00 and have a weighted GPA of 5.6 or 5.7 out of 6. I took the SAT 3 times and my highest score was a 2270. By the end of my senior year, I should have taken around 15 AP classes. However, although I took many AP classes, there were many AP classes that I got Bs in and many that I got As in. I’m guessing that having several Bs on your transcript would look really bad if you’re applying to Harvard even if they were for AP classes. I am mixed race of Asian Indian, African and (a little bit) European, but I’m only going to apply as Asian. My safety school is UT, so if I don’t get into Harvard, I’m going to UT. Even if by some crazy miracle that I do actually get in to Harvard, my parents probably wouldn’t want me to go because it’s too expensive. Anyway, what do you think? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
NOTE: I accidentally posted this as a regular post (this is my first time using College Confidential) and I didn’t know there was a “what are my chances?” section, so I reposted it here (I couldn’t delete the previous one). I hope I didn’t annoy anyone by having done that. I won’t accidentally post it in the wrong section again. I’m sorry about that.
Your GPA is a bit low, and you SAT score won’t help you too much (it’s good, but it isn’t standout). I would put a lot of time into your essay if I were you; there’s a chance that you could get in with a compelling essay. Other than that, your chances aren’t the best. Harvard admissions is ridiculously competitive!
That being said, have you looked into schools with good merit scholarships that you could attend if costs are an issue?
Hi azwu331 thank you so much for your advicet! I never even thought about how much the essay could help . Thank you so much for recommending that to me. You’re right about my SAT score. I knew my SAT was only average for those that are applying to Harvard. I looked up the average SAT score for those who got into Harvard, and apparently it was 2260…so mine would only be around the average.
I did look into merit scholarships and apparently USC and Rice both offer good merit scholarships. I will apply to them too. Cost is probably going to be an issue for me because I have 2 older sisters studying in college also.
Hi Peinta, I just looked at their aid, and you’re right, it seems pretty generous. I thought it was going to cost me like $60k lol. Thank you! At least I don’t have to worry about the money anymore, (if I get in that is lol).
Hi Pulsatix, that’s what I was thinking too. I’ve heard it’s even harder to get into Harvard for Asians, I was considering marking the other box and listing the different races I am or marking all three boxes (asian, white, african). On some exams, I mark both Asian and African, on some I mark other, and on some I just mark Asian. I wish there were just a box for mixed, you know? But thank you so much for your advice!
Hi ambitionsquared, my sat superscore is a 2310 (I just calculated right now lol). Broken down into sections it would be 790R, 800W, and 720M. I just looked it up, and apparently they do superscore! I am so happy! Thank you so much for telling me that.