Does GPA Matter?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Male
Black
Tripoli, Libya</p>

<p>3.3GPuw
2280 SAT</p>

<p>ECs
Class President
Football - Varsity
Track - Varsity
Debate Team - National Success
* PLACED AT HARVARD TOURNAMENT*
Tutor
Started and am President of Fundraising Club for African water purification
Work w. Refugees as a volunteer
(summer trip)</p>

<p>I've always taken the hardest courses available to me. The reason for such a poor GPA is bc I screwed around Fr and So year. But I got a 4.0 my second semester as a Jr - definite upward progression. Also football is a religion here and our team won states - practice 3hrs 7days a week.</p>

<p>Opinions? Does URM status help?</p>

2

<p>you’re perfectly fine and have a good shot at getting in as long as the courses you’ve taken were extremely challenging and you’ve shown an upward trend.</p>

3

<p>^^^^ Exactly why asking random strangers to chance you is as valuable as a hole in the head.</p>

<p>Midas: you’ve asked this before. Your 3.3GPA and your demonstration of critical thinking skills shows you have a very very low chance @ H or other ultra selective colleges.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/9366944-post1.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/9366944-post1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>But like I also said to you, you’ll likely have some nice options in April.</p>

4

<p>You have almost no chance. A better use of your time would be to study instead of posting random chance threads.</p>

5

<p>A 3.3 GPA on an unweighted scale of 4.0 is equal to 82.5. At that level, a student has a zero-chance of acceptance at HYPS or other select colleges, no matter what their SAT/ACT scores.</p>

<p>Yale’s admission site probably says it best: [What</a> Yale Looks For | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/what-yale-looks-for]What”>What Yale Looks For | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>

<p>"While there is no hard and fast rule, it is safe to say that performance in school is more important than testing. A very strong performance in a demanding college preparatory program may compensate for modest standardized test scores, but it is unlikely that high standardized test scores will persuade the admissions committee to disregard an undistinguished secondary-school record.</p>

6

<p>^I agree with the above except your athletic talent, depending on what it is, may help you. Are you being recruited by anyone? Also, if you could’ve woven your struggle to boost your GPA into a compelling story instead of a couple complaints, that would help if it was in an essay.</p>

7

<p>

</p>

<p>What? Why would it help? Everyone “struggles to boost their GPA.” The ones that fail don’t get accepted to Harvard. Most of the ones that succeed also don’t get accepted to Harvard.</p>

8

<p>Why does your SAT move around so much? 2100, 2280, 2200. Which is it? You ACT used to move too but you no longer post that.</p>

9

<p>I think he means if there were very extenuating circumstances that led to a low gpa, like fatal illness, hiding out from a malevolent hitman or a really big family catastrophe. In that case there might be a chance at explanation, but then again there would still be a low gpa dragging you down.
Addition: That may work if there was a B in one semester, but very unlikely for two years of mediocre grades.</p>

10

<p>Exactly. If there was a real extenuating circumstance. What I read from the OP sounded like excuses. An in diagnosed learning disability that once diagnosed was worked around and increased to a 3.8 is a good story because it gives the impression that the gpa may have been a 4.0 if the problem was known sooner. A turnaround type story, like sports movies - who didn’t cheer for Rudy when he got in the game. On paper though, he rushed for like 10 yards the whole season. Lol.</p>

11

<p>Also, it depends on whether this is a weighted or unweighted GPA, as some schools have very low average scores in standardized tests. If that’s the case, you should compare yourself with your peers and see where about you are.</p>

12

<p>Just some more on if there is an extenuating circumstance:
Some questions the ApCom asks themselves about applicants include
“What choices has the candidate made for himself? Why?
Is the candidate a late bloomer?”
They take into account the context of your application, but if you have low grades simply because of screwing around that doesn’t help your case.
<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/tips/decisions.html[/url]”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/tips/decisions.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>A low GPA definitely hurts. Colleges want to see that you do well in school. Unless you’re an amazing, outstanding musician/athlete/scientist/author or something, an ~82 GPA is pretty much the final nail in the coffin.</p>