Does this matter, GPA question?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>By the midyear report I'll drop from rank 1 to 2. On the midyear report form I noticed that it also asks for the highest GPA in the class, which will be about .004 higher than mine. Will colleges just attribute this to some stupid little detail, which it is? I'm asking because, historically, Harvard has only accepted the valedictorian(for about 10 years now). I know correlation doesn't prove causation but I mean, there's a definite pattern.</p>

2

<p>“historically, Harvard has only accepted the valedictorian(for about 10 years now)”</p>

<p>At my son and daughter’s high school, Harvard has always selected students from the top 10% to 15% of a graduating class. Some years they took a group of students that included the valedictorian, other years they passed over the valedictorian and took other students who they found more to their liking. So, it all depends. </p>

<p>BTW: Colleges learn about your ranking through the Secondary School Report (SSR) that your guidance counselor fills out, so you might want to have a talk with your GC: <a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/2013SchoolReport_download.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/2013SchoolReport_download.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>they do not pick ONLY valedictorarians.</p>

4

<p>from what i know, harvard looks at the top % of students, not more. meaning that if you are rank 1 or rank 2 or rank 3 out of 400 kids whatever, it doesn’t really make much of a difference. you are still top of your class. it’s really trivial at that point. .004 GPA will NOT make or break you for sure. </p>

<p>i was accepted as valedictorian but my sister was somewhere in rank 5 or 6 and she also got in. just be top, doesn’t really matter if you are rank 1 or 2 or 5. valedictorian is just a honor for your own high school, nothing more.</p>

5

<p>What is the standard GPA for Harvard?</p>

6

<p>There really isn’t a standard GPA, as I imagine it varies from school to school, applicant to applicant, and year to year. At my son and daughter’s high school, the College Office uses proprietary software (sort of like Naviance) to track and submit transcripts and SSR’s to colleges. Data goes back to 2003. During those 8 years, the lowest GPA Harvard ever accepted was a 93.8, but that seems to be an outlier. The vast majority of accepted students had averages between 95-98.</p>