<p>Hi CCers,</p>
<p>I was just wondering, could you answer this question for me?
I am a valedictorian in my school, which is very competitive. The grading is notoriously hard, but I made a UW of 3.73, with many b+s from 9th, 10th, and some even in 11th grade, since I took 19 ap classes. How will the adcoms think about this? Transcript? Or rank and GPA?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>As long as your 3.73 is the top GPA, you are fine. They look at grades as a function of academic rigor, which your school obviously posesses. Good luck.</p>
<p>thanks a million, great help!</p>
<p>since you are valedictorian, then they should understand the 3.73. My school is like that too. Don’t worry about the B+s, just remember whatever you feel like you lack in, find another way to make it up. There’s always a way!</p>
<p>I.E…your 19 APs [WOW!]</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Colleges will “get it”. 19 APs and still first in your class? They’ll understand. Unless of course there are only about 20 kids in your class, that could be another story (slightly). </p>
<p>This is why, on occasion you’ll see someone on the admitted charts that just doesn’t seem to make sense, and why there can’t be a 3.9 type ABSOLUTE cut-off for consideration. Because it’s only ONE score. For most kids, a 3.7 would undoubtedly be a deal breaker. I’ll assume that yur SAT/ACTs are quite high. That is the “proof” that puts you back on an even playing field with kids from other schools that don’t grade as harshly as yours.</p>
<p>thank u thank u guys!
great help!</p>
<p>i am the 1st of a class of 212ish…</p>
<p>for aps, i have 6+7 aps taken, i.e 19 and 6 self studiesss</p>
<p>sats were bit bad… for an asian, i guess: 2380, and 800 790 800</p>
<p>Did you get involved in a lot of Extracurricular Activities? If so that will help.
I don’t have perfect GPA but I will have a good shot at Harvard with my massive amount of involvement in Extracurricular Activities.</p>
<p>Anacrusis, a massive amount of involvement in ECs sounds terribly gaudy.</p>
<p>yea man! its the legendary noitaraperp!</p>
<p>how u doing noitara? i read many of your posts, which were extremely helpful!! 
thank a lot! especially the one with the SAT crit. read.</p>
<p>i tried sending u a msg, but it wouldnt work. can i ask u few questions about harvard life?</p>
<p>cheers, “lebron”</p>
<p>Sorry, Anacrusis, your “massive” ECs will not outweigh your 29 ACT, reported on another thread. And your ECs do not exhibit any depth of passion.</p>
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</p>
<p>No, idiot ■■■■■■ like you without any understanding of basic grammatical rules or how to even present an argument will never be accepted to Harvard.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Those scores are excellent no matter one’s race.</p>
<p>You got an 800 on the math section, but couldn’t add the scores? No man I’m just screwing with you, but you have an excellent shot (if that could be said for Harvard).</p>
<p>LOL @ anacrusis.</p>
<p>The person who was involved in both the young Republicans and young Democrats. With her amazing 2160 SAT.</p>
<p>What a pretentious… LOL.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if anacrusis is ■■■■■■■■ or not. Either she is or she’s unabashedly honest.</p>
<p>And sure, LBJ, you can ask me any questions about Harvard life.</p>
<p>so… here it goes!</p>
<ol>
<li>how are the classes, are they really competitive?</li>
<li>i dont have many activities as anascrusius. instead, i picked 4 that i totally love, and u can see it all over my C.V, that i am in love with them… Student gov, econ.club, environmental awareness society, phil.society… </li>
<li>is there a hiphop activity in harvard?</li>
<li>have you met any famous professors yet? like niall ferguson for example. how are their teaching styles?</li>
<li>it never hurts to apply, right?</li>
<li>i have most of my aps, in my senior year, with self studies. do i indicate them, but dont put the scores *since i dont know em yet?</li>
</ol>
<p>thank you thank you in advance! some questions are admission questions. sorry!</p>
<ol>
<li>It really depends. Humanities classes are generally not competitive, and grading is typically done on an absolute scale (as opposed to a relative, curved scale). Many students in reading-intensive courses often collaborate with one another, splitting up the reading and sharing summaries. That requires a lot of trust and teamwork. </li>
</ol>
<p>Science courses are also, on the whole, not very competitive. The only exception is pre-med courses, where “getting the A” may have an important impact on acceptance to medical school. For example, Physics 11 is a pre-med requirement, and the students in that class generally do not work collaboratively (unless it is necessary if the material is too difficult for them). On the other hand, in Physics 15 and 16, the more rigorous, non-pre-med courses, collaboration is everything. You work on your problem sets with your classmates, you have lunch with them, and every Thursday you head to Leverett House dining room to work on the Physics p-set and eat cookies and milk (even the very intelligent students who don’t really need help on the p-set go, unlike in Physics 11). </p>
<p>So I would say that the classes in general are not competitive, except a spattering of pre-med courses.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I think it’s better to have a few activities that you are truly passionate about. 17 ECs is absolutely ridiculous and screams a lack of commitment. If you can convey your passion for those four ECs, it is exponentially better than 17 cardboard ECs.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, there are the Breakers and a lot of other groups. Any group you can think of (although, now that I think of it, there’s no competitive eating team).</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, I have met many famous professors so far, even ones that teach courses I’m not taking, including Niall Ferguson (teaches this Gen Ed course called Western Ascendancy, very dramatic teaching style), Greg Mankiw (teaches Ec 10 and a freshman seminar, was Bush’s economic policy advisor, very funny guy), Alan Dershowitz (teaches a seminar that my friend is in, defended OJ, very self-righteous but cool), and Howard Georgi (physics god, very quirky and intelligent, cool guy). But the teachers that have the greatest impact on you will not always be big names. </p></li>
<li><p>Of course not. That is, unless one has no chance in hell (not your case). Then one would be wasting 70 dollars, which I guess hurts.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not sure what you mean. It sounds like you haven’t taken this APs yet. If so, then on the Common App I believe you can put the test, the intended date of taking that test, and a blank line on the score. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>thank you for such detailed response. i am applying next year, hope i can make it and thank you personally!</p>
<p>LBJ</p>
<p>This sounds like a ■■■■■ post.“2380 isnt that good for an asian” “I only got 800 790 800”</p>
<p>thanks for sharing, but i am NOT a ■■■■■. let me assure you.
trust me.</p>