When I am applying, will they calculate my GPA for classes only taken in high school, or will they include high school classes taken in middle school like biology, algebra 1, and geometry?
Without my middle school grades I have a 3.86 UW and with them I have a 3.65 UW
Admissions will use whatever grades appear on your high school transcript. If bio, algebra 1 and geometry from middle school appear on your high school transcript, that means you took advanced classes in middle school and Harvard (and all colleges) will use those grades when calculating your GPA.
My daughter had a similar issue. Her 8th grade Spanish and Math class appeared on her high school transcript and were sent to colleges. That because she normally would have have taken those classes her freshman year of high school, but because of her advanced ability took those classes during middle school. I imagine it’s the same with you.
I would speak with your guidance counselor for confirmation. As I’m sure you know, an unweighted 3.65 GPA is low for Harvard where the average self-reported unweighted GPA of incoming freshman is a 3.9.
@skieurope said otherwise, can you too please discuss it so I can know for a fact if the middle school grades will play a role in my admissions
My advice is based upon what happened to my daughter. As she received a 100 on her Spanish and Math courses that she took in middle school, and they appeared on her high school transcript that was sent to colleges, those middle school courses (which student’s normally take in high school) slightly boosted her high school GPA.
I’m not sure where @skiEurope is getting their information, as colleges do not publish how they calculate or recalculate a student’s GPA once they receive a transcript from a high school.
Some colleges recalculate your GPA throwing out “easy A courses” such as gym, theater, chorus, health, etc and just use the 5 core courses of Math, English, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language. Other college do not recalculate, but use whatever GPA your high school sends them. Other colleges line up transcripts from a particular high school in GPA order to understand the “pecking order” at each high school. Unfortunately, none of the process of looking at a student’s GPA is transparent. Once again, I would suggest you have a conversation with your guidance counselor.
Will my middle school grades, which were B’s, affect my admission chances is basically all I want to know?
No, he didn’t.
What I said was, it depends on the HS if the classes are included in the GPA. My HS included the classes that I took in MS, but not the grades. Other HS’s will operate differently, as in the case of @gibby 's daughter. You really need to check with your GC.
Harvard, and most other colleges, will not recalculate GPA; they will use what is on your transcript. However, I doubt they will give much, if any, thought on grades that you received in MS.
Again, it depends upon your transcript. My daughter’s transcript did not identify which courses and grades were taken in middle school. Her middle school courses and grades were lumped into her high school freshman year, as those classes were taken by all other freshman during their freshman year.
Okay thank you, I just wanted to make sure that those grades wouldn’t ruin my chances of getting in. I had a 4.0 gpa last semester with a tough course load and I had a 3.86 for the year. Do I still have a chance if my SATs are great and I work to maintain all a’s through the rest of high school? Along with my extracurricular activities and honor society involvement.(I’m in the German honor society and hopefully Mu Alpha Theta this school year)
@skieurope and I are in agreement: It all depends on your transcript Your best bet is to ask your guidance counselor for a copy of your transcript so you can see if (1) those course completed in middle school appear on your transcript and (2) if those B’s received in middle school are being averaged into your high school GPA.
Sure you have a chance, but how much of a chance is anyone’s guess. Please, speak with your GC, as I’m sure other kids from your high school have applied with middle school courses (and possibly grades) on their transcript. Your GC will know if other kids from your high school were admitted to Harvard with whatever GPA appears on their transcript.
Also, you just finished freshman year. The B’s that you received in middle school should not be your focus; it’s not like you can do anything about them at this point. There is much much more that goes into a successful application to Harvard (and peer schools) that “just” grades. Focus on things you can affect, not on things you cannot.
I am not the OP, but I have a similar question (let me know if this deters the thread and I’ll delete this post)
I currently have a 4.0 unweighted according to my high school. The high school transcript, however, displays an A- in French 1 and a B+ in Alg. 2, both of which were taken in middle school. Both are on my HS transcript, but are marked with the label Prior to High School. Would this affect my chances in any way? Just curious.
don’t delete this one because this is very similar to my situation. Did you also take algebra 1 and geometry in middle school?
If those grades are averaged into your overall GPA, then it could positively or negatively effect your GPA. Again, as this is a high school specific question, you need to ask your guidance counselor.
At my daughter’s high school, Stuyvesant, every 9th grade student was required to take the first year of Math and the first year of a foreign Language during their freshman year. Some kids though took those classes in 8th grade.
Stuyvesant’s way of thinking: Student’s who took freshman Math and Freshman Foreign Language classes in 9th grade had those grades averaged into their high school GPA. For them, those grades counted. So, why should student’s who took those identical classes in 8th grade not have their grades count and not have them averaged into their high school GPA? Yes, they took those classes a year earlier, but they were the identical classes they would have been required to take in 9th grade. Why should the grades be handled differently just because a student took the same classes a year earlier?
That’s Stuyvesant’s reasoning. Your high school’s reasoning may be the same or different. That’s why you need to ask your guidance counselor how this issue is handled at your high school.
I know that my HS GPA is still a 4.0 unweighted. I know that my HS does not factor in middle school classes into my GPA. My question, apologies if this was unclear, was whether Harvard looks negatively on the grades I accumulated in middle school and if it would hurt my chances in any way.
^^ No, Harvard does not look negatively on middle school grades that appear on your high school transcript, so no worries.
Thank you, so just to be clear, If I had a B in classes like biology, algebra 1, and geometry, Harvard will not look negatively on these grades earned in middle school?
Sorry if I haven’t been clear: Harvard will not look negatively upon classes from middle school that appear on your high school transcript. However, the three B’s you received in those classes might be looked upon negatively. Or, look upon it another way: The student who took those classes in middle school and got A’s is in effect saying to Admissions “Hey I did this a year before my classmates and aced it all” and you cannot say that.
As a rising sophomore, I think it’s important to have perspective. If the courses from middle school appear on your high school transcript, along with the grades, and those grades are averaged into your GPA, there is nothing you can do about it. So, let it go. Really.
Your goal should NOT be a Harvard acceptance. Heck, you could do everything right and still be rejected from Harvard. Don’t believe me? I’ll use my son as an example: My son graduated from Stuyvesant High School, ranked about 20th in his class of 900 students with an unweighted 96.7 GPA that included three classes he took in middle school (Spanish, Math and Living Environment – all with grades of 95+ which appeared on his transcript and were averaged into his GPA). He applied to Harvard with a 36 ACT, 8 AP tests with all 5’s, 6 SAT Subject Tests all with 750+ . . . . and he was rejected. Fortunately, he was accepted to 10 other colleges including Princeton and Yale, where he graduated this past May.
As a rising sophomore, your goal should be to apply to college sideways: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
I have the exact same problem. I took two advanced classes in middle school and received B’s in both. Our guidance counselor did say they would appear on our transcript but not be calculated into my GPA.