<p>I was just wondering about how much weight Harvard gives to scores/gpa vs. essays/ec's as compared to other schools (essentially YSP) when deciding admittance. For example, I know Stanford has long been accused of being pretty arbitrary with its decisions; some extremely high testscores/gpas don't get in. Yale, while not as arbitrary, certainly has its shares of surprises in the same terms. Princeton, from what I've gleaned, tends to be a bit more conservative in that its acceptances usually have pretty high scores/gpas. I guess what i'm wondering is which side does harvard sway towards FOR THE MOST PART. obviously, there will be exceptions, maybe even a significant amount. But does harvard care about scores/gpas/accomplishments more than these three schools? or less? or about the same? just curious :)</p>
<p>Sorry, here’s an addendum: let’s say that i had a pretty decent SAT (2370+), ACT (35+), and great subject test scores (770+) with lots of APs (5s). My question here would be: are these scores more helpful in gaining me admittance to Harvard vs say stanford, who doesn’t seem to care about the difference between a 2300 and a 2400? So does Harvard take really higher scores more seriously than stanford or yale or princeton? sorry for the convuluted message/s</p>
<p>I don’t know of any evidence that Harvard cares more about high scores than Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. (Caveat: at least as of a few years ago, I saw data that suggested that one had a better chance of admission to Princeton with just-below-high test scores (2200-2300) than with 2350+.) I don’t think any of them care about high scores in and of themselves. They look at the scores as validation of high school records across very different schools, and as a tool for basic qualification, and I don’t think they put a lot more weight on them. However, it is often the case that students with very high test scores will have consistent non-test achievements both in the classroom and in the community, so there is some kind of correlation between test scores and admission chances. But that doesn’t mean that the scores are a strong factor in admissions. And there is plenty of evidence on CC to confirm that all of these colleges reject plenty of people with very high test scores.</p>
<p>There’s very little evidence against Stanford or Yale for being arbitrary in its admissions. CC is hardly representative of the admitted body. </p>
<p>And it’s really tough to say where higher test scores matter MORE – just keep in mind that the higher your test scores, the higher your chances anywhere.</p>
<p>Only on CC would a 2370+ be considered “pretty decent”.</p>
<p>^ seriously. we are an insane overachieving group of people.
i think stanford does seem to come off as a bit more arbitrary, simply because of its results threads… people with reallyyyy high stats often get rejected, while those with average/lower stats get accepted. this leads one to conclude naturally that they put more weight on essays/subjective factors? idk. maybe I’m just bsing.
but it seems to me that harvard would lean towards the conservative end.</p>
<p>Harvard certainly weights the interview more strongly than Stanford (who doesn’t have one!). I believe Harvard factors it in with more weight than Yale, as well, although I’m just speculating here.</p>
<p>cornetking, haha sorry i was conforming to the cc stereotype. and here’s the underlying question i had- does harvard weigh scores/gpa MORE heavily than do those other three?</p>
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<p>Not as far as I can tell. It’s my understanding that they turn down about 60% of 2400s.</p>