<p>While most of the student got above 3.9 gpa there was this one student who got 3.0/2230 and got into harvard. How is it possible that a student with 3.0 gpa got into harvard? Does anybody know about it ? I assume the applicant had something amazing ec, or legacy or hook. </p>
<p>Could be an athlete. Could be somebody in the family makes a generous contribution. Could have a good hook and shows potential, like a homeless teen or cancer survivor. Could be a lot of things.</p>
<p>Not too long ago I read about a high school that has a great relationship with Princeton and Harvard and other schools but where teachers award top grades very sparingly and where students learn very advanced material for high schoolers (beyond IB). It could certainly be a student from that school, or one that is similar to it.</p>
<p>I read somewhere in these forums that they always accept one applicant with a 2.0 or 3.0 gpa range to see if they have ability and have the gift to become the next president. Yes, president George W. Bush managed to get into Harvard or Yale with a 2.0 I believe, and look at him he became president! So I believe they always choose an applicant in that range to see if they are extraordinary and can result in becoming the next president. I may be totally wrong, but I read it somewhere. lol</p>
<p>@juice650 that really makes no sense at all. They choose some random 2.0 or 3.0 student “to see”? Much more likely they choose someone who has already demonstrated, in ways far outside a simple number, that they do have the ability to achieve great things (and goodness there are far greater things than becoming president). GWB is something of a different story. He was from an illustrious family whose father had already demonstrated great achievement (and was an alum). And times were different then.</p>
<p>Colleges like Harvard have the resources to consider applicants thoroughly and holistically. We don’t know whether this student was homeless, or spent part of his/her high school years sailing or hiking around the world. The GPA might have been only one component of an academic record. The test scores demonstrated ability. My hypothetical example is Malala Yousafzai (sp?): I can’t imagine any American college rejecting her, even if some of her stats might fall below their median range. Some large universities have to focus almost exclusively on numbers. Harvard has the luxury of being able to look beyond them, but a 3.0 is unusual, and we have to presume that this applicant was also unusual. </p>
<p>Yep. There are no minimum standards at any of HYPSM. That’s why I find folks who seem to think that there is some vast difference between a Yale and a Duke (to give one example) to be painfully ignorant. The truth is that there is a lot of overlap in the quality of the student bodies of all of the top 15 (and between 7th and 25th, and between 15th and 40th, etc.). The American higher educational admission system isn’t like some countries where everyone above a certain test score goes to a certain set of schools, and everyone below a certain test score goes to another set of schools. The American higher educational system is very diverse, and that is a key strength.</p>
<p>20% of the class didn’t complete the survey. Their GPAs are a mystery. The 3.0 kid had a Harvard-average SAT. </p>
<p>I’m more intrigued by the Applications and Acceptances graph. The results are so evenly distributed! These are kids attending Harvard, but they don’t seem to have been accepted everywhere. It’s as likely to apply to 5 colleges and get into 5 as it is to apply to 11 and get into 2.</p>
<p>Some applied to 20 colleges, but were only accepted to 2. It’s a crapshoot.</p>
<p>Not purely a crapshoot, but different colleges value different things, and the essays (and even the teacher recs) could have been different and less/more compelling when it comes to different candidates.</p>
<p>The most likely explanation is it’s a recruited athlete, a developmental or legacy with major dollars attached, or someone pulling our collective leg. Remember, “holistic admissions” is code for “we let in whoever we want”.</p>