<p>I took 4 IB HL classes Junior year and had unweighted GPA of 3.7 :( is that too low for Harvard? I'll try my best to have straight A's in my senior year, and that'll probably increase my GPA to 3.8something, is that good enough?
I hate myself for this, I know I could've done better :(</p>
<p>I don’t think so. Harvard says itself that there is “no minimum cutoff”. I’ve seen a few, though not many, Harvard applicants accepted with unweighted GPA’s around 3.7-3.8. Of course, every single other aspect of their application was stellar.</p>
<p>What is your rank?</p>
<p>top 5%, might even be top 1%. Our class has over 700 kids.
I wanted to stay clean on the gpa area…now this happened 
can’t say other parts are stellar.
Problem is our school doesn’t award A+ es if you have over 98% in any subject. That way I had a chance to bring my gpa back to 4.0. But no matter how well I do next year, it’s not gonna be 4.0 overall :(</p>
<p>@silverturtle : where can I find your SAT admissions guide? I’ve read about it in a few threads but don’t know where to find it.
sorry its irrelevant :P</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/955109-silverturtles-guide-sat-admissions-success.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/955109-silverturtles-guide-sat-admissions-success.html</a></p>
<p>Don’t worry about these things. Harvard doesn’t make decisions based on a 3.7 versus a 3.9 GPA. Admissions are “holistic” and take a lot of things into account.</p>
<p>Just enjoy your life and do the best you can. Apply to Harvard but find other schools you would also like.</p>
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<p>You did read post #5, correct?</p>
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<p>If you are referring to the Official SAT Study Guide, you are mistaken. Not a single question or piece of advice is taken from that book. I didn’t even read the advice in that book.</p>
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<p>That’s your opinion, and you have the right to hold it. However, you should know that I received 2400, as did the four people who reviewed the guide. One of them has, in fact, received 2400 three times and is an SAT tutor by profession.</p>
<p>haha someone got owned</p>
<p>hannibal gets embarrased everytime</p>
<p>Boom Boom Pow</p>
<p>This is a little off topic, but Silverturtle, did you get the exercises you used in your guide from the college board book? Because I remember thinking that I’d definitely read one of the passages before (I think it was about humor in the workplace or something like that.)</p>
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<p>The questions in the numbered practice sections are taken from the January 2010 QAS.</p>
<p>Ah, that would explain why they’re so familiar… I took the test in January. =) Just out of curiosity, did the answer explanations in your guide come from the QAS too or did you write them? (I didn’t order the QAS so I don’t know if explanations are included too…)</p>
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<p>The answers are from the QAS, but I wrote the explanations. (Unlike the Blue Book, QAS packets don’t include explanations, unfortunately.) I didn’t want to pull from the Blue Book, because that would eat into people’s practice materials; and I didn’t want to write the questions myself (especially for CR) because, as I stressed throughout the guide, official materials are highly preferable.</p>
<p>(This is certainly a digression if I ever saw one! :))</p>
<p>Thanks silverturtle.
Another question, I know how people go to fancy summer programs and that stands out at college, but I’m taking an online class in the summer before senior year, b/c to make up credits for graduation. Does that look lame in college app?
I’m also working, volunteering, and publicizing my henna tattooing services, but nothing very cool. And this is supposed to be the most important summer of a high school student :P</p>
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<p>Certainly not. The point is to do something that shows that your summer was meaningful. And in fact, there are actually very few summer programs that really make a difference in admissions (e.g., TASP).</p>
<p>Forgive me, but you didn’t take 4 full HL courses junior year, did you? Perhaps the first year of each, but you’re not allowed to take HLs in the first year of IB.</p>
<p>Even with a full IB diploma schedule, Harvard is pretty unlikely. But there’s no harm in applying.</p>
<p>No, just the first year of the two year program. But the first the year of HL differs from the first of some year SLs, i.e math & chem.
I know Harvard is not a surety for anybody, even overachievers. So…yeah… I can only apply and pray.</p>
<p>If you go to MOP you are given a huge boost into MIT.</p>