<p>wilder that was the best post. EVER.</p>
<p>very poetic wilder lol</p>
<p>I disagree with your point about perfect grades, actually 54% of students at harvard had a 4.0 in high school, likely a far higher figure than among the qualified applicant pool so a perfect gpa helps tremendously, almost a must for unhooked applicants. </p>
<p>theanaconda,</p>
<p>"… a perfect gpa helps tremendously, almost a must for unhooked applicants."</p>
<p>Not in the experience of my family. Neither of my sons had a 4.0 GPA. Their GPAs were high, but included A-s and even a couple of Bs. They are ordinary, non-athletic, American males of European ancestry from an intact, two-parent family with the usual advantages of a middle class upbringing, including private high school. Although they attended a high school known for its athletic program, neither participated in sports at any level, no less at a level consistent with Division I play. No great musical talent, no ground-breaking research publications, no Intel prizes, no novels published. Just high (but not perfect) GPA kids with high test scores doing stuff they enjoyed doing, and doing much of it pretty well.</p>
<p>Big difference between causation and correlation here. Just because supposedly 54% of students have a 4.0 does not mean the 4.0 was the shining factor – esp in the holistic examination of H admissions.</p>