I am a confident high school freshman student.
I’m currently take all accelerated and 1 college prep course.
Currently, my GPA is a 2.4 I’ve been thinking for a while, and I think I have enough knowledge to get in Harvard.
I know my GPA is low, is it possible to raise to at least a 3.8 by the end of high school?
Any other suggestions?
@harvardreams101 You will have to really work on acquiring study skills/doing well in class - otherwise you will have no chance at Harvard.
bump
Honestly, I don’t think you can hit a 3.8.
Even if you do, most Ivy Leagues only accept students with a 4.0+ or amazing test scores.
Are you asking whether it is possible for a 2.4 UW GPA to become a 3.8 UW GPA in 2 1/2 years? If so, we can’t answer that without knowing more about your school system, but I think it’s unlikely: if you have a 2.4 at the end of year 1, then get 4.0s for years 2 & 3, you would start year 4 with a 3.46 or so.
I am interested that you say
.
Do you mean that you have enough academic knowledge / background to go to Harvard? do you mean you have enough knowledge of the admissions process? do you mean that you think you are smart enough?
Based on your GPA, I would be surprised if you have the first, based on your question I would doubt the second, and I have no way to judge whether you are smart enough to go to Harvard- but it doesn’t really matter, because there is a big difference between smart enough to go to Harvard and getting in to Harvard- most of the approx 40K applicants are plenty smart enough, but only about 2K of them get offers.
As others have said there are some serious problems with what is said in your post.
“I am a confident high school freshman student.” Awesome, confidence can breed motivation and being a freshman means you have lots of time to fix any weaknesses in the application.
“I’m currently take all accelerated and 1 college prep course,” If I am reading this correctly, that means you are taking zero college level classes (AP, IB, or dual-enrollment). As a freshman this is somewhat acceptable, but means you are already behind most of your peers applying to such schools. The good news is that, as a freshman, you can rectify this by taking heavier loads in the coming years to offset the freshman load. If your school doesn’t offer any of the above courses, then it will only hurt you a little (even though they adjust based on school opportunities, there is still a bias toward people and schools with high college load concentrations).
“Currently, my GPA is a 2.4.” Needless to say, that is a problem. Most students with that GPA are contemplating the possibility of getting into a low-end state school. According to collegedata, 93% of Harvard admits had 3.9+ GPA’s for the class of 2019 and 100% had above a 3.5. There is a lot of work to do.
“I’ve been thinking for a while, and I think I have enough knowledge to get in Harvard.” Collegemom has already expressed my thoughts on this assertion in very eloquent fashion. Asserting your profound fund of knowledge does not change your GPA or other factors of the college admission process.
“I know my GPA is low, is it possible to raise to at least a 3.8 by the end of high school?” This can be determined via some simple arithmetic. You need to know your schools grading system to tell for sure; I will assume a Semester grading system and that your midyear report in first semester of senior year is considered by the adcom. This leaves you 7 semesters. Assuming you got 4.0 from now on (including your current semester), your max GPA is ((6*4.0)+2.4)/7 = 3.77. This is good for most schools, but puts you in the bottom 10% of applicants to Harvard. This doesn’t rule out success, but means you will need to excel in other areas to be considered seriously.
“Any other suggestions?” Your post assumes that a 3.8=Harvard acceptance. Put plainly, it doesn’t. Many with 4.0’s, 2200+ SAT scores, and the like do not get accepted (myself included, though I ended up at a slightly lower-tier but still “Ivy quality,” school). This question is also very GPA focused. GPA is important, but not the be all end all. Remember the 93% of applicants with a 3.9+? Over 90% of them were rejected. The 10% that got the acceptance letter had a combination of
Stellar Standardized test scores (for Harvard, shoot for at least a 1450 on the new scale, or a 2200 old scale; subject tests need to be at least 700 and preferably 750+).
AP test distinctions (at least Distinction, National preferred).
National Merit Commendation/Scholar (relevant for sophomores and the PSAT).
National level awards in extracurricular activities (leadership role in said activities preferred). As a freshman you may not have these yet but should be in a club and working hard enough to be competitive at State level (top 5 for most states, top 10 in competitive ones) in a given area.
Outside experience demonstrating “enough knowledge to get in Harvard.” What course of study do you want to pursue? What are you doing to show that you can make meaningful contribution there, and have the motivation to do it? As a freshman, you may not have anything in this regard but you should still be engaging the community via community service, outreach, and the like at a minimum.
In short, you’ll have to work a great deal harder, both inside and outside the classroom to have any real shot at Harvard. Even if you do the above, this gives you a realistic chance of admission, not a guarantee. Consider that I had all of the above and got waitlisted from Harvard. As a result, it is good strategy to have more than 1 reach school if you are competitive in this arena, as well as to have some match and safety schools).
Good luck, sorry to be so blunt but it is important to be firmly grounded in reality. Let me know if you have any questions and I will answer them if possible.