<p>I was wondering if Harvard would throw out my application with a 3.77 UW GPA, though I took 13 AP classes total and am in top 5% from great school, even if I have numerous national level awards and a publication in an International conference and a 2240 SAT. This isn't a chance thread. I just want to know if that UW GPA would really hurt me. Or is it that at a point where you can handle a Harvard education, like 3.6+ GPA, GPA doesn't matter much. One girl who got into Harvard was telling me that once SAT's go above 2100 and GPA is 3.7, Essays and EC's get you in.</p>
<p>2240 SAT is not “moderately low,” and that is not something to worry about… BUT, taking a whopping 13(!) AP classes and ending up with a 3.77 UW GPA is a very obvious sign that you have overstretched yourself, or overachieved. “Numerous national level awards” have little meaning unless you can tie them all together or they are all related to one specific goal. A bunch of awards for “leadership” and “debate” and high levels of community service and what-not are unlikely to help at all.
You remind me of most east-coast students, who have the faulty notion that receiving a bunch of showy awards and doing a ton of random activates equals a top college. It’s the dedicated interest and real understanding of one’s own capabilities that are required for success. </p>
<p>That is definitely not true that SAT go above 2100 and 3.7 GPA it depends on essays and ECs. I have known IMO participants who are rejected by Harvard/ MIT due to their GPA and SAT scores. Their essays and ECs are definitely phenomenal, I mean how many people can write an essay about an international medal and participate in one. Admission officers are looking for reasons to admit you. Why not let your perfect GPA and SAT be another reason, another edge for you in the admission process. </p>
<p>How do you get the notion they throw out applications, I wonder?</p>
<p>@medadvice,</p>
<p>As BrownParent implies, Harvard doesn’t “throw out” anyone’s application. They look at 'em all. I think what you’re asking, though, is whether your GPA is a significant impediment to admission.</p>
<p>The short answer is: no, not a significant impediment.</p>
<p>It is in the lower range of GPAs of students who are commonly admitted. Annual Crimson surveys of freshmen suggest that roughly half of students who are accepted have a GPA of 4.0, or nearly so (the surveys rely on self-reports and the structure of the reported data suggest that many students who answer that question have reported a rounded GPA). Higher GPA is always better, but your GPA isn’t going to substantially hold you back. Same with your SAT.</p>
<p>More important will be the context within which you earned your GPA. You said you took 13 APs. That sounds good. Harvard seems to prefer students who challenge themselves academically, take some curricular risks, to students who seem to be protecting high GPAs. But looking a little deeper, is 13 APs a lot for your school? Typical for top students? A little low for top students? You say you’re in the top 5%. Are you 5th in a class of 100 or 50th in a class of a thousand? Is your school an academically super-competitive school, or more of a typical public high school, with a wide range of students? Is that 5% clustered around a fairly narrow range of GPAs? Or is there a significant fall off at some point? </p>
<p>At the high school attended by both my sons, most years, no one achieves an unweighted 4.0. Grading there is tough, and no teacher hesitates to give an A- or a B+ to students doing really great work, but that is just short of perfect. Neither of my sons got a 4.0, although they’re both at Harvard. My younger son’s GPA was about a 3.8. But in each of their classes, there was a cluster of students who scored GPAs within a vary narrow range, with a difference between the top student and the 10th (in a class of roughly 200) of perhaps 0.1 GPA point. My older son took only 8 APs and my younger son took 9. But in both cases, they took as many or more than anyone else in their class, as the school has curricular restrictions which limit how many APs one might take. Most top students there take five or six. Context matters.</p>
<p>You haven’t mentioned anything specific concerning your extracurriculars, so I won’t comment on them. Essays can be important. They are an opportunity to distinguish yourself. However, what I’ve heard is that for most students, they are a wasted opportunity. Remember that the admissions committee already knows how you appear on the exterior. They’d like to see a little bit into your soul. They hope to do that in part through your essays.</p>
<p>Your objective measures, as reported, suggest that you are likely a credible candidate. But remember, for a school with an overall admission rate of under 6%, a “credible candidate” means you probably have a shot that exceeds 6%. For nearly every applicant, it’s more likely that application will get the skinny envelope, not the fat one.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that Harvard and its peer schools have many more qualified applicants than freshmen beds. For even highly-qualified applicants, there is something of a lottery effect. Lots of completely-qualified, truly excellent students will be rejected. Some will get in.</p>