<p>Ok so im an international and my school calculated my GPA as being a 3.78. Im top 4% of my class at a good public school. </p>
<p>Question: how badly am i screwed and can i still get in given my stellar national ec's. </p>
<p>just to add some info i need 30 classes to graduate and i have gone above and beyond to get 50, with 37 A's, 5 A-s, but here were a small problem comes in:</p>
<p>During Freshman Year i got a B+ in Gym and Science and a C- in cooking (i burnt the final exam cake) </p>
<p>During Sophmore I got a C in math and B in Eng and Junior I got a C+ in physics and B in Math, however i was truly experiencing some severe adversity over this time and thus was advised by my counselor to retake theses courses which I did and got all As in. However, both my original mark and my new marks were recorded on my transcript. </p>
<p>Also, i showed a great trend in improvement with all the extra courses i took, scoring nearly perfect in Senior Physics, 3 math courses and even took an AP course online when there were none offered at my school in AB calculus (only one i could find but have to take test next may) </p>
<p>Basically I took tons of courses and excelled well in them however, the small issues which i mentioned above during frosh, soph, and junior year a total of 8 classes of 50 brought me down to 3.78 or i wouldve had 3.9 and top 1% rank.</p>
<p>Just apply to it. These things you mentioned can not be changed.</p>
<p>Harvard looks for extremely special and extremely talented people to fill the spaces for its classes… If you feel that you fit that mold, show them in an essay.</p>
<p>HEy thanks for that, I was just wondering, my counselor says hes gonna write an explanation and everything for the problems which i experienced and says that i already have academically stood out. </p>
<p>I guess its up to my ECs now and I will be creating a chances thread later.
Hey, I was checking out collegedata.com and saw that some kid with like a 3.3 GPA, URM got into harvard for 2013.</p>
<p>Hey but does anyone think a 3.78 with a dramatically rising record, in top4% of class, with 50 courses who has been in famillial troubles and even forced to become an independant student, would be alright for Harvard???</p>
<p>I would say you have a good chance at the top schools with stellar E/C’s . One guy from my high school who is an olympic fencer but pretty bad at school still made it into HYP… Im not so sure whether I am ok about this. I mean yeah of course they need a well rounded class but at the end of the day arent they universitys??? Meaning learning and academia should take precedent?? Anyway sorry for my rant and if I offended anyone…</p>
<p>hey thanks guliyan, yah well u need to consider univerisities in a new light
they all have to fullfill their institutional needs and that means recrutiing people who will be most likely sucessful in business, academia, politics, sports, entertainment, etc.
They are just trying to find people who will make significant contributions to society and thats why its totally holistic. Thankfully my ecs, SATs, personal qualities, and all that are pretty good on the national and international level.</p>
<p>Hey does anyene know how competitive next year will be since the admissions peak of 2009 is over??I’ve been hearing that its going to be similar to the class of 2011 or 2012.</p>
<p>Hey good new i got word from my counselor that im officially at a 3.85 now since I did a bunch more courses, and top 1-2% rank now. He says the classes wont even be really mentinoed on my transcript as he says my school recognizes my “down” time. He says im most likely now to be valedictorian if i continiue through first sem senior year!!!</p>
<p>One advice for you: grades are only ONE, and it’s worth repeating, ONE only 1 (one) part of your application. Do NOT obsess over this one part which you cannot change. You cannot change history.</p>
<p>And trust me, from the applicant pool for the class of 2014 (the pool will problably hit over 30k) many MANY MANY will have stellar grades. Your grades will most definitely not make or break your application. You need a solid application in all aspects to be admitted to Harvard.</p>
<p>Just imagine the waitlist itself. Estimates of 1000-1500 students who all are categorized by Harvard as very strong applicants (the strongest who haven’t been admitted) and all have super grades, high test scores, impressive ECs, great recommendations and creative essays etc. And from this list of supercompetitive applicants only 50-100 will be picked. And if you’re better than these applicants landing a spot on the waitlist then you’re good enough to be an original admit. My guess is that Harvard’s admission rate in the following year will be 6-7%.</p>
<p>And statistically a student applying to Harvard is already in the top 3% (by SAT score) of all high school seniors.</p>