Summer Program Grades

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
1

<p>I'm a rising senior, and Harvard and Princeton are my top choices. I went to Harvard SSP this year and received an A minus in Macroeconomics and an A in another class. Considering that Harvard curves these grades (I don't know by how much) and that the Macroeconomics class was an introductory course (both classes were), will this hurt my application? I must also say that I tried very hard in the class and am now very interested in economics though I don't think I'll major in it--planning on majoring in history. Also, will an A- (curved, mind you again) imply that I'm bad in Math? </p>

<p>I have stellar SAT/SAT II scores in the 750+ range for each subject, good ranking/grades/GPA, and pretty good EC's and recs... I'm pretty sure. And essays shall be coming along. I also have one national science award from freshman year (nothing that significant honestly and it was a 4-person group project) and one or two minor regional awards in a few EC's.
Problem is, I took 2 AP courses junior year (two 5's but they weren't in chem or bio or physics, the supper hard ones) and I'll be taking 4 more this year... It's just the way my school works. I could've taken a max of 3 junior year, for example and before that, I couldn't take any.
Lastly, I'm Asian (yes, my username is misleading) from MD. Again, H and P are my first two choices. So will that A- make admission officers think twice about me? Furthermore, will this A- detrimentally contribute to my college GPA if I get credits for the course? </p>

<p>I'm just really anxious about this whole process. I know it's super competitive to get into those 2 schools and that's why I'm worried about the A minus. I'm sorry if I come across as obnoxious, but some of the kids at SSP told me that the summer program was easier than regular college classes.. I'm afraid that by not getting A's, admissions officers will doubt my work ethics/ability in handling the college workload at these competitive schools, especially since they were intro courses which many high schoolers took and since I've only taken a few AP's. Again, I hope I haven't offended anyone. I only want your honest and hopefully informed opinion. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Isn’t an A- in the A range?</p>

3

<p>First, admission office of those schools will not find out the grades unless you send it to them. Second, even if you reveal your grades to them, I doubt that one A- from a summer course will have any significant effect on your chance for acceptance. Your high schools grades, rigors, ECs, and your personal story will have much more weight IMO. You are worried too much about something very insignificant that is borderline being silly (no offense intended). Also if you want to get credit for this, it will not effect your college GPA, and you will not be applying for credit until you are accepted and attending the school. It is not a given that they will accept these courses for credit, btw. Admission process is separate and different from the actual matriculating process. Good luck.</p>

4

<p>you don’t need straight A’s, and 2400’s to get into Ivies. I know numerous kids who didn’t have stellar stats and got into ivies. One kid, had a 3.5, >2000 SAT, and the normal EC’s, got a full ride to Princeton. I’m sure an A- at a summer program is not going to eliminate you from the admissions process.</p>

5

<p>wait. isn’t an A- an A?</p>

6

<p>I was at SSP this summer as well, and I have to say that I don’t think the courses you take there will factor in to the application process in any way besides letting them know you can handle rigorous college coursework.</p>

<p>That is, of course, if one of your professors doesn’t personally recommend you or you are in contact with them, they like you, and you are interested in their department.</p>

<p>I would say, that if it is curved an A means even more. The course I took was curved so that only 5 students got an A out of 30ish, about 10 got B’s, 10 C’s, and 5 D’s. It wasn’t that set in stone, but only 5-6 got A’s, so I would say an A- is pretty good.</p>