Would I still show that I’m qualified for admission to Harvard EAAnswered
Hello everyone, I am a first generation low income African American student in Georgia (I attend a majority minority school in a kind of low income county). My family has an income of <20,000. My sister was admitted and is a current student (she had a 3.94 unweighted and 4.61 weighted).
However, I am unsure about my chances because I got 2’c grades this semester of junior year (in dual enrollment courses). If I don’t get anything less than a A, I would have 3.88 gpa unweighted and a 4.5 weighted for ea. I have already taken 11 college courses to date and (4 AP classes, my school offers 10 but they are only available for certain grade levels (1 AP for freshman, 3 sophomore, junior, and senior year). Additionally, I would have taken 19 by the time I need to submit my application.
For reference, this semester has been really stressful for me because my mom had a stroke and I have had to help around my home and with her rehabilitation.
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3 answers
Hey there @deb-g!
I can't really tell you if you'd get into Harvard, because even people with amazing grades, extracurriculars, awards, and test scores don't get in sometimes. I can say that although your GPA may not be perfect, your other academics sound very impressive. You've already taken 11 college courses and you will graduate with 19 APs, which are both good things. Also, I think when you submit your application to college, there's a section where you can explain any downward trends in grades for personal reasons, so you could explain your mother's stroke there if your grades this semester aren't as good as they have been in the past.
I would also recommend looking on the chancing simulator on CollegeVine (under the 'Schools' tab) to see a breakdown of your chances. This will also tell you if you need to work on anything.
Good luck!
Hi @deb-g!
In addition to your academics, you've got two really strong points for Harvard: first-generation and low-income. Your sister had these as well as the identity "African American." Not sure if the last one will work for you because of the current situation regarding affirmative action, but the first two points will still boost your chances as compared to other applicants.
Regardless, taking 19 college-level classes in high school speaks volumes about your academic abilities. Having a great GPA despite two C's shows admissions officers that you're a high-achieving student with two outlier grades, which likely were due to valid reasons. You can explain what happened in your application and the admissions officers will understand.
You haven't mentioned anything about your extracurriculars. No matter how impressive your transcript looks, Harvard would like to see extracurricular involvement as well.
Hope this helps!
I agree with the other answers here! 2 C's alone will not result in a guaranteed rejection from Harvard - especially since you already have a strong UWGPA and course rigor. Your extenuating circumstances will definitely compensate for grades too if you report them in the Additional Information section. Hope this helps!
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