is it worth applying to Harvard with a 3.0 GPA that is the topic of today's video my name is Craig Meister I'm a college admissions coach you can learn more about me and how you can work with me one-on-one throughout the entire College admissions process on my website which is colleg me.com and if you are interested in learning about whether or not you are on track or your student is on track for Selective College admission I strongly encourage you to go over to my free new website are you on track to get in.com to complete a three-minute assessment it's free and it will help you determine what more work you may have to do in order to reach your college admissions goals again are you on track to get in.com is the name of that site I got a question recently from Jake in Grand Rapids Michigan and he asked me is it worth applying to Harvard if I have a 30 GPA and this is my answer Jake Harvard is one of the most selective universities in the world and a 3.0 GPA is typically below far below the average GPA of an admitted student yet grades are just one of many factors that Harvard considers in its admissions process the university also takes into account other elements of the student's application such as the students rigor of curriculum act or SAT scores extracurricular activities essays letters of recommendation and more it's worth noting that a 3.0 GPA does not automatically disqualify you from consideration for admission to Harvard as a first year applicant and there have been students with lower GPA who have been admitted in the past with that said it will likely be quite a bit more challenging for you to be admitted and you will need to have other aspects of your application that demonstrate your potential for success at Harvard and Beyond to overcome what is essentially a straight B average if you are being realistic unless you have an extremely and I mean extremely unique talent backstory or connection Harvard is likely not in your future if you are a beast student at least as a first year student maybe maybe you work your way up to it by grad school in general if you have a 3.0 GPA as a High School junior 11th grader you really should be considering schools less selective than Harvard focus on other aspects of your application that can demonstrate your strengths and help you stand out as a candidate no matter where you apply apply if you are still an underclassman as in a nth grader or 10th grader in high school my strong recommendation to you would be to focus on getting your grade point average up as soon as possible because the grade point average of a student while on its own is not considered really at a school like Harvard what is considered are the grades in each individual academic course you are taking because Harvard will create its own grade point average internally for you but what Harvard is going to be looking at is how are you doing in the core academic classes you've taken throughout high school and the sooner you can start earning A's in every academic class you were taking in high school and ideally the most rigorous ones the more likely you are going to be on a positive trajectory for at least having a real chance potentially of getting in to Harvard whereas if you're a 30 student you are skating on extremely extremely the nice it might also be a good idea to talk to your high school college counselor as soon as possible or meet with me or another College admissions coach to get a better sense of your chances of being admitted to a particular College on your dream list as early as possible in high school so that you can set realistic expectations but also potentially bridge the gap between where you are today and where you see yourself or dream yourself tomorrow now I should also make note that it it is not only important that you get as many high grades in high school as possible it's also very important that you get the highest grades you can in the most rigorous courses on offer at your high school the foundation of your campaign to get into any IV Le College will depend on your willingness and ability to consistently take the most rigorous courses at your high school earn a in them uh and obviously every high school around the world has different grading scales uh but what I would say is if your school reports a grades via a range such as a minus a A+ or 90 through 100 work your hardest to get the highest A's possible as you can please in as many classes as possible A+ or 97 plus consistently from 9th grade on is going to be putting you in the very very best position to impress a school like Harvard academically if your school grades on a different scale than uh A's let's say maybe it's 1 to 7 or 1 to 50 every every school system every country has its own uh scale just try to be on the top of it every High School is different but in many cases taking the most rigorous courses at your high school is synonymous with one of the following three scenario scenarios uh or some com combination or permutation thereof scenario number one would be running the table with as many AP or advanced placement courses as you possibly can take each Academic Year uh and taking all of your other academic courses at the highest levels on offer option two would be taking the most challenging courses offered to students in your high school during the first two years of high school and then beginning to be a becoming a full-fledged uh IB or International baloria diploma program student at the start of your 11th grade year and finally completing the full ibdp with both predictions and final cumulative scores or grades earned in the 40 to 45 range or again individually that would mean basically running the table on on no less than sixes or sevens in every particular class and the last option the third option would be just taking as many honors High School honors or high honors gifted dual enrollment courses is available to you at your a given high school if no IB DP or AP courses are on offer in no grade in high school should you take fewer than five academic courses though I prefer six if you can swing it and if you are being strategic about things no matter the exact curriculum on offer at your school or official names of courses available at your school at minimum your four-year academic course load in high school should include the following particularly if you find yourself studying in the United States of America in high school you want to be always in nth grade taking the most rigorous course in English available to n9th grade students the most rigorous course in math available to n9th grade students the most rigorous course in history available to nth grade students the most rigorous course in science available to ninth grade students and the most rigorous course in a foreign language available to 9th grade students that would be sort of the dream scenario in n9th grade to set you up for the ideal 10th grade which would be the most rigorous English course available to 10th grade students the most rigorous Math course available to 10th grade students the most rigorous history course available to 10th grade students the most rigorous science course available to 10th grade students and the most rigorous foreign language course available to 10th grade students again most likely building upon the same language you were in the year before 9th grade by 11th grade you should be in the most rigorous 11th grade English course available to 11th grade students the most rigorous Math course available to 11th grade students the most rigorous history course available to 11th grade students the most rigorous science course at your high school available to 11th grade students and the most rigorous version of the foreign language that you have found yourself in throughout your high school career or if you're at an ibdp school you should be in three higher levels in areas that you are most passionate about and that are most likely to align with your potential future course of study or major and three standard level courses in areas that you were also deeply passionate about of your six IBD piece courses only one should be Arts related at most unless you plan to major in one or more art in college and if your school offers mathematics uh offers let's say analysis and approaches a HL I would definitely say you want to take that and get an A in it and hopefully have a prediction of six or better in it to be a very compelling stem student at the most selective schools and universities again that's analysis and approaches HL Ana if you find yourself at a school that offers it at if it an IB School for your senior year uh you know obviously if you're an ibdp student continue on with what you started in 11th grade but if you're in a senior year situation at a non IB School you want to be in the most rigorous uh 12th grade English course available to 12th grade students the most rigorous Math course available to 12th grade students the most most rigorous history course available to uh 9th grade 12th grade students and most rigorous science and foreign language course available to 12th grade students again the same language ideally as last year notice how I didn't mention any elective courses or Arts courses it doesn't mean you can't take them and you maybe shouldn't you should take them I think it would be definitely important for you to round out your high school career especially if you uh need or want to pursue your passions uh throughout your high school career and you have the horsepower to do so but to be completely Frank uh Brown Columbia Cornell Dartmouth pen Prince Yale and of course Harvard which is your question uh they're not really so focused on how you're doing in arts classes as much as how you are doing in academic courses like I just named inclusive of the arts classes would be the courses like health and physical education and personal finance Etc courses that frankly are not considered core academic courses so by all means get A's in those don't get Fs or C's or D's in those but uh how you do in those courses are not really funneled into the GPA calculations that IV League level schools like Harvard will be uh recalculating for you uh when they are evaluating your application remember the academic course progression that I just provided you is only a minimum goal you can always do more if you can do it maybe summer courses maybe night courses at a community college uh that would be great just keep earning A's in the highest A's possible as you pursue your academic studies throughout your high school career if you're serious about getting into Harvard or any school like Harvard in the United States of America again if you like this video I would definitely say give it a thumbs up and also consider subscribing to my channel if you want to work with me one-on-one throughout or even for just part of the uh College admissions process to get into a highly selected college or university in the United States of America please visit my website colleg me.com and again if you're interested in learning about whether or not you're on track for Selective College admission go on over to are you on track to get in.com until next time stay safe stay well and most importantly stay stressfree throughout the entire College admissions process