What You Need For Harvard: SAT Scores and GPA (2024)

FAQs

What You Need For Harvard: SAT Scores and GPA? ›

If you don't pass their SAT and GPA requirements, they'll likely reject you without much consideration. To be safe, you should aim for the 75th percentile, with a 1580 SAT and a 4 GPA or higher to be above average.

If you don't pass their SAT/ACT and GPA requirements, they'll likely reject you without much consideration. To have the best shot of getting in, you should aim for the 75th percentile, with a 1580 SAT or a 36 ACT. You should also have a 4 GPA or higher.

GPA requirements for Harvard

At Harvard, the standard GPA is 4.18. (While some schools publish an unweighted GPA, most utilize a weighted GPA out of 4.0.) Harvard needs you to be at the top of your class with a GPA of 4.18. To compete with other applications, you'll need to receive almost all A's.

While your SAT would make you competitive for the Ivy League, it will be harder to overcome your low GPA at highly competitive schools. They simply have too many applicants with both high test scores and high GPAs to admit many people with a serious deficiency in either. That 2360 alone won't get you into Harvard...

Finally, a score of 1500 is below average at top schools such as MIT (1540), Yale (1515), Harvard (1510), University of Chicago (1530), Caltech (1540), Vanderbilt (1510), Duke (1520), and Johns Hopkins (1520). At these universities, your SAT score gives you a lower chance of acceptance.

A 3.7 GPA is good. But your chances of getting into Harvard will depend on your holistic profile. Your application should reflect both your academic and non-academic achievements well.

The GPA requirements for Harvard University are between 3.9 to 4.1. You will need an incredibly high GPA and will likely be graduating at the top of their class in order to get into Harvard University.

It's exceptionally challenging with a GPA below 3.0, but not impossible. Focus on other aspects of your application to compensate for a low GPA.

A lack of financial resources or need for financial aid are not impediments to your admission. Our aid is entirely need-based, and eligibility is determined in the same manner for all admitted students regardless of nationality or citizenship.

You do not need perfect grades and test scores to get into the Ivy League. In fact, the average unweighted self-reported GPA of incoming students at Harvard is 3.95. Thus, a 4.0 is really not that different from a 3.9 from the eyes of the college.

What was Will Smith's SAT score? ›

Will Smith: The actor said in his Biography channel profile that he scored 1600 on his SATs, too. But instead of moving on to higher education, he pursued a career in music before scoring his iconic small-screen role as “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”… and the rest is history.

While a 1400 makes you eligible to apply to places such as Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, it won't make you a competitive candidate.

Most Ivy League colleges want to see a composite SAT score of 1500-1600 and a composite ACT score of no lower than 33. Does that mean that you shouldn't apply if you don't have these scores? Not at all.

Even though the average weighted GPA for Harvard is 4.2, this is still an average. Successful applicants may have scores that fall well above or below that figure. That means you won't automatically be rejected if your GPA is under 4.0. Some say that the lowest GPA accepted to Harvard is about 3.0 (weighted).

Harvard University does not have a strict minimum GPA requirement for undergraduate admissions. However, admitted students typically have very high GPAs, ranging from 3.8 to 4.0, with an average GPA of 3.9.

While a 1400 makes you eligible to apply to places such as Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, it won't make you a competitive candidate.