Yes, there are many things at Harvard, from numerous undergraduate and graduate programs (like Medicine, Law, Business) to various grading systems (A, B, C, etc., sometimes with pluses/minuses), and even reports of frequent "A" grades, though there's no single "a" thing, but rather many opportunities and standards. Harvard has extensive academic structures, diverse departments, and specific grading scales that vary slightly between its many schools and for different student levels.
Letter Grades
There is no grade of A+. Earned by work that indicates a strong comprehension of the course material, a good command of the skills needed to work with the course materials, and the student's full engagement with the course requirements and activities.
Each letter grade is 10 points — an A is 90-100, a B is 80- 89, a C is 70-79, and a D is 60-69 — but the scale's one failing grade, an F, spans not 10 points, but 60 (0 to 59).
A new report from Harvard's Office of Undergraduate Education, released Monday, found that roughly 60% of grades given to undergraduates were A's, up from 40% a decade ago and less than a quarter 20 years ago.
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences averages its letter grades with a 4-point scale: A = 4.00, A- = 3.67, B+ = 3.33, B = 3.00, B- = 2.67, C+ = 2.33, C = 2.00, C- = 1.67, D+ = 1.33, D = 1.00, D- = 0.67. E, ABS, UNS, EXLD = 0.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983 and a 3.7 GPA.
GPA Requirements for Harvard
Harvard does not publish a strict minimum GPA requirement, but successful applicants typically have GPAs between 3.9 and 4.0 (unweighted) or 4.1 to 4.5 (weighted) on a 5.0 scale.
There isn't one single #1 hardest school, as rankings fluctuate, but Harvard University, Stanford University, MIT, and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) consistently appear at the very top of lists for lowest acceptance rates (often below 4-5%), requiring exceptional academic performance and unique qualifications from applicants. Caltech is often noted for its intense focus on STEM and tiny class sizes, while Harvard remains the most famous symbol of extreme selectivity.
These ranges are what you want to pay attention to. Harvard and Yale report the highest SAT scores, with very similar ranges; Harvard's middle range is between 1480 and 1580, while Yale's is between 1470 and 1580.
Can I Get into Harvard with a Low GPA? While it's certainly possible to get into Harvard with a low GPA, as the numbers bear out, it's improbable. For the Class of 2028, a mere 1.28% of admitted students to Harvard had GPAs below 3.5.
Is a 1500 SAT score good for Harvard? A 1500 is a relatively low SAT score for Harvard, representing the 25th percentile score of admitted students. While a 1500 is below Harvard's median score, the difference between a 1500 and a 1550 is just a few questions.
We do prefer that students take the most rigorous programme available to them, so an A level student, for example, should normally take four A levels rather than three. But we do understand that in some schools three A levels are the norm, and in fact sometimes four are not allowed.
Grades of D+ through D- are passing but unsatisfactory grades. Grades of E, ABS (Absent), FL (Fail), UNS (Unsatisfactory), and EXL (Excluded) are failing grades.
Is a 4.3 GPA good? This GPA is above a 4.0, which means it's weighted (it takes into account the difficulty of your classes in conjunction with your grades). This is a very good GPA. It most likely means you're taking high level classes and are earning As and Bs.
Jeff Bezos and Steve Ballmer were both high school valedictorians, and Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg's SAT scores were reported to be 1600 (back in the 20th century, when it is exponentially harder to get a 1600 than today, where today's 1600 is worth somewhere like a 1550 back in 1972, during Bill Gates's senior year ...
SAT Score Percentiles
Cornell is considered the “easiest” Ivy League to get into because it has the highest Ivy League acceptance rate.
Objectively speaking, neither the University of Oxford nor the Ivy League is “harder”. The admission rate of the University of Oxford is relatively higher than that of many Ivy League schools, it has a highly challenging interview process and the restriction that one can only apply to one university in the UK.
Scholarships & Grants
Because Harvard is committed to affordability, our scholarships are designed to cover 100% of your demonstrated financial need. Here is our process: First we determine your award by establishing your parent contribution. Then we factor in student employment and any outside awards you've received.
6.0 GPAs Are Extremely Rare
Earning a 6.0 GPA is highly unusual because it requires a school with a heavily weighted grading system. Most high schools, even those with weighted GPAs, cap their scales around 5.0, allowing higher GPAs for students in Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) classes.
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.