Harvard minimum accepted SAT/ACT scores

[Kutt]

It is a well-known fact that Harvard university (arguably the most prestigious college in the United States) only accepts the very top highest-performing high school graduates in the country.

What is Harvard's minimum accepted high school GPA, number of AP credits, and SAT/ACT scores?

I believe that Harvard has the most stringent entry requirements out of any college in the US. Only about 6% of applicants are accepted every year.

Off-topic, but has anyone here gone to Harvard or at least knows someone who has?

 

[Hercuflea]

Princeton is worse.

 

[WannabeNewton]

Are you from the US? If so, your guidance counselor(s) have obviously done a horrible job informing you of how the college admissions process works I'm afraid. If there was a strict minimum required SAT/ACT, GPA, and number of AP credits don't you think you would be able to find it on their website? You can't just poof up some magic set of numbers that will divide the line between getting in and not getting in unfortunately. Harvard is an all purpose university not Caltech or MIT. Rest assured you can easily find data online on the average SAT scores and gpa of people who are accepted. That is as good as it gets. A great GPA and a 2300+ SAT score won't guarantee you a spot; you need more than just that and the other things are not nearly as quantifiable (Extracurriculars etc).

 

[Jorriss]

I do not know if this website is reliable but they have a few numbers.

http://www.parchment.com/c/college/college-544-Harvard-University.html

It seems like if you do everything perfectly, you'll be about 50th percentile, so there is no magic number.

 

[Kutt]

I do not know if this website is reliable but they have a few numbers.

http://www.parchment.com/c/college/college-544-Harvard-University.html

It seems like if you do everything perfectly, you'll be about 50th percentile, so there is no magic number.

SAT scores below 2300 are not accepted?

 

[lasymphonie]

I got into Harvard for college and I didn't have perfect SAT reasoning scores (though I did have two 800s for my subject tests, but that's not particularly difficult). Most people I know who have been admitted to Harvard have had SAT scores above 2250, but I'm sure there are successful applicants with lower grades. I had a perfect high school GPA and graduated as the valedictorian of a prestigious high school that had never sent students to an Ivy League.

I turned down Harvard for a peer school, so I can't comment on what attending Harvard is actually like.

 

[Jorriss]

SAT scores below 2300 are not accepted?

No, what makes you think that?

 

[lasymphonie]

I know several people who scored below 2300 on the SAT who were accepted.

 

[radium]

The Ivy League and other top schools in the U.S. practice holistic admissions. This means they consider a wide number of factors beyond GPA and test scores like recommendations, extracurricular involvement, and your essays. For this reason, you are not guaranteed to get in with perfect tests scores and grades. Someone with a 2250 and a slightly lower GPA might fare a lot better than someone with a 4.0 and a 2400 if they have really outstanding essays. Also, schools take into account the context of your GPA within your school as well as course rigor. If you go to school where a 3.7 puts you in the top of the class, it might be seen in the same light as a 4.0 in a school with grade inflation.
Admissions in the U.S. are highly unpredictable. You might get into a school like Columbia but not Cornell or Yale but not Stanford.