In general, the average GPA of students accepted to Harvard University is 3.9 unweighted and 4.15 weighted. This is significantly higher than the national average of 3.0, which is why it's important to have a GPA that stands out from the crowd if you want to get into Harvard. The GPA requirement for Harvard College and Harvard Graduate Schools is not set in stone, but it's generally accepted that a 4.0 or higher is necessary for admission. The Harvard Business School admissions website states that there is no minimum GPA to apply, although their students usually have strong academic backgrounds.
To get into Harvard, your GPA should be at least 4.0 and even then, you'll need to be lucky to get in with a GPA of 4.18 or lower. If you're looking to pursue a career in law or medicine, Harvard may not be the best option for you. One thing you can do is look into what's called 'grade-point forgiveness', which allows you to maintain an agreed-upon GPA throughout your studies. The grade point average for students admitted to Harvard University is 4.18 on a 4.0 scale, so it's unlikely that you'll be accepted with a 3.6 GPA. To put this into perspective, the national average of 3.0 represents all students, not just those applying to college, so the average for those admitted to universities is higher than the national average. If you want to get into Harvard with a 3.6 GPA, the best way to do so is by coming from a school where that 3.6 places you in the top 1 or 2% of the class.
Other factors such as playing an instrument like YoYo Ma or having parents who can finance a building may also help your chances. The GPA, or grade point average, is a simplified number used by colleges and universities to get an idea of their overall academic performance. It takes the average of all high school grades and adjusts them on a scale of 0.01 to 4.0 and the numbers are correlated with letter grades. A GPA of 3.6 correlates with an A- average, indicative of an academic record that consists of good grades in all subjects. This is a very competitive GPA, and Harvard University is clearly accepting students at the top of their high school class. The average high school GPA for the freshman class admitted to Harvard University was 4.04 on the 4.0 scale, indicating that primarily A students are accepted and ultimately attend.
