What about comparisons between students in the same school where the standards are the same?
Ive heard a lot of AO comparisons between applicants happen between applicants from the same school/area
You are worrying about things over which you have absolutely NO control. Either submit your application to Penn and await the outcomeâŠor donât. Itâs up to you. But all this what if stuff is taking time away from you completing a strong applicationâŠnow.
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Such an interesting thread. Poster wants to know is an A- a 4.0 or lower presumably wondering about greater admission chances if itâs a 4.0. Probably Penn does count A- a 4.0 if 56% have 4.0 according to CDS. Which doesnât mean at all that there is any greater chance of admission with a 4.0 or 3.9 however they calculate it. It only means 56% admitted have a 4.0 however they calculate it. Same concept with similar school applications. Unless someone had the exact same load with exact same teachers and exact same periods of classes itâs not the same. Every poster stating it doesnât matter is ultimately correct, the application is the same however it is calculated.
I think ultimately - OP shouldnât make a decision as to whether to apply based on their concern. If they want to apply, they should apply.
But if they get rejected (and itâs likely), theyâll want to blame the A- , and theyâll never know why they were rejected and GPA is one of many components. And weâre all saying - that wonât be the reason why.
But many a straight A will be rejected - and since the âaverageâ is 3.9, clearly many donât have a 4.0.
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OP- the best way to get admitted to Penn is to convince the adcomâs that you are a strong student, interested in learning, get excited about intellectual topics, bring something to campus besides the classroom (athletics, debate, break-dancing, expert pastry baking) whose teachers say you are a significant asset to the classroom.
If obsessing about your GPA will help demonstrate this to the adcomâs then keep at it. My suggestion though is to do two things:
1- work on a killer essay which shows the kind of person you are and why a university would want you there
2- find a few schools easier to get admitted to than Penn- and get excited about them.
You canât control anything else moving forward.
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Our Quaker saw their admissions file, and the UPenn recalculation of their GPA aligned with the high school calculation, leading us to infer that there is a differential for -/+ grades.
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But youâre not exactly the same as a student in the same school. Sure, they might prefer the A to the A- but they might also prefer club XYZ to no club or club ABC, they might prefer the precise classes one person took from the other, they may value test scores more/less, essays, letter of recommendation, etc. Theyâll evaluate the students holistically and all you can do is be the best YOU. And at this moment it sounds like being âyouâ includes having an A-. No biggie. Move on.
Okay, but in the context of academics, which is a separate part of the application, a student with A minuses will definitely look worse?
No - it depends on if the school uses it in their calculation.
I mean, I think you already know that objectively and by definition, an A- is slightly worse than an A.
Nobody knows if/how much any university is going to actually care. So if youâre asking the community if you should try for an A, then yes. If youâre asking the community if having already gotten an A- is going to ruin any chances at UPenn (or any other school) then absolutely not.
Well itâs not just a singular A-, itâs a lot of them
UPenn does
Why donât you focus on finding schools which you could love just as much as U Penn which are going to love you just the way you are, instead of grinding away about a lot of A- grades? Seems like a better use of your time.
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I already have my entire list settled and thereâs really no schools that I love as much as UPenn 
My student is at UPenn with a B in both semesters of a HS class. If you love UPenn you should concentrate on your application. They seem to really like their Thank you letter essay prompt. I concur with the post that says they value the essay. At admitted students day the regional rep knew the subject of the Common app essay my student wrote without any prompting.
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As long as your list includes colleges which are likely/safe and which you can afford, terrific. But grinding away on your GPA isnât productive. Even if there are no schools you love as much as Penn.
so youâll apply and then see. And whatever they say will be the answer.
I wouldnât worry about those A minuses. One of my kids was admitted with a handful of Bs on the transcript. Focus on the other parts of your applicationâespecially the essaysâand shoot your shot. Best of luck to you!
What else you got besides lots of A-'s? Plenty of other ways to not be admitted by Penn.
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Elite schools that practice holistic admissions donât rack and stack their applicants by stats. Once a certain academic threshold has been reached they look for other things that are important to them. Instead of worrying about your gpa (which you canât do anything about at this point anyway) Iâd focus on writing great essays showing why youâd be a wonderful addition to the Penn community. Iâd give the same advice if you had a 4.0 because plenty of 4.0 students get rejected every year.
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