<p>lets say I had an uw gpa of under 3.8, but I took challenging courses at a more competitive school and was within the top 10% of a very large class...would the lower gpa still be in issue in admissions for super selective colleges?</p>
<p>3.8 UW/honors/ap courseload is competitive, as long as you have the SAT score to back it up.</p>
<p>Agree with the above, a 3.8 is not something colleges get upset about lol</p>
<p>^
The OP said <em>under</em> 3.8, which could mean a lot of things.</p>
<p>If you have a 3.7 and a solid test score, you’ll be fine except for the schools at the tippy top.</p>
<p>Remember, extracurriculars and volunteer hours factor into college selection, too. Ivy Leagues (I’m assuming that’s where you want to go) are generally looking for well-rounded, intelligent students that they think will thrive in their program. </p>
<p>While anything above a 3.5 is not something anyone should complain about, make sure to put aside some time for clubs, activities in your community, volunteer work etc.; anything that would look good on a college application if you’re worried about your “subpar” gpa :)</p>
<p>isn’t gpa more important than quite a few of those factors? I think my ECs and test scores are up to par, and I am taking the most vigorous courses, but I might end up with a 3.7 or so. When the weight is added though, I’m pretty confident that I’ll be inn the top ten percent of my class? -sigh- I mean does the rank affect what they think of the unweighted gpa they see?</p>
<p>any other input on this?</p>
<p>It’ll certainly help. Rank really helps a college put things into perspective (as we all know, not all 4.0s or 3.7s etc are equal). A high class rank can help a college understand what 3.7 really means in the context of your high school, and rigor definetly matters as well.</p>
<p>“isn’t gpa more important than quite a few of those factors?”</p>
<p>It’s better to have a high GPA and no ECs than the other way around (you can still get into most less-selective colleges), but a high GPA by itself isn’t enough for highly selective colleges.</p>