Comparing GPA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>Hey everyone~</p>

<p>I'm just wondering, how do colleges actually use compare applicants based on GPA? Because every school's difficulty and grading scale is different... I know of a friend who used to go to school in Ohio and transferred to my school this year (an international school abroad). She used to get a cumulative GPA of 4.0 but is now actually close to failing some classes here. I'm sure colleges take this into account in some way, but does anyone know exactly how? Do they recalculate GPA or something?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Duke doesn’t recalculate your GPA. Instead, the admissions officers will look at your GPA/transcript in the context of your school(s) and life situations. Thus, a 4.0 GPA at one school does not equal the same 4.0 at the other, and Duke knows that.</p>

3

<p>Just know that they know what they’re doing…there’s no good way to trick them and they won’t think something’s fishy unless it actually is. I usually say that class rank is more useful than GPA, but that is also relative.</p>