Do HYPSM + other ivies look at transcripts and recalculate GPAs and how much of an impact would A-'s have on that? My school calculates an A- as a 4.0 on the unweighted scale so just wondering if having a bunch of A-'s will decrease my GPA that these schools would use.
Do you go to a school that regularly sends students to the ivies? Are you in the top 10 pct of your class?
How is your comment related to the question the student asked?
Yes. Yes.
Here:
To answer the OP’s question, most of HYPSM + is not transparent about if they recalculate and/or how. Harvard goes by the transcript. My belief is that is the same for the rest of the Ivy League. More important is how your GPA is in comparison to others in your class, particularly those applying to the same schools. But GPA is but one part if the application.
Regardless, file under “it is what it is.”
Are you claiming that an A- vs. A+ has a different effect depending on how many kids the school sends to the Ivies?
Nowhere did the OP ask about A+.
The OP obviously worries that the Ivies distinguish between A, A+, and A-. And that’s a valid question that you answered. And, as expected, the answer is “nobody knows”.
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The line that you’ll hear at a lot of info sessions is just “we look at students in the context of their school.” IME, they won’t even say whether they take the time to fully recalculate GPA. When I asked about GPA at Brown, they said that they don’t really look at GPA, they focus on the grades earned and the rigor of those grades.
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To be more specific : Is it like A and A+ is 4.0 UWGPA and A- is 3.7?
Ivies don’t treat grades from all schools equally and look at relative performance within each school, and perceived quality of/relationship with the school. Straight out of the mouth of an Ivy admissions director.
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If within top 10 pct of your class, and the ivies know your school, then you are not out of the running.
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The GPA and details are not important; if the Ivy knows your school, they will know the grading, sometimes even what teachers are tough or not, and look at rigor and whether in top 10 pct. The actual number is not decisive in any way.
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Also after you meet a benchmark for grades and scores, admission is really about other things, like how you would contribute to the interesting mix of students on campus. Admissions is about assembling a class.
Make sure you have other schools you would like to attend and try to stop worrying about GPA. If you don’t get in, it probably isn’t because of a few A minuses.
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Agree; you can’t be thinking just ivies.
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