<p>I've been thinking about college a lot now and I've been kind of freaking out because my gpa doesn't match with the average/standard gpa for the colleges I want to apply to. For example, I have a 4.18 weighted gpa while the average gpa accepted for my choice colleges is like 4.3</p>
<p>however, i also do work in a research lab outside of school. do colleges care more about gpa or extracurricular things?</p>
<p>??? Most schools look at your unweighted GPA rather than your weighted GPA. GPA and extracurriculars both factor into admissions. Search up the common data set for the school you are interested in and scroll to C7 to see the level of importance of the different aspects factored into admissions. </p>
<p>Yes, your GPA matters. Previous post is correct, it’s your unweighted GPA that they are most interested in since high schools can have different offerings and weight scales. EC’s are a compliment… part of the whole picture… they only out shadow grades when they are stunning. If you were an Olympic athlete, starred in a Broadway show, played Carnegie Hall, discovered something profound in a research lab… stuff like that (and usually those kids have the grades too!)</p>
<p>Get your test scores as high as you can. Polish that resume and essay. Research, research, research safety and match schools that you can really love too!</p>
<p>@tola2015 yeah i know they factor your unweighted, but my school really only gives out my weighted gpa??? like they have never really told me my unweighted.</p>
<p>GPA matters. Weighted GPA in itself not so much - class rank is usually places weighted GPAs in the context of school. In the area of raw academic numbers, GPA, Test scores, and Class rank are the most important factors. For holistic admissions processes, extracurricular activities, volunteering, work experience, research etc. also play a role - but even with good standing in those areas you can’t make up for a lackluster GPA or test score.</p>
<p>So does my school. I calculated my own unweighted GPA just to know where I stand in comparison with others. If you have your transcript you should be able to calculate the unweighted GPA for yourself. Or you can calculate your UW GPA w/o a transcript if you remember all of the grades you have received in all of your classes. </p>
<p>A: 4.00
A-: 3.67
B+: 3.33
B: 3.00
B-: 2.67
C+: 2.33
C: 2.00
C-:1.67
D+:1.33
D: 1.0 </p>
<p>What is your choice college? The difference between their GPA and your GPA is not great enough that you should be concerned about it. Are you a rising junior? If so, you still have a full year to increase your GPA, so I definitely wouldn’t worry.
Colleges care more about GPA (they are academic institutions first and foremost), but your extracurricular involvement is good and will be looked upon favorably 
</p>
<p>@Ctesiphon:</p>
<p>Don’t forget essays. Essays and recs matter a lot some/many places.</p>
<p>GPA GPA GPA everything else is secondary </p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS I disagree. Just look at the common data sets. As you can see, more than just GPA is important in admissions. Having an UW 4.0 GPA DOES NOT guarantee acceptance into most schools in general. Everything is not secondary to GPA at all. Avoid making such unfounded blanket statements. A student should strive to be a well-rounded applicant and as @PurpleTitan said essays and recommendations play a big role. </p>
<p>UPenn page 6: <a href=“http://www.upenn.edu/ir/Common%20Data%20Set/UPenn%20Common%20Data%20Set%202013-14.pdf”>http://www.upenn.edu/ir/Common%20Data%20Set/UPenn%20Common%20Data%20Set%202013-14.pdf</a>
</p>
<p>@tola2015 if you do not have the GPA, unless you’re amazing at something, you will not get into the college of your choice. I understand that other things are important, but I’m saying if you had to pick between maintaing your GPA and doing an EC, I’d maintain my GPA.</p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS have you by any chance whatsoever looked at ANY of the 2018 results threads?? You don’t have to be amazing at something to get into your dream college that is total BS. The odds may be against you, but you still have a chance even if its a slight chance. The fact that you think admissions is based on having a high GPA is for lack of a better word dumb. If you can write an essay that blows the adcoms out of the park and have excellent letters of recommendations then IMO the person still has a chance of getting accepted. If you look at those results threads, you will be surprised at who gets in and who doesn’t. </p>
<p>
Once again you made a statement that is unfounded. The top schools still reject students with 4.00 GPAs and perfect SAT and ACT scores. Let’s keep in mind that those schools were those students college of choice. </p>
<p>Let me tell you a story. There was a kid who graduated from my high school in 2013 that got into Harvard. He got a C both semesters in AP Chemistry, and I know for a fact he did not get straight A’s in all his other classes. However, he did join almost every club under the sun and it wasn’t for the sake of padding his resume. He was legitimately passionate about all of them and had a leadership role in about 95% of them. He was class president. He was an amazing public speaker; you just wanted to listen to what he had to say. But most of all he was relatable. He seemed like an actual person. You could talk to him about anything. He would be the first person to help you even if he was busy with something else. Moving on…he’s now part of the student government at Harvard. So as you can see, he did a ton of EC but didn’t really maintain his GPA and still got into Harvard. He got into Harvard because he was an amazing person IMO and because his essays and recommendations were amazing. </p>
<p>Bottom Line: You can still get into the college of your choice if you do not have the GPA. Admissions is about way more than just GPA. </p>
<p>@tola2015 of course I have seen them. I’m not sure you understand my argument. The GPA is your foot in the door, and the EC’s, LOR, and essays get you in. If you don’t have the GPA, aka a foot in the door, you’re not getting in. Now I understand there are rare cases where you have a spectacular essay that will get you in, but I’m talking about in general. </p>
<p>Now you saying top schools reject 4.0’s, and that makes my point. I’m not saying you will be accepted 100%, but your chances go up with proportionate Ec’s and what not. And thanks for telling me that story, which is an anomaly by the way. Shows that on balance, the #1 factor has to be GPA.</p>
<p>Now if OP has a good GPA, then by all means go ahead and do EC’s and write great essays. But if he says his GPA does not match the average, he better work on getting it up. </p>
<p>@WhartonnotHYPS I am really not going to argue with you about this on someone else is thread. Whenever someone seems to point out that you said something rude/unfounded it turns the thread into a whole argument against YOU. You have your opinion. I have mine. And I’m done replying to you. </p>
<p>As far as I am concerned, the OP should apply regardless because you’ll never know what will happen unless you apply. </p>
<p>@thaovyvan you have seen both sides of the argument, pick whichever side is more compelling. </p>
<p>@tola2015 I agree OP should apply, but work on getting GPA up as well.</p>
<p>A Tufts admissions officer once said something to the effect of “Your numbers (i.e. GPA, test scores) get you in the room where the decisions are made. Your supplemental materials (i.e. essays, LoRs, ECs, etc.) get you into the school.” It’s somewhere on one of his reddit posts, I believe, which I can’t link here since CC won’t let me link to “external blogs.” I think that is what @WhartonnotHYPS is trying to say. Obviously it takes more than good GPA and tests scores to get into a competitive school, but I don’t think anyone was trying to say that you have to have straight As and perfect scores to get into a competitive school nor does it guarantee you a spot. In 1998 (when admissions were even less intense), Harvard rejected 50% of applicants with a perfect SAT score and 80% of valedictorians. It takes more than just a good GPA to get accepted, but a good GPA is necessary.</p>
<p>Here’s a very insightful look into the admissions process. It’s a discussion with a few Tufts admissions officers:
<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube;
Some important quotes:
“If the only thing I have to talk about in the committee room is how strong your numbers are, you will not get in.”
“Here is the bar. If I am this excited about you, you get in. The stronger your academics are, the closer you are to that bar, but I’m not that excited about anybody based on just academics.”
“When I think about the people I wanna sit down and talk to, the first thing that jumps to mind is not, ‘I wanna talk to somebody with perfect SAT scores.’”
“An effective application should make you want to get to know this student as a person.”</p>
<p>@430ktk: As far as I know, the OP hasn’t listed what schools she is looking at. That GPA isn’t impressive, but it also isn’t an automatic rejection at many schools (many LACs are more forgiving, for instance). </p>
<p>Also, at some schools, essays and recs can do a lot for you. I’d recommend looking at the class of 2018 results threads of the schools you’re interested in to see what people think got them in.</p>
<p>At liberal arts colleges, the transcript is more important than the GPA. I don’t know whether Americans mean the transcript when they say GPA, though.</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan, I reference Tufts so frequently because it seems that their admissions officers are the most open about the process (in fact, their admissions officers each keep a blog on their website.) It doesn’t matter whether the OP is interested in Tufts or not, I think s/he will find the advice from them useful. I have no interest in Tufts, yet I use their admissions videos and blogs for advice. My friend, who will be attending Harvard this year, also utilized their helpful resources. I don’t think any of the advice in that video or from those officers was unique to Tufts. Perhaps the “Do you check Facebook?” type questions are, but not the general advice. I think these admissions officers have very insightful things to say about the admissions process at any school with competitive admissions. For example, a Brown admissions officer said the most important thing on an application is the transcript and the second most important thing is the essay, which seems to be what the Tufts admissions officers said.</p>