<p>The general belief is based upon capability. A 2300 shows great capability while that coupled with a non-3.9+ shows laziness.</p>
<p>OP, I’d say that your GPA isn’t low enough to disqualify you any schools besides maybe HYPSM. Since you said that your GPA is in the accepted range for a lot of top schools on Naviance, I think you should be fine. Back when I was applying to colleges, my red circle on Naviance was wayyyy below the usual clusters of accepted dots for most of my schools of choice, so it was pretty depressing whenever I took a look at Naviance scattergrams LOL</p>
<p>A lot of people on this site think that a low GPA/high SAT combo is the mark of death but that simply isn’t true. Of course, it may signify “laziness” (and I doubt that’s completely the case for you because you said you’re in the top 10%), but that isn’t nearly as big of a deal as people make it seem to be. Hell, I’d say that a high GPA/low SAT combo is worse because in many cases, it can signify two things: There’s a ton of grade inflation in the school or the person simply isn’t capable enough to score well on standardized tests (which CAN be studied for and mastered) despite a strong work ethic and won’t be able to succeed in a rigorous environment.</p>
<p>I agree with Waitlistftl about High GPA/low SA. We are ridiculing a four hour test and say that it cannot be a true measure of a student’s ability. After college, it is these type of tests a student has to face to get any further. Many examples, LSAT, MCAT, GRE etc. and ofcourse if you want to become a doctor the USMLEs. Even after you become a doctor your Board Certification is decided by a 6 hr. MCQ exam. I think colleges really should look at these, as Edad put it, “capable” students more carefully. They know how to take exams.</p>
<p>Okay, so I just realized my GPA is a 3.6 not a 3.5. Does this make any difference, or not?</p>
<p>yes! that makes a significant difference, I would say. still, it’s hard to say because we don’t know what the grade distribution is at your school, etc.
Do you know your weighted GPA?
Also, if you can get your hands on your school profile, do. You might be able to find it in naviance. Even schools that don’t rank usually give a graph that shows the number of students receiving a certain range of GPA. That graph should give you a good idea of how you compare to others in your school–which is arguably more important than pure GPA.
Also, what type of school do you go to? How competitive is it? Those two questions impact all this quite a bit.
For example, at my school only 2 students received a WEIGHTED 4.2 or more last year. Colleges will see that and realize that they can’t compare it with schools where students regularly get 6.4s, etc.</p>