<p>Do colleges (i posted in the columbia forum because my question specifically pertains to this college- but i guess it could apply anywhere) look at your GPA as a number? Or do they look at your transcript (report card).. I ask this because I don't want classes such as 'intro to photo/drama/drawing' and MUN being considered equal to my other much more strenuous classes in the sciences where I may have put in a lot more effort..</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>^ They look at your entier transcript, but the most emphasis is on the overall GPA, usually the grades of what you want to major in. For example, SEAS puts the most emphasis on Math and Science grades.</p>
<p>Good to know! Thanks man</p>
<p>Overall GPA matters, GPA in “academic classes” matters more, GPA in your prospective field (if you specify that you want to be an engineer for example, or if you’re a dead set history major) matters most. When calculating my GPA in high school, I didn’t even count non-academic classes. If they’re significantly lower than the academic courses, that might raise a red flag, but if they’re roughly on par, I doubt that they count very much at all. Sometimes it is unclear to adcoms what is a real class and what isn’t though. For instance, at my high school, computer classes were somewhat of a joke, but adcoms might not have known that, so my A+ in a bs computer class where we learned how to type and how to do Microsoft word may have actually helped. Who knows?</p>