GPA Requirement?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Well, first of all, my school's GPA system is pretty awkward. </p>

<p>Freshman/Sophomore Year:</p>

<p>A=95% and above
A-=90-94%
B+=87-89%</p>

<p>Weighting: AP: +0.5; Honors: +.25</p>

<p>It's being changed right in the middle of my HS career which sux big time...</p>

<p>Junior/Senior Year:</p>

<p>A=93% and above
A-=90-92%</p>

<p>Weighting: AP: +1.0; Honors: +.50</p>

<p>So, my point is that my school pretty much practices a policy of grade deflation. The courses are harder than they need to be and the teacher you get for a course can have a huge impact on your grade (this worked against me, in fact!). So, will UPenn adcoms recognize this and compensate? My GPA (probably 3.87 UW, 4.17 W by the end of junior year) would probably look pretty crappy compared to those high 3.9s and 4.0s from so many other applicants but, there may also be a possibility that I had to work harder to get that grade. I think I rank pretty high in my class, but my school doesn't officially submit rank...Oh and I have no idea how UPenn will be able to judge my GPA. I've heard they look at the profile or what the counselor tells them, but my school profile hasn't been updated in years and my counselor has no clue how to get them to understand my GPA (I begged her to tell me and she couldn't...). I'm an Asian male from an overly competitive public school in NJ and really worried about my (less-than-competitive?) GPA. Can anyone shed some light on the matter? If it's any help, I'm expecting high SAT scores (>2270) based on practice tests. Thx in advance.</p>

2

<p>Are people from your school regularly accepted to Penn? If so, then the regional director is probably very familiar with your school and can put your application into context and you have nothing to worry about.. If not, it is essential for your counselor to give some sort of idea of where you stand in comparison to the rest of your class in her recommendation. If she can't do that then try to get good test scores to validate your grades (esp. SAT IIs). Submit AP scores (unofficially) as well. By the way, a 3.87 UW is generally considered good.</p>

3

<p>That's not grade deflation. That's just what real grading looks like. Unfortunately for us, there are few schools that stick to that kind of grading anymore. My school doesn't even give us a weighted gpa; if you take the equivalent of ap and honors classes you just have to do well. To your question: a 3.87 isn't too low for upenn at all, the decision is probably more based on ec's/sat/recs. I know people who have gotten in with a similar gpa, that came from a similar grading system.</p>