<p>So I have a measly 3.7 UW and a 3.93 W GPA, standard weighting (AP's get one additional point, all others on 4, 3, 2, 1 scale), but I rank 15th out of some 270 folks, which puts me in the top 6% of my class. Decent SAT and ACT scores otherwise. Do top schools focus more on the rank or on the GPA, because relative to other students, I fare quite well, while compared to the rest of the applicant pool.......</p>
<p>Definitely focus more on rank. GPA means next to nothing without being compared to others in your school; obviously, like you suggest, a 3.7 at one school may be below average at a school that inflates GPA and excellent at a school that deflates GPA. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about your apparently low GPA. It’s only viewed in the context of your highschool!</p>