<p>my gpa isnt abysmal, but it is fairly low for top 20 schools. On the other hand, I have very high SATs (2240). Which top 20 schools care more about SATs than GPA?</p>
<p>One thing isn't gonna make or break you. If everything but your GPA is exceptional, you're not doomed.</p>
<p>None. They all care more about GPA than SATs. By far. Sorry.</p>
<p>So in order to make up for it you must have incredible essays or incredible ECs.</p>
<p>They generally care more about GPA than SAT, but they'll take into consideration rank, courseload, etc. (4.0 with no APs is weaker than a 3.6uw with a 4.6 weighted--full of AP courses). However, if you show an upward trend AND have good SATs, it shows you are a promising student. If your GPA isn't downright terrible, it won't break you. Sure, it'll hurt, but it won't doom you, like the second poster said.</p>
<p>So what's a 'bad' GPA? I have a 3.8 (maybe 3.79 at the end of this trimester), I'm taking all the APs available at my highschool, and my SAT is 2130 (which I -plan- to raise to 2220.)</p>
<p>Bad GPA is a relative term. Give me context (what schools do you hope to go to with those scores). CC tends to mess up perspectives on GPA, though.</p>
<p>How about a 3.75 GPA? Is that really bad for the top 25, leaving me with no other chance?</p>
<p>A 3.75 will hurt you at the very selective schools. If you're a valedictorian, or top 5% with a 3.75, it's a different matter entirely. It's all in context. Now, bear in mind that a 3.75 will not doom you, but it will hurt you.</p>
<p>how about a 3.86 GPA, in top 6% or so of my class?</p>
<p>I'm not an expert (this is a disclaimer so other CCers don't decry my evaluations).</p>
<p>But top 6% is also very relative. At the most elite schools it might (but probably won't) hurt you, but more than 98% of the colleges in this country (with all other things being equal) would probably not hesitate to accept a good candidate overall that was in the top 6%. My guess is that at the most selective schools (not to say that rank is all they use) won't regard you any less for being out of 5% range, but it just won't work for you because of all of the other extremely qualified applicants.</p>
<p>what's weighted gpa?
a newb... help</p>
<p>weighted GPA is GPA that's recalculated. This happens when AP/IB/Honors courses give 'extra'. For example, in some AP classes, an A counts for 5.0 instead of 4.0. Therefore, if a person had all AP classes and all As in them, they would have a 5.0.</p>