GPA's?

Applying to College
1

<p>I go to one of the top public high schools. We sent 2 to Harvard, 4 to Princeton, and a dozen or so more to the likes of Penn, MIT, etc. last year, for example.</p>

<p>I'm one of the top students in my class, yet my GPA is 3.6 unweighted and 4.1 weighted (80% of classes have been AP or Honors)...this seems a lot lower than the GPA's of some of the other guys who've posted on this site, and they have been labeled as reaches for Ivy League schools.</p>

<p>Is Ivy League out of my league (in terms of GPA)?</p>

<p>My resume is nowhere near complete (I'm a jr.), so I'm not ready to to a full out What are my Chances? post, but where on the college ladder am I with the above GPA, excellent standardized test scores (likely 2300ish SATs), and mediocre EC's?</p>

<p>Princeton
Penn
Johns Hopkins
Colby
N'Western
U of Chicago
Carnegie Mellon
G. Washington
American
U of Mich
Rochester</p>

2

<p>Princeton: Reach/High Match
Penn: Reach/High Match
Johns Hopkins: High Match/Match
Colby: I'm unfamiliar
N'Western: High Match/Match
U of Chicago: High Match
Carnegie Mellon: Match
GWash: Low Match
American: Safety
U of Mich: Match
Rochester: Match</p>

3

<p>yeah most of the kids across the country have taken tons of AP classes
but the trick is to still get all As</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the feedback.</p>

<p>Does a 3.6/4.1 come across as low? Could it be because my school doesn't inflate GPA- a 5.0 (A in AP) is a 6.0 in the next town over.</p>

5

<p>If your school gives a rank, then that would probably be more helpful. ie, since your school is very competitive, if you're in the top 10% of your class, that says a lot more about you than kids that are in the top 10% of a very laid back high school.</p>

<p>I'm only a high school senior (so I obviously don't have ALL the answers), but from what I have heard, a lot more goes into ivy league admissions than just your Class Rank/GPA/SAT scores. Write some outstanding essays and you could probably get into one or more of your listed schools.</p>

6

<p>in most schools its less than 5.0 (A in AP) i think its typically around (4.5 A in AP), o yeah and what is your rank?</p>

7

<p>My school does not release class rank.</p>

8

<p>Just one bump. Anyone?</p>

9

<p>My school does not used GPA's and does therefore does not weight the non-existing GPA's so I think anyone who gets a 5.0 for an A in an AP is lucky and probably undeserving. That is essentially a 10 point curve/bump just for taking an AP course.</p>

10

<p>Who cares? Colleges strip it away in the end. Let kids get 8.0s for all I care. When push comes to shove, an A is a 4.0, end of story.</p>

11

<p>not all schools. stanford, for example, does not even recalculate gpa</p>

12

<p>don't worry so much about your gpa. if you really are at the top of your class and the other students in your school are really competitive, then it just shows that your classes are really difficult. most likely, it will come down to your test scores compared to your grades.</p>