Would most selective colleges see a major difference between a 3.9 and 4.0 gpa? Does a 4.0 add an impressive “wow” factor? And I know grades aren’t the whole admission process
I think it depends on what classes you took/how many units, but not having a 4.0 means you are just human and not some machine that gets A’s on everything. Also, these selective colleges obviously admit people that don’t have a 4.0 so a 3.9 with ECs and the other stuff that makes an applicant good can be just as effective as a 4.0 if that makes sense. At least that’s what I would think.
4.0 is not necessarily impressive due to possible factors such as grade inflation or taking easy classes.
It really depends on the school and your course rigor. If from the same school with the same course rigor, GPA 3.9 and 4.0 can easily be 25 percentile apart in the admission stat. I know one school boasts to have 21% freshmen with 4.0 GPA in HS.