<p>Well I have a 3.53 UW GPA and 24/475 class rank and got into Cornell engineering as a white non-legacy male. You guys think waaaaaaay too much.</p>
<p>Bragging or complaining?</p>
<p>Simply using anecdotal evidence to prove you guys think way too much ("you guys" in general, as in people who are honestly worried their 3.9 GPA might hold them back, anywhere).</p>
<p>It would be nice if more colleges published scattergrams showing SAT, GPA and whatever else fits on the grid. It would save a lot of applicants a lot of money and psychological energy in the application process. On the other hand, your case seems to prove the rule.</p>
<p>I think that the OP meant colleges like HYP, not Cornell.</p>
<p>HYPMS are very similar to cornell, Cornell is extremely prestigious. If you look down on it like that, you're an idiot.</p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence isn't very helpful, but it gives us hope-so keep it coming!</p>
<p>Top colleges don't want to publish data because if people saw how low their chances are, they wouldn't apply and the college's ranking would go down.</p>
<p>Actually, they do, just search for "common data set [insert name of school here] Schools don't always release this data-Harvard doesn't. Stanford on the other hand, does.</p>
<p>The average gpa at stanford is 3.9. It is intimidating to lesser qualified applicants, so they don't talk about it much.</p>
<p>honestly, you actual GPA really doesnt mean anything when they consider your admission. But you should consider the classes your taking, for instance, if you want to go to school to become an electrical engineer, and all youve taken is fluff classes like pottery and gen ed crap, its going to look bad even if you have a 4.0+ but if you have taken classes like calculus, electronics, physics, chemistry, all things that have to do with your future intended major, they will be more lenient. I came out of HS with like a 3.5 or something like that, and i got accepted into a few schools like SDSMT(where i currently am), Colorado State, etc. so it all really depends on the classes your taking more than your GPA.</p>
<p>what about the difference between a 3.69 and a 3.7?</p>
<p>you have got to be kidding me......if your really that worried about the difference between a 3.69 and a 3.7 then youve got an easy life. It all depends on the classes your taking and your intended major. Hopefully you were just being sarcastic.......</p>
<p>Don't make me laugh, a 3.9 is an amazing GPA anywayz, especially with hard classes.</p>
<p>However, there's so much more to it than GPA for most schools, it isn't funny.</p>
<p>A guy I know had a 1290 (sub-par), with a great GPA and great essay, got into MIT and Stanford (but rejected from Georgia Tech and Rice, great schools, but not as selective overall). Another with a decent GPA, great SATs and essay, got into Harvard.</p>
<p>I say that to say this, GPA isn't as big a factor as people make it (It's really, really important, but not the ultimate guarantee of admission/rejection). Now, knowing this, having a 3.9 should be no concern, whatsoever. Besides, I don't know how accurate this may be but I think if you fail to get a 4.0 but have hard classes, it makes them seem harder than if you got a 4.0. I wouldn't assume anyone with a 4.0 had easy classes, you know, but for some reason a 3.9 has that effect, I can't explain it. The point is, if you get rejected from a place, there are very few schools where the reason would be that you had a 3.9 and not a 4.0.</p>
<p>My school doesn't rank at all. What do they use then?</p>
<p>There's a fractional difference between 3.9 and 4.0. To locate this, multiply (1/10) by 10.</p>