I have never understood this (GPA Question)

Applying to College
1

<p>Many of the schools scare people away with such a high average GPA of accepted students. For example, Clemson (South Caroline) boasts an average accepted GPA of around 3.8. However, on my school's Naviance graph the average accepted GPA is a 3.47 (42 acceptances). My schools is a public school in an upper-middle class suburb of Connecticut. We use the 4.0 scale, meaning an A = 4.5 in honors/AP.</p>

<p>Are GPA's really that much more inflated (or easier to get a higher one) in other parts of the country? I always feel ashamed posting my GPA on these forums (3.59) when schools like Georgia Tech boast average GPA's of 3.8 when my school's average for the school is a 3.54.</p>

<p>How do colleges know that a lower GPA at my school is equivelant to a higher one at another school (they obviously do since the accepted GPA's are so much lower from my school than the national average)?</p>

<p>Also, SAT averages of accepted students are on par with the college's upper mid-50%.</p>

2

<p>They take into consideration your class ranking. One of my friends at Hopkins this year had a HS GPA of 3.67 but as he was very highly-ranked, he still got in early decision.</p>

3

<p>GCs send in a school report with the school’s average GPA and test scores to tell colleges that your school either over inflates grades (as my school does) or under inflates them (like your school )</p>

4

<p>OK, that makes sense. My school doesn’t rank, but they show the GPA spread (ex. 25% had a GPA between 3.0-3.25)</p>

<p>Thanks for the help, I never thought of it that way.</p>

5

<p>Methods of GPA calculation do vary. For example, some universities give +1 for honors or AP course grades.</p>