<p>I'm new around here so if this is in the wrong place just let me know and I'll move it! </p>
<p>Anyway, I was wondering what the relative importance of GPA is? I'm a high school junior at UNT (special program called TAMS), and I was wondering if a ~3.9 GPA is good enough to get into a school like Stanford if you have a 2350+ SAT? Or do you need a 4.0? I know this is really hard to determine without extracurriculars, but I'm just looking for a general answer. Thank you!</p>
<p>Super-selective schools probably need all of high GPA (3.9 in rigorous course work* is probably fine), high test scores, and high level award or extracurricular achievement (like state or national level).</p>
<p>*Particularly if you are taking college courses, particularly if they are higher than college frosh level.</p>
<p><a href=“My Parents want me to Apply Early at an Ivy - #34 by Data10 - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>My Parents want me to Apply Early at an Ivy - #34 by Data10 - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums; describes an analysis of the Stanford decision thread that produced some simple rules that modeled the Stanford admissions process (to about 90% accuracy as noted two posts before).</p>
<p>Looking at the issue more generally, look up the Common Data Set for schools of interest to see what weight is applied to GPA vs. other admission elements.</p>
<p>For top schools like Stanford, even with GPA 4.0 and 2400 SAT may not be enough. You really need to have a very strong application all around. At least, GPA3 3.9+ and SAT 2350 would be not be the reason for rejection.</p>
<p>Agree strongly with davidofCZ. OP…read what davidofCZ wrote very carefully. If you have any other questions specifically for Stanford…address your questions on their forum.</p>
<p>Every student at Stanford did not get a 4.0 in high school. You have to have around a 3.8+ to get yourself into the game but after that, everyone whos competitive academically has the same high stats as you, its what else you have to offer on your application that will make or break it. </p>
<p>Your GPA is also better understood in relation to your class rank. 96% of Stanford first year students were in the top 10% of their class.</p>
<p>Oh I know a kid who goes to TAMS and also loves Stanford! Hahaha </p>
<p>3.9 isn’t a deal breaker or a deal maker. </p>
<p>Sorry, I forgot to say that my current school there aren’t weighted GPA’s/class ranks. At my 9th/10th school I had approximately a 104.7 (10 extra points for Pre-AP/AP courses) and was ranked 6/630. Also, just found out I got a 2330 on my SAT, so not quite what I was hoping for, but I’m happy 
</p>
<p>For TAMS, these are all VERY rigorous courses, as they are all taken at a university. They are all approximately AP level, and possibly harder.</p>
<p>My courseload: </p>
<p>Junior- Honors Bio, Honors Chem, Cal I and II, Linear Algebra, English.
Senior- Honors Physics, Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, Applied Statistics, Government/Economics, English, and possibly a couple more electives sprinkled in there (Psychology or maybe Organic Chemistry).</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for the excellent help!</p>
<p>David: Thank you for everything in your post!
Midnight: We pretty much all are, as they will transfer a year and a half of our credits :)</p>
<p>Many of the most selective private schools don’t even report average HS GPAs in their common data set files. GPA averaging methods, grading standards, course difficulty, etc. vary so greatly that GPA alone is not all that meaningful. </p>
<p>For a school like Stanford, class standing is more meaningful than GPA. You’d want to be one of the top few students in your HS with As in some of the most challenging courses available (as well as high test scores and interesting ECs) to be a strong applicant. </p>
<p>GPA is taken into consideration but varies too much between schools to be used as a direct comparison of students.</p>
<p>If you have any specific questions about the TAMS program or the interview process, email tams.outreach@**** and they can answer all of your questions (that is a gmail email address in case it blocked it out). You can also be connected with a current student to ask them questions about their experience with the interview and with things in general about being a TAMS student. It’s a great resource!</p>