I’m thinking about applying early to Duke and I know the people who post here aren’t the whole student body but I’m just curious. As of right now I have a 4.0 UW but I’m not sure I can keep that up since I’m struggling A LOT in Apush. Will a 3.9 GPA keep me from getting into Duke? (btw I’m asian and I’m sure that plays somewhat of a factor)
No it shouldn’t, GPA is just one factor and 0.1 isn’t going to make or break your application.
There is no difference between 3.9 and 4. No need to stress over that.
What about a 3.75 
OP, are you a junior?
It’s much more than gpa to get into a top school. Think about not applying early until you understand that.
@Medicus It depends, 3.75 weighted or unweighted, with 21 ACT or 35, with a serious national competition award or just a teen shark trophy for an app that your computer nerd dad made, Indian-American or Native-American, junior varsity tennis or junior Olympic team?
what about difference between 3.87 and 4.0??? @Medicus @lookingforward
Remember, GPAs are somewhat holistic, too… The admissions officers know which HS are academically rigorous, which ones don’t have grade inflation, etc. My son’s HS routinely sends kids who are top 50% in the class to top 10 schools, because it is a nationally recognized top school, without excessive grade inflation. We are hoping that this holds true for Duke as he constantly tells us he could have a 4.5+ if he had gone to his local public HS.
once you’re deemed academically qualified/strong (i.e. 3.9+, 33+/1500+, top 5 or 10%) they don’t care about tiny things like a small GPA difference. They will care more about your ECs, recs and essays at that point.
It may also help if you can show you’re still strong in whatever academic weakness you had (ex. my only B was calc BC but I got a 5 on the exam and 780 on math II, and my writing ACT score was weak both times but I got a 770 SAT Lit and 5 on the AP English language exam)
Small differences in GPAs aren’t a huge deal in the big picture, but all applicants should be aware the Duke isn’t for the academically average. If accepted, you should expect a very rigorous academic atmosphere. Example: my daughter, who had a 3.9+ UW with 15 or 16 APs, was very surprised by how much more she needed to work at Duke compared to HS.
also the admissions officer during my tour told me they don’t look at numerical GPAs, just your transcript. So they’ll see what grades you get in each class