<p>I found out the other day that my cousin has a 4.9 gpa. I only have a 3.8 but am taking similar/more advanced classes than her. Her school is uncometitive and in a rural area, while mine is more competitive and in a high achieving suburban area. Also, her school offers more and easier AP course than mine. They are both California public schools and I am concerned that when applying to colleges I will be going up against students with big gpas earned easily versus my gpa that is lower due to harder courses. Do colleges really take into account the rigor of the high school their students come from or do I have no chance applying against students with huge gpas like hers?</p>
<p>Logically, what do you think is the answer?</p>
<p>You’re lucky. Colleges practice logic too. you’re fine.</p>
<p>
You realize that different schools have different GPA scales, right? College admissions realizes that as well.</p>
<p>GPAs cannot be compared unless they are both unweighted, or weighted the same way (e.g. the recalculated UC and CSU weighted GPAs).</p>
<p>Along with transcripts, counselors submit profiles of the high school to colleges. Profiles include information on what classes are offered (as far as honors, IB, AP), what % of kids go on to 4-year colleges, what the average GPA and SAT/ACT scores are, and so on. Colleges have experience interpreting these and can see how challenging a particular school is overall.</p>
<p>Colleges also have experiences with graduates from different HS over the years and the performance of prior graduates can make a difference. Hence the term “feeder school”.</p>