There’s another student from my school taking 7 ap classes junior year so she will have a higher weighted gpa than me by a fair amount. I am taking 4 ap classes junior year, all the same core classes, and honors classes as prerequisites to ap classes senior year. I have a higher unweighted gpa than her, but fewer ap classes. i will be taking more aps senior year, but is this 3 ap class gap a big deal for me? i’m worried because we are applying to the same colleges and we’re from the same school. i know i’m overreacting, but will this really affect our chances?
Only somewhat. Most top schools look much further than GPA.
You are probably overreacting although we had the same concerns last year. D17 is a freshman at ND. 4 girls from her school applied with AP classes ranging from 5-11. My daughter had the 5 APs. All 4 girls were accepted.
Remember please that admissions looks at the profiles of qualified applicants and then selects those that best fit the class that colleges are recruiting. When reading posts, it seems that applicants are attempting to submit the profile that best matches the dream schools vision of the perfect applicant. Certainly, taking a variety of AP classes and earning a good grade is a reasonable plan. However, can you imagine plotting all the AP classes offered by your school by the topic, among all possible APs taken be grade in class and any other pertinent factors. Now that would be a huge, silly graph. Schools are deciding whether to admit you and the profile you present. Please stop thinking that can guarantee or fail to guarantee admission to a few things that count I admissions. You have wonderful choices among schools.
I am guessing that the school has more than one spot to fill. It is possible you both can be admitted.
While not every school is the same, most AO’s divide the first cut of reviews by region, with “regions” varying by size and reach of the applicant pool. So your initial comparable pool is most likely much wider than just your school. Your chances will be driven ultimately by how you compare across the entire applicant pool, not just vs. someone in your school. You both could be accepted or rejected.
I think the colleges are looking more towards if you challenged yourself. I think the bigger discrepancy would be if you only took 1 AP/Honors course rather than 4.
Agree that colleges have many spots so you are never really competing directly with one other person. But course rigor is a part of the academic assessment of any candidate. The very top schools will want to see that your HS guidance counselor checked the box on the recommendation saying you have taken the most rigorous courseload available at the HS. Speak to the guidance counselor to see if that box can be checked with the courseload you have taken/will take.
The admissions staff will have access to data about other applicants from your high school, as well as the number from your school wjo applied in past years. You are not in direct competition with the other student, though. This kind of comparison mostly comes up in this kind of conversation:
Adcom 1: I really love this kid Ian, he sounds like a great fit for us.
Adcom 2: But we’ve already turned down two students from that high school with much stronger records.
Adcom 3: Oh yes, I did his interview last summer. Ian is a real school leader and his mother is an alum. The counselor recommends him strongly and this is his first choice school. Let’s take him.