<p>My HS is 3rd-best public in the state. Teachers/counselors always say how colleges who know about it look at it in a positive light, but to what extent would you say this carries weight? I have a 3.7 UW GPA <a href="3.9%20w/o%20freshman%20year">all honors/AP</a>, but say I had a 4.0 at a poorly-regarded HS. Which is more impressive?</p>
<p>One of my neighbors is friends with an admissions officer. My neighbor told me that GPAs from different schools are held in the same regard, no matter how prestigious or academically rigorous your school may be.</p>
<p>I will not mention which school the admissions officer worked for, but I can assure you it is in the top 20-25.</p>
<p>I thought this was pretty silly, seeing as how different schools have different curriculums.
In the end, high school is what you make of it. Yes, you got a lower GPA at a better school, but you can rest assured that your school has probably put a greater effort into preparing you for college, making the transition even easier.</p>
<p>4.0 at any school, even if it is poorly-regarded, will never count against you.</p>
<p>As for the 3.7, it depends. They will probably look at class rank. If you go to a reputable high school, have a good class rank, and still have a 3.7, it probably won’t hurt you.</p>
<p>The truth is that applicants are never compared like this. Each is viewed holistically. If the kid with a 4.0 from some random high school gets rejected, it won’t be because of the rigor of his high school relative to another. Adcoms are aware of some of the most reputed high schools, as well, so there probably are situations where having a 3.7 won’t hurt your chances (if it’s lower than the average GPA where you’re applying), but it won’t make you a shoe-in over people who haven’t gone to as good of a high school.</p>
<p>A 4.0 at a lesser-regarded school, if validated with high test scores, is still excellent. However, a 4.0 with low scores will come across as inflated. Meanwhile, if your school is actually that challenging, colleges will probably know.</p>
<p>I’m not really asking if a 4.0 at a bad HS counts against you (although I beg to differ about that; my dad had a great GPA at a humble HS and apparently perhaps the largest contributing factor of him getting rejected from MIT was the lack of rigor in his curriculum); it’s just that, I’m quite certain I’d have a higher GPA (likely a 4.0) if I went to a public school in, say, Detroit. Oh, and by the way, my school doesn’t rank.</p>
<p>My high school was among the top 10 public schools in California, and it didn’t rank either. But I think pure rigor may be taken into consideration. My HS always published a data set listing all the 4 year colleges the students were accepted into, and the GPA/SAT ranges. Quite a bit of students at my HS were accepted into Ivies and other top 25 colleges with roughly 4.1-2 GPA’s and 2160 SAT’s. My HS does not deflate grades either. And this was consistant throughout my 4 years there, mind you. I know EC’s and other things do matter, but looking at pure statistics at alone (at least for my rigorous HS) I’d say a <em>slightly</em> lower GPA at a competitive HS might still carry more weight.</p>
<p>In short, based on my personal observations AND GPA ALONE, I think your 3.7 at your 3rd best HS in Michigan would look more impressive than a 4.0 at a school in Detroit.</p>
<p>Honestly though, I would feel bad for that kid in Detroit. even if his school was easy, its really difficult to study in that kind of environment.</p>
<p>Nice name btw, even though I hate physics with a passion :)</p>