why is gpa so important?

<p>I have a 3.7 gpa, and I know tons of people who have better ones at my school but they take much easier classes. My problem is that I choose hard course loads without thinking about my gpa. I have always taken whatever math and science APs were available to me, along with things like english and history that many people tend to take. I have also always chosen the highest level APs, but, at school, my counselor seems to only care about what my gpa is. It's not like it's that bad anyway, but people in some of my APs tend to have 3.8s or higher. Will colleges seriously look at my course load, which I think more than explains my gpa, or will they care more about the number?</p>

<p>Colleges always look at the difficulty of the courseload when they consider the unweighted GPA. Every school has a method of "weighting" or factoring that in, even if it's not a numerical formula. The kid who gets a 3.7 in all honors/AP classes is looked at very differently than the kid who gets a 3.9 or 4.0 in all standard classes. Don't worry.</p>