3.98 GPA vs 4.01 GPA

1) Don't think so.

2) If you are so worried about getting into colleges, my advice is to just take the most challenging coursework available and appropriate for you and get the highest grades possible by working hard and diligently rather than be worried about the actual numerical value of your g.p.a.

 

How would you explain a 4.01 GPA if the maximum is a 4.0?

And why are we playing this "what if" number game again? Are you able to "dial in" your GPA at will, like setting a price on a merchandise?

Zz.

 

My response to this is:

1) how does one obtain a 4.01 gpa on a 4.0 scale?

2) How many classes are you planning on doing poorly in to allow it to drop .03?

3) To answer your question, no a .03 difference makes very little difference to colleges. It would be beneficial though to have tried more difficult courses in exchange for the lower gpa.

 

Some schools have a 4.3 scale. Meaning A+ is 4.3--A is 4.0--A- is 3.7 etc...

 

It would appear that the OP is in high school and my understanding is that American high schools have adopted a new scaling system. By the time junior and senior rolls about, students are taking very different classes and some could be in "regular" classes, the "honours" variant or AP classes. If I'm not mistaken, an A on an AP class is a 5.0. (I could be wrong seeing as I have no first hand experience with that system)

OP, I too will apply to college next year, and my understanding is that if you're doing well in classes that are deemed as "hard", such a difference in GPA is really negligible. It would appear, as far as the selective colleges are concerned, that what the individual described through your essays, activities and recommendation letters, could contribute to the incoming freshman class.

As Zz implied, there is no telling what may happen. Each admissions committee will do things their own way. When you consider the sheer amount of applications that most colleges get, using GPA as a major selection factor is not very useful.

 

This. In fact when filling out most applications, they specifically ask for your gpa on a 4.0 scale.

 

my GPA was 2.52
is it so bad?
in my country grades are very low. I was the best among physics students.
we use 4.0 scale, too.

 

Colleges are getting wise to grade inflation, they recalculate all grades based on a 4.0 scale. I actually know of one school that discards all course grades and looks at the courses themselves via syllabi to ascertain whether or not the material was appropriate for the course (it is a little liberal arts school who has not more that ~750 freshman total) and admission purposes.

 

Are you talking about a weighted GPA? My high school gave a 5.0 for every A in an Honors class and a 6.0 for an A in an AP class, so there were a lot of people with GPAs above 4.0, and a few who managed to pass 5.0.

I think that the difference between a 3.98 and a 4.01 is probably pretty trivial. Grades are only one aspect of admission anyway. But congrats on your excellent academic record!

 

I think where your GPA puts you in your class rank is more important than the raw score. But yes, the ACT, essay, and extracurriculars will also matter.