Hi,
Due to the extreme rigor of my school, an A- puts me in the top 10%. No one at my school achieved an A GPA in ten years. I know it sounds ridiculous, but the average grade for my school is a B-. Its very competitive and most of our classes are AP level. I hope this clears things up for other people as well. This year 5 students with an A- GPA were accepted to Harvard ED/EA, and at least 15 more at various ivy leagues had at most an A- GPA. However, I understand that schools also like to see leadership/focus on other factors. Columbia would be my top choice, Duke second. I’m just wondering whether my other stats (Act, extracurriculars) could help my chances. Finally, I was wondering which of these colleges have the best political science and philosophy programs.