hi, so i’m currently a junior in high school and im in a bunch of ap classes and i’ve been doing pretty well in them. but my weighted gpa is so low because i’ve taken many regular elective classes that i’m interested in, like marketing, intro to business, etc. and my school counts these in my gpa. i’ve gotten As in those classes, but since they only count as a 4.0, my gpa is lowered 
i’m trying to go to northwestern, but i feel like my gpa is now just too low because of my electives. would they not even consider me because of a low gpa?
@kc1721 How is a GPA greater than 4.0 considered “low?”
If the many of the top kids in the class have 4.6, 4.5 GPAs from completing more weighted APs, then the OP would have a lower class rank, and perhaps not have “most rigorous” curriculum.
Colleges recalculate your GPA. Most colleges don’t even consider classes like marketing and intro to business in the calculation. To get your true GPA you need to know what classes Northwestern use for the GPA calculation.
Agreed. Many colleges recalculate GPA using academic courses only. This problem is fairly common (ex. there are many threads about how taking courses in an area of interest like art/orchestra lowers GPA) and colleges understand the system.
Northwestern uses holistic admissions so Class Rank is only one component. Apply but have realistic expectations about your chances for admission (13% last year). http://enrollment.northwestern.edu/pdf/common-data/2015-16.pdf