My weighted GPA is currently a 5.57 (4.0 UW). I know that on the common app guidance counselor forms it asks what the highest GPA in the class is - it will be about a 5.9ish. Is the difference between that and mine great enough that it will negatively affect me? I am top 10%, and some of the top schools that I will be applying to are - Penn, Brown, Yale, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, WUSTL, Georgetown.
Thank you.
Depending on if the school you are applying to ranks.
I doubt it will negatively affect you. Since GPA isn’t a standardized statistic that colleges can use to compare applicants like the ACT or SAT, colleges will probably look at specific grades (# of As, Bs, etc) and course rigor (AP and Honors vs. regular, # of electives and courses related to major you applying to, etc). Looking at one outlier (the top person in each class for every high school) really doesn’t tell much about how each applicant as a individual student compares.