Current Junior, white gay girl in nyc public school.
I was concerned if my low GPA would be an issue. haven’t taken SAT/SATII yet but i got 1460 on PSAT (NM semifinalist). My school has historically sent 2-3 kids per year from a grade of 130. I have a 3.7/3.8 unweighted (yikes, i know). I attended yale young global scholars last summer (junior now). My ECs are: president of debate, vp of model un, have won awards at both on the national level. Also have been involved in my local debate league judging MS tournaments, volunteering, etc, and I’m on their student leadership board. Student council member, written for an online newspaper and school newspaper, 3 internships (2 city government, 1 jewish feminist organization, doing a 4th this summer), been on national leadership board of a jewish youth organization, as well as the teen leadership board at my synagogue.
Is the GPA a deal breaker? grading is notoriously difficult at my school (almost no one gets 4.0 and I’m in the top 5%). Hook is that I’m a gay woman in debate and I’ve done a lot of advocacy around that. Also I’ve been told i’m a very good writer and i have a good essay topic. do i have a shot at yale, it’s my dream school?
Being a gay woman in debate isn’t a hook.
LOL…@sherpa is right: being a gay woman in debate / doing a lot of advocacy is not a hook- more like mainstream for schools like Yale 
Your question seems like clickbait: you know perfectly well that a 3.8/3.9 UW GPA is not a “low” GPA (“yikes” ?! is that a humblebrag?).
Anyway, to answer your question, “Is the GPA a deal breaker” let’s apply some basic logic:
If your school regularly sends students to Yale, it is reasonable to assume that Yale isn’t the only brand name school to which your ‘highly competitive’ school sends students.
You are in the top 5% of your class of 130, so one of the top 6 students in a class from which 2-3 will go to Yale.
Well, what do you think?
If you are seriously anxious I suggest you talk to a counselor (college or personal). If you are just looking for random reassurance, see above.
You won’t want to hear it, but as your ‘dream’ school reckons that 85% of their applicants are qualified for admission, but it can only take about 6% of the applicants, your energy would be better spent identifying at least one other school which you would be genuinely happy to attend, rather than stewing about things that you cannot change (ie, your GPA, which we have already demonstrated will not be the reason you don’t get into Yale). The intensity of your wanting it will not affect the outcome either way, whereas the exercise of thinking through other places that you could be happy will (paradoxically enough) help you better articulate what you want from your college experience for your ‘why us’ essays.
Seems like you are at the level to apply to Yale and the like, and will at least get into a top 30 school. You are not at an advantage as far as demographics. Depends somewhat on the level of your national awards and such, your final SAT/ACT scores, and SAT II scores.
I didn’t really think a 3.7/3.8 was that bad either, until i started looking at the averages… everyone seems to have a 3.9 or above. I’m looking at a bunch of other schools as well, but yale is by far my favorite. i know 3.7 is still good, but for yale it seems so far below what everyone else has.
Please note that the users who post here are not a representative subsection of college-bound seniors (even those applying to HYPMS), so don’t get hung up on that. Yale knows that there are schools with more stringent grading, so being in the top 5% helps. Of course, for Yale and schools of that tier, GPA is but one part of the application. Best of luck.
I agree with @skieurope
CC results threads are victim to self-selection bias, so many GPAs you see are going to be skewed. The same goes for standardized testing scores and, to some extent, extracurricular accomplishments.
Another thing to note is that when you apply, your school’s guidance office will send a School Profile to Yale, which explains the your high school’s unique grading mechanism, GPA distribution, ranking system, and so forth. Colleges will evaluate your performance within the context of other students at your high school. A 3.9+ at one HS is very different from a 3.9+ at another.
Good luck to you!!! 
I would like to see your weighted GPA, AP scores, PSAT, SAT and SAT ll before I can turn on my crystal ball. To be honest, your unweighted GPA is good but top 5% factor is what may effect your chances unless there is a hook and your sexual orientation is not a unique hook.
What you consider a hook and what colleges consider a hook are two very different things, it appears.
Your question was if a “low” GPA (3.8 is not low) is a “deal breaker” for Yale (a deal breaker would be a past history of larceny or a blatant disregard for schoolwork–i.e., a much lower GPA than the one you are, as collegemom put it, humblebragging about). You then, however, elaborated that you are in the top 5%, and that 2-3 kids from your school (also in the top 5%) go to Yale. So you are already aware that you are in the ballpark of students who get into Yale.
Your time would be better spent in other pursuits than–this is my new favorite word, @collegemom3717 --humblebragging on CC.
Good luck, though.
Weighted GPA does not matter, as their is no consistency among HS’s for weighting. Colleges will either use unweighted or will use their own weighting standard. PSAT’s are not part of the decision process, and I am of the opinion that AP scores (unless a string of 1’s and 2’s) will carry little weight.
Yeh, if 1.5% go to Yale and you are in the top 5%, you have a really good shot at top Ivies. Seems like bragging. It must be one of the smaller elite public high schools.
@skieurope I can’t say about colleges but I can’t predict a likely outcome without enough data.
@others I doubt OP wanted to humblebrag about 3.7 GPA and 5%. Most kids who come to CC, feel intimidated by the overwhelming number of CC posters with 4.0 w, 4.5 UW, top 1% and perfect PSAT/ACT/SAT/SAT II/AP scores. These are great stats but nobody would see it as a resource for humble bragging on CC.
To be perfectly correct, you could not predict the outcome if you had all the data in the world, since you don’t work in admissions. Which is why “chance me” posts are little more than a parlor game.
@skieurope Not to mention one admission counselors acceptance is another admission counselors reject.
So true but now that she knows that as well, we can make an educated guess if given needed information.
If you are top 5% in a NYC elite public school, you are obviously qualified for Yale and similar schools academically, and would likely be in the top 30% if admitted. You probably should apply to some or all schools on that level. I would assume, however, that you have no hooks, and try to take a low key approach in your applications and interviews.
I have answered this question in other posts. My D went to an independent school where only 15 students have graduated with a 4.0 in the school’s 50 year history. This fact is even a part of its marketing materials. Of a graduating class of 125, they send 4-5 kids each year to Yale, Harvard, UPENN, etc. That’s to each of the schools so at least 12-15 kids go to these schools each year. So, it is the rigor of your school that counts and what your individual situation is. Keep focused and you will end up in a great place.
The CC community is not who you should be asking about this question. We don’t know the specifics of your school. Ask your guidance counselor.
From what I can see, your GPA is fine for Yale. It depends though on your final GPA, test scores, and ECs. I would be a little concerned, however, that some people interpreted the thread as bragging, and said gay female debater was not a hook. It depends somewhat on what they think of you, and you don’t want to come on too strong.
There was a thread by some Chinese guy from California who was valedictorian of a big competitive high school, had 5 800s on SAT IIs and 14 5s on AP exams, and was turned down by all the Ivies and accepted by Amherst, Cooper Union, and Berkeley.
There was also a student who applied to 8 ivies + MIT + CalTech, and got rejected by all but waitlisted by Yale. Went to UArk. Perfect 2400, 4 800s on subject tests, 4.0 UW, Valedictorian. National Physics Olympiad, USAMO qualifier, StuCo President.
I think his downfall was his essays: “I wrote about how working at different Arkansas public schools helped me to come to terms with my privilege middle-class Asian male with parents who value education.” Pretty pompous if you ask me.