@bnm123 Harvard, for example, reports 92.88% of first year students had a UW GPA over 3.75, so there is no getting around that a 3.70 UW GPA will pretty much put you out of the running at some top schools.
That being said, they also reject plenty of kids with 1600/4.0
It is what it is.
The same CDS that lists 92.88% above 3.75 also lists a mean GPA of 4.18, so it is not an UW GPA with max 4.0. However, various other highly selective colleges that do report on a UW 4.0 scale usually show few below 3.75. The specific percentage can vary quite a bit between colleges.
The Section C11 percentages are on a 4.0 scale.
https://oir.harvard.edu/files/huoir/files/harvard_cds_2018-19.pdf
From that CDS:
“C11 Percentage of all enrolled, degree-seeking, first-time, first-year (freshman) students who had high school grade-point averages within each of the following ranges (using 4.0 scale). Report information only for those students from whom you collected high school GPA”
Unclear on what basis the C12 “mean” number was determined, but it clearly wasn’t on a 4.0 scale.
Question: Which is better; high GPA or high test scores
Answer: For the top colleges, BOTH along with a high amount of rigor in the classes taken.
Why: Because they can!!!
That said, you can still get a great education at something less than an elite college. Much of what you get out of college is a function of what you put into it. College is not the end game, having a good career is.
That just says a 4.0 scale (as opposed to out of 100% or 11.0 scale) – it doesn’t say the scale can’t be weighted or has a maximum of 4.0. Regardless of the CDS instructions, the full GPA section is all done on the same scale — both the percentages and the mean. This is evident if you compare percentages to other colleges that do report on a max 4.0 scale.