<p>Colleges don’t care about GPA. At least Duke doesn’t. One of their first steps in processing an application is converting grades into a stream of letters. Whether the kid has a 4.0 doesn’t even enter the equation once an adcom sees the application. </p>
<p>It doesn’t even make sense to think of GPA in the way you described when the meaning of a 3.8, for example, varies from high school to high school.</p>