Which is better? Most rigorous or higher GPA?

ucbalumnus
Sat, 21 Dec 2019 14:33:01 +0000

thibault:

the unhooked selective-college applicant is best advised to go for GPA first, rigor second.

As a practical matter, those applying to the most selective colleges need both top-end GPA in high course rigor to have a reasonable chance of being seen as worthy academically (which is typically necessary, but not sufficient, for admission to the most selective colleges).

At moderately selective colleges, GPA is often more important than rigor, once minimum high school courses required by the college are satisfied. Many moderately selective colleges have non-holistic admissions formulae or automatic admission criteria that can be looked up.