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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is there a gpa cutoff beyond which candidates are grouped in the high academic bucket. Some people seem to think at private schools 3.9 is a cutoff. When a 3.93 and 4.0 with same rigor are evaluated, does the 4.0 get a slight edge? Or AOs pretty much focus on ECs at that point. Should a student who has a 3.94 apply to same school as a 4.0 in ED or is it a disadvantage?[/quote]

FWIW, my DD applied ED to a school with a 4.341, her friend (almost exactly the same class load) applied to the same school EA with a 4.35.  My DD got a "no" and her friend got a "yes".  This is in the data that our private school shares, it's anonymous, but there is enough data to know who is who.

All the decimals matter - especially at a large school. It's how they make these decisions.

[/quote]

I am directly involved in the admissions business and this is incorrect. As someone mentioned earlier "higher is always better" when things like rigor and school quality are equal. That is just common sense and how an AO will look at it.

But GPA is just one factor and it isn't looked at in a bubble. Nobody that I have ever worked or talked with cares if things are basically identical but on applicant has one more A- than the other applicant. It just isn't a significant difference. They really don't care if one's GPA is a bit higher because they took a class or two more than the other candidate. Again, not a significant difference.

If that implies that GPAs are "bucketed" then you are correct in that thinking. Unless everything is exactly equal between two candidates (which it never is) a 4.0 and a 3.9 are differentiating factors in the decision. Both have crossed the bar.

In the case above the applicant will never know why they were denied and why the other applicant was accepted but the GPA difference wasn't the deciding factor. I understand that they are looking for something clear to point to but the GPA difference isn't it.[/quote]

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