What is a 4.1 GPA? What colleges accept a 4.1 GPA?

Do you have a 4.1 GPA? Are you wondering whether a 4.1 is good, and what colleges you can get into with a 4.1?

We've written the most detailed guide to your GPA here:

  • Find out which colleges you can get into with a 4.1 GPA.
  • Learn how you can raise your GPA.
  • Learn what you should be doing to maximize your chances of getting into the best colleges.

Quick disclaimer: unlike standardized test scores like SAT/ACT, GPA policies vary from high school to high school and from college to college. Some use weighted GPAs and others use unweighted GPAs. In this guide, we’ll generally talk about unweighted GPAs and compare you on a national and college level.

As we'll explain below, the actual GPA number is just one dimension of your coursework. The difficulty of your courseload is important - the more difficult your classes, the more colleges are willing to excuse a dip in GPA.

Finally, even though this guide focuses on a 4.1 GPA, our advice is the same for close GPAs, like 4.119999999999999 and 4.08 GPAs. You can use this guide for all GPAs between 4.05 and 4.14.


Is a 4.1 GPA good?

This GPA is outside of the normal 4.0 range of unweighted GPAs, meaning your school measures GPA on a weighted scale. A 4.1 is a very good GPA. It means that you've either been taking the most difficult classes and earning mostly Bs or you've been taking mid level classes and earning As. You can expect to be accepted to many selective colleges with a 4.1 GPA.

We've analyzed the student profiles at 1500+ colleges across the United States and the average GPA of its incoming students. Here's how a 4.1 GPA compares to the nation:

  • score-percent Percentile: 99th

    99.56% of schools have an average GPA below a 4.1.

  • score-compete Competitive For: 1567 Schools

    You can apply to colleges and have a good shot at getting admitted.

  • score-missing Missing Out On: 7 Schools

    You have a low chance of getting into with a 4.1 GPA.

To elaborate, the national average for GPA is around a 3.0, so a 4.1 puts you above average nationally. Keep in mind the 3.0 national average represents all students, not just students applying to college, so the average GPA of students admitted to colleges is higher than the national average.

Here's more custom advice for you if you have a 4.1 GPA. Click your grade level to see our evaluation.

Having a weighted GPA above a 4.0 as a freshman is an impressive accomplishment. You've already begun to challenge yourself academically by earning high grades in difficult classes. Though your GPA may change significantly before you apply to college, you've set yourself up with a solid foundation. If your GPA stays the same or increases you should have a strong chance of acceptance at all but the most selective colleges. Even if you're not sure where you want to apply yet, you can look up schools that you're curious about in the next section to see what your chances of admission would be with a 4.1 GPA.

If you have a 4.1 GPA as a sophomore, you've done very well in your first two years of high school. Your GPA is unlikely to change too much between now and when you apply to college, but it can still be affected by your grades junior year. Make sure you keep up your motivation - if you can do even better next year, your application will be all the more impressive to colleges. With your current GPA, you will have a good chance of being accepted to many very selective colleges. Use the search tool in the next section to see your odds of acceptance at any schools that interest you.

At this point, your GPA is not likely to change much (if at all) before you apply to college. If you currently have a 4.1, it means that you've succeeded academically in tough classes for most of high school. You shouldn't have a problem being accepted to very selective colleges as long as you maintain your grades for the rest of the year and do well on standardized tests. By this time you may have a few colleges in mind that interest you. If you're curious about where you stand in terms of admissions chances with your current GPA, you should look them up in the next section.

You'll be applying to college with a 4.1 GPA, which is great news for you! You may already be in the midst of the application process, so you probably know that your GPA gives you a lot of choices. You'll be a competitive applicant at almost every school in the country. You can search for schools where you plan on applying using the tool in the next section to see your chances of acceptance.


Your Chances With a 4.1 GPA

This is probably the biggest question on your mind. What colleges can you get into with a 4.1? What are your chances of admission at your top choice schools?

We've built a custom admissions calculator that calculates your chances based on the 3 most important factors to determining your chance of admissions:

  • The school's admission rate
  • Your GPA
  • Your SAT/ACT score

Here's how to use this calculator:

  1. Choose the SAT or the ACT, depending on which you're taking
  2. Choose your current SAT/ACT score
  3. Enter the name of each college you're interested in
  4. Change your SAT/ACT score to see how your chances change



Pick your test: Old SAT ACT

SAT Score
School Name Location Chances: 4.1 GPA + Chances: 4.1 GPA + Average GPA
% %
*These calculations fix your GPA at 4.1, but you might have room for improvement. If you want to see your chances with a different GPA, at the bottom of this page you'll be able to switch to a different GPA.

How would your chances improve with a better score?

Try to take your current SAT score and add 160 points (or take your ACT score and add 4 points) to the calculator above. See how much your chances improve?

This is important when you're considering your GPA. You probably know how hard it is to pull up your grades and GPA. If you improve your SAT/ACT score, you'll be able to show colleges that you're academically prepared for college.

At PrepScholar, we've created the leading online SAT/ACT prep program. We guarantee an improvement of 160 SAT points or 4 ACT points on your score, or your money back.

Here's a summary of why we're so much more effective than other prep programs:

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Can You Improve Your GPA?

We’re not going to sugarcoat it: GPAs aren’t easy to improve. The later you are in high school, the less your GPA will change before you apply to college.

For example, if you're currently a junior in high school, your grades in freshman and sophomore year will anchor your GPA so that your junior grades won't be able to change your total GPA much.

Here's a calculator for you to see how much your GPA can improve in different cases. Choose your current grade level, and then choose your future grades up until college applications. We'll show you how high or low your GPA can be, depending on your grades from now forward.

Your Grade Level Current GPA Semesters Remaining Future Grades GPA for Applications

4.1
0 4.1

Warning: Because you have no semesters left, your GPA won't change by the time college applications are due. You'll need to apply with a 4.1 GPA. As we explain next, your best chance at improving your chances of getting in may be to improve your SAT/ACT score.




Final Verdict and Advice

After going through all the information presented above, it should be clear that a 4.1 puts you in a very solid position at this early stage in your high school career. At this point, you should continue to focus on maintaining or even exceeding this level of academic achievement in the next couple years. Try to challenge yourself in taking more difficult classes if you feel comfortable doing so. Even with a GPA above a 4.0, there's room to grow on the weighted scale! So far, you're doing great, and you can expect to reap the benefits of your hard work in the college application process if you manage to keep it up.

Your GPA puts you in contention for admission at highly selective colleges, so you should be proud of your accomplishments. You still have another year to go before you apply to college, so you should keep striving for more ambitious academic goals. Since your school uses weighted GPAs, you do have room for improvement!

This is also a time when you might consider paying some attention to preparation for standardized tests. Though it may not be difficult for you to get a relatively high score, if you want to be up there with the top students in the country, doing a bit of studying before the test can go a long way. Overall, you're doing great at this point. Your college applications will be very well-received if you maintain or exceed your current academic efforts.

You can see from the statistics presented in this article that a 4.1 GPA puts you in a good position for college. Since your GPA is unlikely to change after this point, you can give yourself a nice pat on the back for keeping up a strong academic effort throughout high school.

This year is also the best time to take standardized tests. Your test scores will inevitably be an important part of most of your college applications, so you should make sure you prepare accordingly. It's best to get these test over with during your junior year so that you can focus solely on the application process itself senior fall. As long as your test scores are at a high level that corresponds to your GPA, you can expect to be accepted to many selective colleges.

Now that you're starting the application process, it should be comforting to know that your GPA gives you a great shot at most colleges. Even if you've already submitted your applications and are just waiting for a decision, you should know that it's not too late to retake standardized tests if you're unsatisfied with your scores. Most colleges will accept test scores after regular applications have been submitted, in some cases up until February of your senior year.

If you're happy with your test scores, you can sit back and relax a little bit. You might have some tough choices to make about where you want to go to college, but it's almost certain that your options will be strong ones.



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Colleges that Accept a 4.1 GPA

What schools can you get into with a GPA of 4.1?

We've picked out a set of schools that are within range. Click on each school to learn more about it.

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Reach Schools: Harder to Get Into

These schools are hard for you to get into now, because their average GPA is higher than a 4.1. But if you improve your SAT or ACT score, you'll have a much better shot.

School Name Location SAT ACT GPA
Harvard University Cambridge, MA 1550 35 4.2
Duke University Durham, NC 1550 34 4.2
California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 1545 36 4.19
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 1543 35 4.19
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 1540 35 3.9
Brown University Providence, RI 1540 35 4.18
Yale University New Haven, CT 1540 34 4.18
University of Chicago Chicago, IL 1540 35 4.32
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Same Level: Equally Hard to Get Into

These schools have average GPAs that are close to 4.1. If you apply to these schools, you'll have a decent chance of admission. If you improve your SAT or ACT scores, you'll significantly improve your chances .

School Name Location SAT ACT GPA
Columbia University New York, NY 1524 35 4.15
Princeton University Princeton, NJ 1518 34 3.94
Tufts University Medford, MA 1500 34 4.11
Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 1500 34 4.11
Northeastern University Boston, MA 1500 34 4.11
Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA 1485 34 4.08
University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 1445 33 4.32
Binghamton University Binghamton, NY 1430 31 3.89
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 1428 32 3.89
Boston University Boston, MA 1418 32 3.89
Smith College Northampton, MA 1415 32 4.2
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Safety Schools: Easier to Get Into

With a GPA of 4.1, you're already strongly competitive for these schools. You're very likely to get admitted if you apply. If you improve your SAT or ACT score, your Safety Schools will get better and better.

School Name Location SAT ACT GPA
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA 1358 30 4.07
University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 1355 29 4.3
Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY 1352 31 4
United States Military Academy West Point, NY 1331 30 4
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 1313 29 4.03
Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 1310 29 3.8
Auburn University Auburn, AL 1304 27 4.07
University of South Florida Tampa, FL 1300 26 4.2
Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL 1300 28 4.2
University of California, Davis Davis, CA 1280 28 4
Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL 1110 23 4.07


Change My GPA

Curious about what your profile is with a different GPA? Choose any GPA to see what you'd be able to do!



Analyze Your SAT/ACT Score

Wondering about how competitive your current SAT or ACT score is? We've created strategy guides for each SAT and ACT score so you can see what your chances are at schools, and what will happen if you improve your score.


Data on this page is sourced from Peterson's Databases © 2024 (Peterson's LLC. All rights reserved.) as well as additional publicly available sources.



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