A 3.67 GPA in high school is well above average and puts you in strong academic standing. The national average GPA for high school graduates is 3.11, so a 3.67 places you roughly half a letter grade above your peers. It translates to an A-minus average, meaning you’re earning mostly A’s and B’s with more weight on the A side.
How a 3.67 Compares Nationally
A 3.6 GPA sits at about the 81st percentile when measured against the average GPAs of incoming students at over 1,500 colleges across the country. That means your 3.67 exceeds the typical admitted-student GPA at roughly four out of five U.S. colleges and universities. You’re not just “above average” in the general sense. You’re competitive at the large majority of schools in the country.
Where it gets more nuanced is at the top end. At highly selective universities, the average GPA of admitted students climbs well above a 3.67. Princeton averages around 3.94, Stanford around 3.9, and Johns Hopkins around 3.95. Some schools that factor in weighted GPAs report averages above 4.0. A 3.67 alone won’t make you a shoo-in at those institutions, though it doesn’t automatically disqualify you either, since admissions officers weigh many other factors.
Weighted vs. Unweighted: Why It Matters
Whether your 3.67 is weighted or unweighted changes the picture significantly. An unweighted GPA is calculated on a 4.0 scale where an A equals 4.0 regardless of course difficulty. A weighted GPA adds extra points for honors, AP, or IB courses, often on a 5.0 scale. So a 3.67 unweighted (earned while taking AP and honors classes) is more impressive than a 3.67 weighted (which might translate to something closer to a 3.2 or 3.3 on an unweighted scale).
Many colleges recalculate every applicant’s GPA on an unweighted scale and then separately assess how rigorous your course load was. A student with a 3.8 unweighted GPA in a schedule full of AP and honors courses will often be viewed as more competitive than a student with a 4.0 in standard-level classes. If your 3.67 is unweighted and you’ve been challenging yourself with advanced coursework, admissions officers will notice that context. If it’s weighted, look into what your unweighted GPA would be, since that’s often the number colleges use as their baseline.
College Admissions With a 3.67
A 3.67 GPA makes you competitive at a wide range of solid universities. Schools where admitted students average around this range include Texas A&M, the University of Cincinnati, George Mason University, Baylor University, and the University of Texas at Dallas. At schools like Arizona State, Temple University, and Washington State, where average GPAs sit in the 3.4 to 3.5 range, a 3.67 makes you a strong candidate.
Schools where you’d be reaching include those with average admitted GPAs in the 3.8 to 3.9 range: places like Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, the University of Michigan, and NYU. Getting into these schools with a 3.67 is possible but will likely depend on strong test scores, compelling essays, and meaningful extracurricular involvement.
Admissions readers also look at grade trends across your transcript. An upward trajectory, where your grades improved from freshman to junior year, works in your favor even if your cumulative GPA isn’t perfect. Colleges typically review grades from 9th, 10th, and 11th grade at the time of application, then check first-semester senior year marks before finalizing admission.
Merit Scholarship Eligibility
A 3.67 GPA qualifies you for merit-based scholarships at many colleges. Schools commonly set GPA thresholds that automatically award money to admitted students, and a 3.67 typically falls in the mid-to-upper tier of those brackets. For example, many universities offer scholarship tiers starting at 3.35 or 3.5, with higher awards kicking in at 3.75 and above. At a 3.67, you’d land in that first or second tier, often worth several thousand dollars per year.
Since you’re close to the 3.75 threshold that unlocks higher scholarship amounts at many schools, even a small GPA bump during your remaining semesters could push you into a more generous award bracket. That difference might mean an extra $1,000 to $2,000 per year, or more at schools with larger scholarship programs. It’s worth checking the specific merit aid scales at schools you’re interested in, since many publish them on their financial aid pages and award them automatically with no separate application.
How to Strengthen Your Profile
Your GPA is one piece of your application. If you’re aiming for schools where the average is higher than 3.67, focus on the factors you can still control. Strong standardized test scores can offset a GPA gap at many institutions. A rigorous senior-year course load signals to admissions officers that you’re still pushing yourself academically. Sustained involvement in extracurricular activities, especially in leadership roles or with demonstrated commitment over multiple years, adds weight that raw numbers can’t capture.
If your GPA dipped during a particular semester, be aware that some applications give you space to explain circumstances. Colleges care about the trajectory and the context behind your grades, not just the final number. A 3.67 with a clear upward trend and a challenging course load tells a different story than a 3.67 that started high and slid downward.
A 3.67 gives you a genuinely strong foundation. It keeps the door open at hundreds of reputable universities, puts you in the running for merit aid, and reflects the kind of consistent academic performance that colleges value. Where you go from here depends on how you round out the rest of your application.