Weighted or Unweighted GPA?
How do colleges calculate GPA in the admissions process? Some students take courses that “weigh” more than others, which can boost their GPA and their class rank. But how do colleges treat these different weights when they read your application?
Most colleges will consider both your weighted and unweighted GPA, and most high schools will report both to the colleges to which you are applying.
Colleges want the weighted GPA to reflect your class rank, as well as the relative rigor of your high school course load. But they will not use this weighted GPA in comparing you with other applicants.
Most colleges will use the unweighted GPA as the best reflection of your high school performance. As they say, “an A is an A.” A B in an Advanced Placement course does not mean that you somehow really got an A in that course…you still did B work, according to your teacher. So while the weighted GPA will reflect the relative rigor of your high school coursework, the unweighted GPA reflects your actual performance in those courses.
So don’t be lulled into complacency when you get a “B” on that AP history test by telling yourself that B work equals an A in a less rigorous course. The fact is that colleges will pay closer attention to your unweighted GPA than to an average that is artificially inflated.
Furthermore, many colleges today are “stripping” GPAs of any fluff courses, such as gym, art, music, business, or other courses not considered to be sufficiently academic in nature. Padding your GPA, therefore, is not really possible by getting a straight-A average in chapel or woodworking or glee club. Colleges want to know how well you do in your academic core subjects: English, math, science, social studies, and foreign language.
Bottom line: your GPA matters.
PS: You might want to look at my post on how to calculate your “real” GPA.
Mark Montgomery
Montgomery Educational Consulting
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208 Responses to “Weighted or Unweighted GPA?”
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Hi Lauren.
You should be concerned about learning stuff in school. You should be concerned about finding the right college for you (the only things Cornell and Columbia have in common is a football league and the state of New York). You should be concerned about finding the things that you love to do…and doing them to the best of your ability.
In the end, you will be judged within the context in which you find yourself. Your GPA will not be compared directly with that of students from across town or across the country. Your GPA will be judged based on your class rank within your school. So if you’re getting a 3.75, but are in only the top half of your graduating class (and there are 35 other students from your school applying to Cornell and Columbia), then your GPA is the least of your worries.
Thus return to the first paragraph of this response. Learn. Enjoy. Find the educational environment that suits you best. Live. Don’t judge your success or failure in life based on whether you get into Columbia or Cornell.
I hope this is helpful. Best of luck to you!
Dear Anna,
Take a nap.
Your B in Chinese will not “ruin” anything. Will it make you stupid? Will it diminish your other accomplishments? Will it sow chaos?
I cannot predict whether you will achieve your goal of Yale, Princeton, or Penn (do you know how different those schools really are??). But I can predict ulcers, insomnia, and a skewed vision of what is important in life if you fixate on that B in Chinese.
Do your best. Do the things you love. It’s all going to work out.
Seriously, take a nap!
Best of luck, Anna.
Hi Mark,
I’m a junior in high school and I’ve already taken the SAT Chinese exam which I got 800 on. It’s kind of a cultural thing at my school where everyone takes the SAT Math exam. However, if I can I’d rather not take the SAT Math exam and take the Chemistry one instead. Do you think not taking the Math exam looks bad to colleges?
Thanks!
Nick
Joe,
It depends on the college and your prospective major. If you are aiming for computer science at MIT, you should take the math. If you are considering Chinese literature at Yale, then it won’t make any difference. And if you do better in chemistry, generally, than on the math, that’s fine.
The only caveat to this is if you are a native Mandarin speaker. Getting that 800 is great. But it won’t mean as much as an 800 on that chemistry exam.
Hope that helps.
I’m freaking out right now I’m taking 4 honors classes, one AP class, and two on-level classes. I’m never fallen below an average of 3.54 unweighted. But, as of right now and what you’re saying I have a 2.71 unweighted. I have no “fluff” classes this semester. My school only does semester grades which is the total of both quarter grades and your final combined. Do you think that a 2.71 and a 3.54 together as an average will look good to a college?
Hi, Katy.
It’s good that you are pushing yourself. You need not “freak out” about whether or not you will be accepted to college. You will be. What’s important is to select the colleges that will value you for who you are. For some schools, and unweighted 2.71 just won’t be enough to get in (all other factors being equal). For others, it will be great. Some state colleges will not really look too closely at your unweighted GPA, and will focus on the weighted GPA. What’s important is for you to understand that AP European History is not considered to be as academically rigorous as gym. So while you may be getting great grades in gym, you shouldn’t be complacent that that A is making up for a D in some academic course. Keep focusing on doing the best you can, and everything will work out.
If you need help identifying great colleges that will be happy to welcome you–and that will fit you well–let me know. Visit my contact page at http://greatcollegeadvice.com/contact
I’m a junior, and I have had a 4.0 unweighted until this semester, when i got a B in pre calculus, dropping my GPA to 3.97. I live in Wisconsin, and understand that WI is the 3rd best education state in the country. With that, will colleges still value my 3.97 as high as a 4.0 from another state? I’m enrolled in 4 AP classes, all in which I have A’s, I play two varsity sports, have 75 service hours, in 5 school clubs, and am in student government. What are my chances of really getting into an Ivy league school?
Hi, Zach.
Thanks for visiting my site. My first comment: take a deep breath. It’s all going to be fine.
Second comment: remember that “Ivy League” is a football conference, not an indication of quality. Each of the Ivies is extremely different (example: Brown has no curriculum requirements, Columbia has a very strong, prescriptive core curriculum).
Third, you will not be compared to other kids in your state. Rather, you will be more usefully compared with other kids at your school. If 35 kids from your school apply to (say) Yale, I can guarantee that not all 35 of you will get in–no matter how brilliant you all are.
Finally, the fact that WI has the “3rd best” educational system (according to whom and by what measure?) will have no bearing on your application whatsoever. Let’s assume that Mississippi has one of the worst educational systems in the country. Yet Yale would like to have a few kids from Mississippi so that they can say that each of the 50 states is represented. Would that necessarily mean that the kid from Mississippi is somehow less talented, less intelligent, less worthy of getting into Yale than someone from the “3rd best state”? Nope. Your judged by your talents, not by the state you live in.
I hope that’s helpful. Remember to keep learning cool stuff and enjoying the things you do.