You're probably concerned about your GPA—and you should be! But it's more complicated than you may think. Some schools weight GPAs, others do not, and it's up to you to figure out how to make your school's process work for you.
A "weighted GPA" is based on the understanding that some high school classes are much harder than others. There's a feeling that these more difficult classes should carry more weight than the easier ones. If you get an A in AP English, it should count more than an A in remedial reading. So far, so good, right?
But it gets complicated. Colleges son't generally use these artificially inflated grades. The colleges to which you're applying absolutely want you to take challenging courses and so well in them, but they need to compare all applicants using the same four-point grade scale.
So most high schools using weighted GPAs will also include unweighted grades on your transcript, and colleges will usually use the unweighted number.
Your selected colleges will also want to make sure that your GPA reflects grades in core academic courses, not the "fun" elective classes that guarantee good grades. So even if you have calculated a weighted and unweighted GPA, your college may have yet another way of calculating your GPA: it may just look at the core studies (English, math, social studies, foreign language, and science).
So make sure that you take all of these numbers into consideration as you plan your last year of high school and apply to college!
A "weighted GPA" is based on the understanding that some high school classes are much harder than others. There's a feeling that these more difficult classes should carry more weight than the easier ones. If you get an A in AP English, it should count more than an A in remedial reading. So far, so good, right?
But it gets complicated. Colleges son't generally use these artificially inflated grades. The colleges to which you're applying absolutely want you to take challenging courses and so well in them, but they need to compare all applicants using the same four-point grade scale.
So most high schools using weighted GPAs will also include unweighted grades on your transcript, and colleges will usually use the unweighted number.
Your selected colleges will also want to make sure that your GPA reflects grades in core academic courses, not the "fun" elective classes that guarantee good grades. So even if you have calculated a weighted and unweighted GPA, your college may have yet another way of calculating your GPA: it may just look at the core studies (English, math, social studies, foreign language, and science).
So make sure that you take all of these numbers into consideration as you plan your last year of high school and apply to college!
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