Currently as a sophomore I am taking 1 weighed class, but I still have time for media consumption or games.
So i’m trying to get into 5 weighted classes for my Junior year at my northern California high school. 3 being AP and 2 being Honors. Possible Junior year schedule: honors = ap as far as GPA
AP JAVA
APUSH
AP LANG
Honors Physics
Honors Precalc/Trig
French III
Last month I heard that the average weighted high school GPA for a UC Berkeley student was 4.2. Freshman year I got a 4.0 both semesters. And my 1st semester Sophomore year I got a 3.67 weighted. I know what your thinking, that I could not attain an A because i’m not smart enough. But really I know what I can do, and I know that I slipped up. I realized this the 1st day of the second semester. As of March,(end of 3rd Q) I now have a 4.0 and things are going up. I am pretty confident that I will make it into these 5 weighted classes, but is it worth the extra GPA points? I manage below-average levels of stress, and all I need is hard work to do well in these classes.
Everyone of my friends are saying to opt out of AP lang, because a lot of upperclassmen are saying that it takes too much time. Taking in to consideration that the earliest I can start homework is 6pm, because of sports. I am also not looking for a career in language or writing.
But I want to take AP lang so I can better my essays in my SAT and college app’s.
I know that it sounds impossible to go from a 3.9 to a 4.4 in 5 semesters, but if i put the pedal to the metal, I will get what I deserve…
I plan to take all weighted Senior year, so if my plans work out, I will theoretically graduate with a 4.4 weighted GPA. Which would take all A’s from this point on.
P.S. I know that I will not struggle in Physics or JAVA…
I’m active in Boy scouts, XC, mountain biking, NHS, CSF and sometimes robotics…
It’s hard to say how much is too much as this can vary a lot from person to person, but it is definitely possible to take all those courses alongside each other. I am currently in my junior year and am taking 4 AP courses plus an honors course and two regular courses and it’s going fine. However, I have far more time available for homework than you do, so that is a point you must consider. If your only reason for taking Lang is scoring well on the SAT essay, you might want to consider using an SAT prep book and asking a teacher/tutor to assess your work instead of taking an entire AP course. As for the extra GPA points, I have found that my AP grades have been very helpful in cancelling out some poor scores in previous years and would recommend taking weighted courses where possible.
Note that for UCs, your freshman year and senior year GPAs don’t count. All they look at are your soph/junior GPAs. And depending on which college you’re applying to (from your courses, I’m assuming Engineering), your GPA may need to be MUCH higher. Their average weighted for incoming freshmen (all colleges) is a 4.39 W, 3.89 UW. For the College of Engineering, average weighted is 4.50, with a 9.7% acceptance rate–even people with the average GPA (or higher) and better-than-average SATs don’t necessarily get in. It’s practically impossible to transfer from another Berkeley college to the College of Engineering, too.
Is Honors Physics UC weighted? It doesn’t matter if it’s weighted by your school or not.
I did some calculations, and at this point, the highest weighted UC GPA you can achieve is a 4.375.
It says honors physics is UC weighted on my schools’ website, and does the 4.375 include freshmen and senior years?
@zattack101 if your school says it’s UC weighted, you’re fine. 4.375 is the possible soph-junior GPA–the only GPAs the UCs actually look at. They do not pay attention to freshman year or senior year in their main decisions. When you look at GPA figures on their website, it always refers to soph-junior UC GPA.