AP/Honor courses in GPA calculation

Parents Forum
1

<p>Do you know if Ivy league schools also cap the extra points of AP/Honor courses?</p>

<p>In UC rules, it seems student can get extra credit with 4 AP/honor classes. If students take more than 4 APs, he cannot get better GPA. Is it correct? </p>

<p>How about other schools?</p>

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<p>To encourage students to undertake more challenging work at the advanced secondary level, the University assigns extra weight to grades received in honors-level courses. The University uses a very specific and narrow definition of honors-level work which often differs from those of honors programs offered by high schools.</p>

<p>UC caps the number of extra honors points included in a student's UC GPA from certified honors-level work to no more than four years or eight semesters. It is acceptable for students to complete more than four yearlong honors courses, but no more than four extra points will be computed into the GPA. Most students complete UC-certified honors-level work in grades 11 and 12, although some advanced students may be able to complete these courses as early as grade 10. The University limits the amount of extra honors points added to the UC GPA for honors-level work completed in grade 10 to no more than two years or four semesters.</p>

2

<p>Every college has it’s own way to recalculate GPAs…if they do so. Some only use academic courses, some use everything. Some disregard 9th grade, and some use all years. Some weigh honors and AP courses, and some do not.</p>

<p>And some don’t recalculate GPA at all. </p>

3

<p>And very few colleges explain their recalculating systems at all. That’s why the advice is to take a reasonably challenging curriculum that you can succeed at. If the smartest kids in your school take 5 APs, you don’t need to take 10, but 1 probably won’t be enough if you are trying to get into the most selective schools. There are some examples of what various colleges do here: <a href=“Why Colleges Scoff At Your Kid's GPA - WSJ”>http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB105899458688282900&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;