My graduating class is super competitive so any class that isn’t weighted will drop my GPA and probably take me out of the top 10 ranks. I was told that taking Pass/Fail will cause the unweighted class to not be implemented into my GPA. I did some research and I found that colleges look at pass/failed classes as if they are Ds. Is this true? Should I go ahead and pass fail my classes or should I just keep them but drop in ranks? (I usually get As on unweighted classes)
Don’t do pass fail if you’re just worried about your GPA. Unless you have an explanation for why you’re taking courses pass/fail (one that’s better than “I want to maintain my GPA”), it will look very bad on your transcript. Remember, if colleges are looking only at “pass” on your transcript, you could have gotten a 60 percent or a 99 percent, and if you made the decision to take the class pass fail, they’re more likely to assume its the former, because someone who was doing well wouldn’t have something to hide. There are very few scenarios, IMO, where pass/fail is appropriate. For example, last year a friend of mine had a minor brain injury and decided to take her two hardest classes pass/fail. She’ll still be “penalized” in admissions for it, but adcoms are a bit more willing to overlook that type of pass/fail because she had a medical excuse. It’s better to drop in rank than to take classes pass/fail unless you have an explanation like this.
The problem with doing pass/fail is that colleges don’t get a good idea of what kind of student you are without actual grades. However, unless you have a legitimate excuse like Querty’s friend, it kind of leads to the assumption you’re not comfortable with struggling in a class. The best thing you can do is try to improve your grade. Don’t worry about your GPA (especially if you’re already doing well) because adcoms will have context for it.