So, my son is about to press “submit” on his Common App applications, and there are two fields about which he has questions.
First, they ask for GPA, and we can select weighted, or unweighted. Which should we use? He has an UW GPA of 3.897 and a W GPA of 4.1. He took three AP classes his junior year (BC Calc, Physics and Economics), and he is taking three more APs this year (Chem, Bio and Statistics). We are applying early to all his schools so they will not see his Senior year Fall grades (he is pulling high "A"s in everything, so both his weighted and unweighted GPAs will likely rise after this semester.
Second, they ask for demographic information, like race. If he leaves it blank, will it hurt him, or could it help him? (He is a white male.) My guess is that if we leave it blank, the admissions committee will assume he is either a white or Asian male, and treat him accordingly.
Unweighted. And just put 3.8/4.0. Adding extra digits looks like you’re a try-hard gunner; it’s like flagging for them that you don’t have straight As and you’re worried about it. You do unweighted because otherwise they’ll probably unweight anyway. I always say stay understated–the unweighted GPA like that is clean and easy for your AO. And bottom-line: they are looking at your transcript. This reported GPA on Common App is just a handy item for the AO on quick glance.
I’m not gonna touch that one. Too many people on this platform already don’t like me.
Should we use 3.9 since the rounding rules dictate that we should go up? And you’re right; they have his full transcript anyway.
I don’t blame you for not touching that. Frankly, I was hoping someone with inside knowledge about what goes on with admission committees would shed some light.
Weighted is less meaningful, since weighting systems vary. It does look like your weighted GPA has relatively light weighting, so the weighted GPA may look worse compared to weighted GPAs from other schools with heavier weighting. So an unweighted 3.897 GPA (assuming 4.0 scale / maximum) would look better.
But probably many colleges will recalculate unweighted or with their own weighting systems.
However, there may be some colleges that take GPA at face value to compare to thresholds for scholarships or something like that. In that case, even a lightly weighted 4.1 may be better than unweighted 3.897.
Use the highest GPA that’s on the transcript. Always. No rounding. The AO will have the grading methodology on the school profile. They are going to look closely at the transcript no matter what and re-calculate as they will. Some schools use the course and grades from common app, some SRAR, some something else.
I don’t think it much matters if he divulges his race or not…they probably have enough info based on his name, address, HS, demographic info he may have filled out on test registration and/or admission session registration to give them a strong indication of his race.
Not that it really matters, since AOs see the transcript. But whichever GPA you list should match the transcript, including the number of decimal places.
As far as the race box, it’s optional. It won’t hurt and it won’t help, IMO. They will not just assume he’s URM, which of course, he,'s not.