Our school only gives us weighted GPAs. And our school calculates GPA differently than most. So i am trying to get an idea of how most colleges that calculate their own GPA would do it.
I understand the basic idea that an A =4, B=3, etc, but I am confused as to what classes count. I understand not art, health, etc.
But - if a kid has been taking high school math since 7th grade and will have 6 math classes by the end of high school - do I count all of those?
If a kid takes a second “core” class as an elective do I count that? If not, how does the college decide which to take. (So the school requires all juniors to take physics, but a kid also takes AP Bio as an elective that year - which counts?)
related - do “academic” electives - like AP Comp Sci or AP Psychology, etc, count?
I am sure there is some variation, but is there a generally accepted method?
Thanks!
In the end it doesn’t really matter what your calculation is. Most schools will get the student’s transcript and then come up with their own weighted GPA based on the way they do it. I have heard colleges have slight differences in the way they do it.
Of course GPA is important but just as important is the rigor that the student takes. If the top kids at a HS usually take 10-11 AP classes and another student takes 4-5 AP classes at some of the elite schools that will be a mark against them. Ironically another student at a different HS might only have the opportunity to take 4 AP classes because that is what the HS offers. That student probably won’t get dinged for that.
But that is just all part of the black hole that is the admissions process to the elites.
All academic courses, including academic electives. Does not include health, PE activities, devotional religion (except perhaps if applying to a college of the same religion), or non-college-prep courses.
“Academic” includes visual and performing arts.
“Academic” does not include visual and performing arts.
When courses are taken:
During all of high school.
During all of high school plus high school level middle school courses (typically math and foreign language).
During part of high school.
For most college prep unweighted GPA calculation purposes, use all academic courses including academic electives including visual and performing arts taken during all of high school. If a specific college of interest has a specific calculation method, use its method for the purpose of assessing chances and the like for that specific college.
This varies wildly by high school. We had a little issue with GPA calculation and I sent my DDs grades to 6 different school districts asking them to calculate her weighted and unweighted GPAs. I don’t think there were any two that did it the same way. Some included classes in the arts and health, and PE…those are required courses in this state. Some, I think, might have used core courses only…no electives. Some used everything. Some used + and - grades as well.
I don’t think it is universal, at all, but some are transparent for how they do it. UGA for example only counts core classes taken in high school. No middle school classes. You can have more than 5 core classes though, so all core classes count. Robotics is not core, nor is band, art, PE, etc. UGA gives no weight to honors classes and adds 1 point for IB/AP classes. They use the scale you mention above A=4, etc. Florida is also transparent but they weigh honors classes, so UGA GPA is lower than UF GPA, recalculated.
There is no universal way for high schools to calculate GPA. This is one reason why the actual transcript and school profile are always sent to colleges. In addition, many colleges recalculate each applicant’s GPA (also no one standard method) as part of their admissions review.
How common is the exclusion of arts from academic courses used for college-prep high school GPA? What is the rationale for such an exclusion, since arts are commonly offered college majors at liberal arts colleges and liberal arts divisions of universities?
Most colleges do not say if or how they recalculate GPA. But FWIW my D’s college made it clear that they recalculated GPA using core academic subjects only. Perhaps they felt arts classes were more dependent on talent than academic prowess but i don’t know for sure.
Bottom line is each college will get the transcript and school profile and will use whatever means they feel is appropriate to evaluate.
But let’s get back to the OPs question about HS GPA calculation.
I know that the UC system does not exclude any class that is taken as part of the high schools regular curriculum, including art. Their A-G list includes “Visual Arts”.
@VirginiaBelle - UGA does count AP art classes and music theory classes.
As for private colleges - I would hazard a guess that they consider art classes, but they likely also put more weight on the classes on their list of “high school units required and/or recommended” on their CDS. However, for private colleges, “holistic admissions” means that this aspect is as flexible (and therefore opaque) as anything else.
Sorry - my question was about colleges (I’m OP). I guess I wasn’t clear. I know how my kids’ high school does it, even though they don’t release it to us, I am just curious which classes most colleges count. Even if it’s just “core” classes - what counts as core? which science do they choose if one is an elective? (for example). It sounds like it varies and colleges don’t really tell us.
Mostly just wondering because in threads where people say their kids’ school doesn’t do unweighted, people will tell them to just calculate it themselves. So I tried and couldn’t figure out what to include.
Many public universities do say or imply which courses count for their GPA recalculation. The main apparent difference in terms of subjects is whether visual or performing art is included. In terms of extra academic electives (like your example of taking an extra science course beyond what is required), it is best to assume that they are all included.
Most colleges aren’t admitting just on pure GPA (weighted or not). They’re looking at the transcript to understand what classes were taken and at what levels. They might not care about that “art” class if the kid is applying to an engineering program but if they kid is applying to an art program the grade in that art class matters.
Some schools require a SRAR (Self Reported Academic Record) that you load into a system and categorize all the classes and put the grades in and it allows the school to more easily calculate a GPA based on whatever their methodology is. I wouldn’t get too caught up in trying to understand it.
Beyond that even when the kid applies the counselor sends a “school profile” that helps the college put your kids GPA in context. Is the kid doing really well in a super competitive private school or doing OK in a middle of the road public school.
You want your kid taking courses that challenge them - roughly - in the field of study they are likely to pursue in college, if they know that already. If a B+ (AP) and a A+ (Standard Level) are the same in the calculation for GPA, the AP course is a better reflection to the college that the kid is challenging themselves.
A lot more information than you were probably looking for, or even wanted.
I think why you read on CC that it’s helpful to provide an UW GPA is for “chance me” threads, so there is more of an apples to apples comparison. A 4.8 weighted GPA is meaningless without a lot more context.
Our D’s HS calculated UW but on their scale which was atypical (for example, a 92 was a B+ and only a 3.3) so we also had to do some figuring out.
I just used HS coursework, even though there were a bunch of classes taken in middle school since they were reported on her transcript for course credit but not the grade. I only looked at English, math, history, science and FL classes. Any elective that fell into those categories I counted.
We were told to report the GPA that was on the transcript to colleges.
A bit off topic but FWIW my D was in a small program in her HS which had written evaluations and no formal grades. She (and others in her program) had no problem with college admissions from colleges ranging from LACs to huge publics. So in my experience admission officers areable to evaluate whatever transcript is presented in the appropriate context.
I know how my kids’ high school does it, even though they don’t release it to us, I am just curious which classes most colleges count. Even if it’s just “core” classes - what counts as core? which science do they choose if one is an elective? (for example). It sounds like it varies and colleges don’t really tell us.