<p>Hi, I'm a rising Junior and have been looking at the Common Data Set for the College of William & Mary. It says that the average high school GPA of all degree-seeking, first-time, first-year (freshman) students who submitted GPA was a 4.00.</p>
<p>That makes no sense to me, unless they're using weighted GPAs. Is anyone here familiar with W&M's policy on this? I SHOULD end up graduating with a 3.6-3.7 unweighted with SAT's around 2100. I don't want this to be a "chance" thread or anything, but I'm just trying to let you know where I'm coming from.</p>
<p>I'm in-state and a first-generation student if that helps.</p>
<p>This is from the William and Mary site. I would take it as a weighted average if that is what gets listed on your transcript.</p>
<p>What is the average GPA for an incoming W&M student?
There is no average GPA for incoming W&M students. Academic potential is evaluated from a combination of GPA, choice of curriculum, and curriculum rigor. We evaluate an applicant’s academic achievement within the context of his/her high school. Grades are weighted differently within each school system. Therefore, we do not recalculate GPAs to a 4.0 scale. Likewise, rigor of curriculum is based on what is offered at that particular high school. Class rank, if provided, can be helpful in determining a student’s academic potential; approximately 80% of admitted students are in the top 10% of their high school graduating class.</p>
<p>Yes, the first part of question C12 of the 2008-2009 common data set says the average GPA is 4.0, but that’s obviously a typo if you look at C11, which lists the ranges of GPA’s for freshmen who submitted them (for instance, 77.58% of the class had a high school GPA of 3.75 or better). </p>
<p>You should also note that only 82% of freshman even submitted GPA information, and that 79% were in the top 10% of their class, so you might conclude that overall GPA’s are a bit lower than the ranges the CDS shows. </p>
<p>As you probably already know, you need to look at the CDS data as a whole to determine if you are a reasonable candidate for any particular school.</p>
<p>“Therefore, we do not recalculate GPAs to a 4.0 scale” is an interesting claim since it seems contradicted by the CDS data, where the instructions say to use a 4.0 scale. And if they don’t recalculate they would seem to be ignoring GPA, since they couldn’t use it to compare applicants from dissimilar scales. </p>
<p>If they consider each student within the context of his/her own hs, I dont think they need to recalculate in order to compare applicants. I think theres a holistic component to admissions at W & M; they dont recalculate GPAs to a 4.0 scale and auto-admit the top 35 percent (or whatever). I dont think its ever really possible to recalculate GPA fairly, anyway we see all the time on CC that AP and honors courses are taught to wildly differing standards. Not to mention the local required courses that may either pump up or drag down an individuals GPA. The fairest way to compare applicants, it seems to me, is to consider where each is coming from as much as circumstances in the admissions office permit. </p>
<p>I dont understand how W & M can report an average 4.0 GPA on the CDS, either. I might forward this thread to the admission office and see if anyone responds (bored at work this AM).</p>
<p>CIA, since youre instate, your GC should have a pretty good idea of your strength as an applicant. Your SATs certainly put you in contention, and your GPA is good if youve had a rigorous curriculum. My d was admitted ED from OOS with just a slightly higher GPA.</p>
<p>There’s nothing unholistic about recalculating GPAs, and it doesn’t matter if it’s not always 100% fair. E.g., at our D’s LAC the recalculated GPA, SAT and ACT together make up only 20% of holistic admission criteria. (Left coast, now time to move on toward work…)</p>
