<p>S has a scholarship application that says "Cumulative GPA - Please convert to a 4.0 scale". Ok, got that; they want unweighted. </p>
<p>Then later it says, "Are all honors and advanced placement courses given extra credit in computing?" Well....if they were given extra credit, wouldn't that make it <em>not</em> a 4.0 scale?</p>
<p>S is homeschooled, so I have to do all this calculating myself. I thought I would glean from you guys how your schools do it. Would you weight grades, but just not weight A's since that would make them more than 4.0? That doesn't make sense to me. Maybe I should just report the unweighted GPA and then answer no to the 2nd question.</p>
<p>you can still have weighted grades on a 4.0 scale. for instance, you could have a 4.3 weighted gpa out of 4.0. its like getting extra credit on a test. if the test was out of 100 points, you could get 105/100, and the test is still out of 100 points. hopefully that makes sense.</p>
<p>The application is ambiguous. However, the fact that a system is on the "4.0" scale does not necessarily mean they want unweighted or that the system is unweighted. Having an A = 4 grading system is one on the 4.0 scale even though, for example, an AP class A gets a 4.5. So you can have a weighted GPA that is above 4.0 and still be on a 4.0 scale. Thus, it sounds like they mean to just distinguish the usual 4.0 system school from those that follow, for example, a 6.0 system (where a normal A is 6) or simply go by percentage grade, e.g, you're at 95% rather than having A's. In any event, it sounds like you have the option of showing a weighted GPA, if you have one through the school through which your home school information goes, or you can give an unweighted GPA and answer that honors/AP question "no."</p>
<p>Exactly as andrea . . . says. For some reason, our high school uses a 5.0 scale, so I would have to convert both weighted or unweighted grades. With weighted grades, our kids are OVER 5.0. The school your son is looking at may take weighted grades into consideration, but they still want you to use a 4.0 scale.</p>
<p>I don't want to sound flippant, but the main reason for weighting is to try to come up with a system that will enable the school to rank its students. </p>
<p>So, for your son weighting is irrelevant. Make your grading system as simple as possible (4 = A = 90-100) and DON'T try to make his grades look better than they are. Ad Coms will then think you are trying to inflate his grades. Better for them to think you are holding him to a very high standard than to think you are trying to market your son. </p>
<p>I was at a workshop last year with an AdCom who is assigned to evaluate apps from kids who were homeschooled. I think a lot of schools now have one staff member who has this responsibility. My advice - keep it simple and straightforward.</p>