Course Load Consideration

Hello,
Do colleges consider Unweighted or weighted GPAs. I take very difficult courses such as AP macroeconomics, AP CompGov, Multivariable Calculus, and Biology Honors. I also go to a very difficult high school that was recently selected as a blue ribbon school. I have ok grades. My UW GPA is 3.73 but my Weight is nearly 3.9.
My family jokes that I should have gone to public school because it IS so much easier (trust me, no embellishment from where I live) and I would like a better student on paper. Is this true? Would it be better to go to a bad high school but get misleadingly great grades than a rigorous high school with misleadingly bad grades?
THANKS!

Colleges use unweighted GPA’s, but curriculum rigor is of primary importance.
A 3.73 at a known rigorous prep school is good. No reason to fret.

The adcoms know the schools in their region and will know that your school is tough. I wasn’t sure I believed this when DC applied, but I now know that it is true.