I have heard here that weighted GPA is not even considered. Is this true? If so, wouldn’t a student with a 97 UW GPA and 100 GPA taking art and band have an advantage over a student with a 96 UW GPA and a 101 GPA taking strictly tough weighted classes?
Colleges have been analyzing GPAs long before they were weighted. They are not so gullible.
Many colleges look at recalculated weighted GPA, not the one calculated by your high school, since high schools vary in how they weight.
We have visited 10+ liberal arts colleges, and pretty much every one said that they take your transcript and create a new, unweighted gpa using your core academic classes.
Admissions reps in the info sessions say your transcript is what matters, what courses did you take and how did you do in them. An “A” average in regular classes is not going to show the same kind of promise as an “A-” in all AP/IB. They want to accept students who can succeed in their school.
From what I gather, a lot depends on the college you are asking about as far as what they may consider. A conservatory will care about your choral and band courses, an arts college may want to see your art classes included when they come up with their own weighting, but an engineering school might only be concerned with your math/science weighted GPA - to the exclusion of your history, English, and language classes (other than to make sure you’ve passed).
@midwestmomofboys which LACs are you talking about?
Colleges look at the transcript and course rigor as well as the GPA. In the OPs example, the college would recognize which applicant took the more difficult schedule and take that into account even if they only look at the non-weighted GPAs.
No, all selective colleges will look at the curriculum as well as the GPA. It is not as simple as sorting students in descending order based on GPA. The admissions officer will read the transcript and high school profile to try to understand how strong a student is. Below a certain level of GPA (which will vary based on the college) the application might not get serious consideration.
@defuze Vassar, Grinnell, Bates, Oberlin, Kenyon, Connecticut etc.
Every admissions rep has said the most important factor is the transcript – what classes has the student taken and how have they done in them. No one is fooled by a 98 avg in regular, non honors etc classes.
Colleges know how to even the playing field. They aren’t fooled, so don’t worry.