Do colleges exclude art and pe grades (and in my case religion grades too)?

<p>I go to a catholic school and wonder is religion art and pe grades wont be included when schools are looking at your transcript. I am applying to the top universities and just want to know</p>

<p>Art would probably be considered in admissions, although not as much as “core academic” classes like history and math. PE is usually discounted from adcoms’ internal GPA calculations, although a very low grade could draw negative attention. Not sure about “religion”, which could be anything from a rigorous academic course to a flaky half-semester unit.</p>

<p>When in doubt, expect that core courses (English, physical sciences, math, history/social studies, foreign language) will be most important. In any case, if you are applying to “the top universities” you should strive for the best possible grade in every single class.</p>

<p>Just PE would be excluded. Colleges like to see that you did an art class and even the UC system requires a continuous year. I think Religion would be llimilar to taking a philosophy class.</p>

<p>All colleges understand that religious-affiliated schools require some religion classes. They probably won’t weight any grades, unless your school has some sort of Honors theology or Bible Study course. The same would apply to any Arts courses, unless you are applying to a specialized arts school. An AP or IB Art class will be weighted, I imagine. State universities often have carefully stated academic requirements. Private colleges are likelier to look at you whole transcript in context. If you are applying to an Engineering school, but also took a lot of arts classes, they will care most about your preparation in Math and Science, but they will also like to see some balance and complexity in your transcript. My sons attended a school with required religion courses, and it did not seem to affect college admissions at all. </p>