My daughter got an 84 in honors chemistry this year and her school said that “IF” she had earned an 85 then it would have been weighed to 4.0, but now it is left as a 3.0. On college applications do they weight scores even if she had an honors class in sophomore year and the school didn’t weight it? Would they not weight it anyway? Just wondering how it works.
Jenn
If you google “weighted GPA” there are many explanations. Basically it is a GPA bump for more rigorous classes.
That said, it is important to understand that different high schools weight differently and some do not weigh GPA at all. You will need to understand your D’s GPA within the context of her HS. This is a discussion you should have with her guidance counselor.
In terms of how colleges look at GPA, there is no one answer. Some colleges use weighted GPA, some use unweighted GPA, and some recalculate GPA based on their own criteria (ex. academic subjects only). With each HS transcript admissions admissions officers get a school profile that details the weighting system, course levels etc. at each HS so the applicants’ GPA can be reviewed in the proper context.
And to make it more complicated, each HS has their own grading scale. At my D’s HS, an 84 would have been a C/2, honors or not.
The important thing is that your D’s HS will send their grading scale along with her transcripts so colleges will be able to assess her GPA in context.
That’s also why on CC, many seasoned posters will ask about UW GPAs.
Thank you all! It does sound confusing…
Jenn
Think of it this way.
All the same grade level.
History 1 - hard
History Honors - harder
AP US history - hardest
Three kids take one of these levels. They all get a b. With a score of 84
To equate for the extra work at each level, a school, as an example, may add 5 points to the grade for each level.
History weighted is still an 84. B
History honors weighted +5 is an 89. B+
AP US History weighted +10 is a 94 A
All will have a B in the specific class for the transcript. UW.
Calculating class rank or percentile ranking on the transcript will be the higher weighted gpa.
It’s a way to reward the extra effort for the workload and rigor of the harder classes.
This is in general. Schools all have somewhat different approaches. The college admissions people look at the gpa but then look at the classes and kind of reorient them in terms of their profile. It all gets sorted out.
But UW gpa and the level of class difficulty compared to the options available will be the most important factors for this piece of the puzzle.