Hello,
My high school uses numeric average, but I was just wondering – how do you calculate GPA? I know it varies based on the college you apply for, but is there some general rule? I’ve been thinking it was just allotting a 4 to every A and 3 to every B, then dividing the sum by number of classes. As for weighted, I thought you added 1.0 to each grade… but maybe I’m way off. Please let me know! I’m trying to figure out if my GPA would suffice for admission into Georgia Tech. (I am an in state female who wants to major in biology. My current unweighted numeric average is a 92.1320, and my weighted is 98.2110… is that bad in general?)
Thank you!
Yes. The general rule is that you do not calculate GPA - your school does. If your school calculates on a 100 point scale, you report your GPA on a 100 point scale. Any college that asks you to convert (e.g. UCs) will tell you how.
If you want to recalculate your GPA on a 4.0 scale just for giggles, here is one converter:
https://pages.collegeboard.org/how-to-convert-gpa-4.0-scale
However, weighted GPA provided by your high school should only be used within the context of your high school, since weighting methods used by colleges and other high schools may vary.
It is best to use unweighted GPA for comparing with college admissions information referencing high school GPAs, unless there is a specific indication that weighted GPA is used, and you recalculate the GPA using the college’s method.
Ask your guidance counselor to help you translate your HS GPA into a 4.0 scale – that number should only be used to help you get a sense of where your academic stats fit in for different colleges.
Our counselors have specifically stated that they will not help us translate our numeric averages into GPAs. 
They have instead told us to refer to the county method of translation, in which a 4 is allotted for every A, 3 for every B, and +1.0 for weighted averages.
Thank you both for your help!!!
“I’ve been thinking it was just allotting a 4 to every A and 3 to every B, then dividing the sum by number of classes.”
Yes, that’s how you would do it.
My daughter moved schools after her sophomore year. The first school was the US News #1 STEM public magnet school with a 0-100 grading system. We moved internationally for work, so the second was a German International School with an IB program that has a 0-7 grading system. We never knew what her 4.0 scale GPA was. Colleges admitted her anyway and gave her merit scholarships. The only glitch we had was our State Public U that had an automated system for scholarships based on self-reported data. An email to admissions cleared that up and she was also awarded merit.
My point is, don’t worry about it, the colleges figure it out.