<p>Stupid question, I know...but does Columbia consider extra points for AP and Honors classes? Also, does Columbia count plusses and minuses when doing the GPA?</p>
<p>Mainly wondering because I'm not sure what my chances would be for now.</p>
<p>They don't recalculate anything. They look at whatever your school provides, along with your class rank, etc. They'll know your school's grading system and can look at your classes.</p>
<p>If your school weighs your GPA, Columbia will ask for the unweighted one or (if it's not available) attempts to do the unweighing itself. Some highschools are really ridiculous when it comes to weighing (students end up with 105+).</p>
<p>Yes, AP's and honors courses are weighed more heavily in their eyes, but not neccessarily in direct numbers. It's a very subjective thing.</p>
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If your school weighs your GPA, Columbia will ask for the unweighted one or (if it's not available) attempts to do the unweighing itself.
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<p>Source? Columbia doesn't go back and ask for anything. The schools give them what they give. They know what info the various schools give. Columbia's adcoms don't sit there and do any sort of math. It isn't like Columbia uses a formula. They take all the pieces of the puzzle and figure it out</p>
<p>The application (to be filled out by HS) asks for W and/or UW GPA, W and/or UW rank, and if the top ranked student's GPA is W or UW.</p>
<p>It's pretty much common knowledge that top universities don't trust every HS to have consistent weighing systems. </p>
<p>I never understood why so many people have difficulty understanding that. Some highschools treat students who take 1 or 2 AP's like they're super over-achievers (and reward them accordingly with heavy weighing), while other (top) highschools expect at least a few AP's from their students (and weigh comparitively less). It's all relative, and unweighted GPA's allow universities to more accurately compare students from different schools in a way similar to standardized tests.</p>
<p>I always thought weighing was useless for GPA reasons, but I do think it's very useful for ranking purposes (again, as a decent method for true student-student comparison).</p>