Anybody from BC can answer this question? I wonder if courses like planning 10 (mandatory(;), orchestra and home economics count. Do these non-academic courses included when school calculates your GPA?
I asked this question because I did not think I got a good grades in planning 10 and other electives… I got good marks in academic courses though. I am afraid that B in these courses will ruin my GPA…
Or, do American colleges focus more on your academic courses, especially those in grade 11/12 level? I’ve heard that admission officers usually know school in your areas well and thus make fair judgements.
your counsellor’s gonna mention that ur school don’t do gpa on ur application. But American colleges do focus more on ur gr.11 & 12 grades. They also expect u to be very well-rounded, or acing in a specific area. I also heard that they like to see a trend of improvement of ur grades from gr.9 to when u r gonna apply. So, try to improve, do some extra-curricular stuff, and try to score as high as possible on ur sat/act. Good luck XD
Don’t worry about it. Planning 11, ADC 11/12, Planning 10, etc, don’t count for anything except towards your graduation. I doubt orchestra would count unless you’re going into a music related program at university, but I heard that if the course code begins with something like a YL, it’s not a ministry approved course and won’t count towards anything. I believe in the whole jyst of things, on your report card they just choose four courses that’re your best, and are academic, and total it up to find your average. I know that I had a GPA of 3.8 in grade 10 and it definitely wouldn’t have been that if they counted my computer animation course, which I got a bare minimum B in, as well as a few other miscellaneous courses. Good luck.
Thank you very much! But what did you mean by that my school don’t do gpa on application? Don’t high schools in BC calculate your overall GPA? I mean, for U.S. colleges.
Ah thank you! But I think you are talking about Canadian universities, which only care about your marks in grade 12 level courses. American universities, however, need your gpa for all years.
To my knowledge, BC high schools don’t “calculate” anything for Canadian universities. Canadian universities will take your transcript and calculate their own average off it (ie best 6 courses, only academic courses, etc.)
Regarding American universities - my counsellor specified on the Common App form that our school did not calculate GPAs. I would check with your counsellor, especially if they have not dealt with the CA before.
