How much do colleges really care about weighted GPAs?

Applying to College
1

<p>Everyone gives me a different answer to this question, and I was curious what the CC consensus was on it. </p>

<p>I am in the IB program, and the teachers and admin (and the students, too) at my school place a great deal of emphasis on IB/AP classes having weights on them. +1 for every AP/IB class and +.5 for every Pre-IB/Honors class. I know some schools have less weighting or more weighting on their advanced classes, sometimes having up to +2 added. </p>

<p>My GPA is a 4.1 weighted, which looks impressive at first glance, but it is only a 3.6 unweighted. And I have two C+s on my transcript, as well as quite a few Bs. It's a let down to look at the 4.1 and feel accomplished, then look at the details and realized that my mediocrity is very thinly veiled. I would rather that my grades told it like it is, without embellishments that (supposedly) colleges will recalculate anyway. </p>

<p>And yet, I am told that the weighting will make me more attractive to colleges.</p>

<p>But will it? My question is for anyone familiar with the admissions process. Do colleges really care about weighted GPAs? Unweighted GPAs? Or does it vary?</p>

<p>Thank you in advance.</p>

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<p>The AP’s & IB’s matter greatly in that you have a difficult ‘rigor or study’. This really does matter. If you have a 4.0 and never took an AP you don’t look nearly as impressive as the student with the 3.9 who took 5.</p>

<p>Some schools will strip your GPA and recalculate it completely. This is done for a number of reasons, one of which is that each high school weights differently (ie some weight pre AP some do not). GATech takes only core classes and strips all AP/IB credit, then adds .5 for any AP/IB. So if your C+ was in PE you’re in luck. If it was in Chem, it’s still in the mix.</p>

<p>Check your target schools ‘Common Data Set’ to see the level of importance it places on GPA, class rank, test scores, etc. Call the adcom to ask how they calculate your GPA. Colleges respect the IB program and will respect the hard work you have put in. Good Luck!!</p>