IB GPA unweighted vs weighted?

Applying to College
1

Im taking the full IB diploma. So far my junior gpa unweighted is a 3.4 and weighted it is a 3.65. However, I am confused with how weighted gpa works. One of my friends is taking the full IB and has an unweighted gpa slightly below me, around a 3.35ish, however his school weighs it much more generously and it’s a 3.8 right now. The thing is, I would understand if his school was harder, but in fact it’s the exact opposite. He goes to an average public school and right now I am attending a very hard private school. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t I have a much more generous gpa weight since I am going to a much harder school? Will colleges calculate differently? Thanks.

-tyler

2

Is he taking more HLs? SLs screw you over and are unweighted so that could be a possibility.

3

No, he isn’t. We are both taking 3 HLs and 3SLs

4

It will be your UW GPA that is of relevance, and your school’s profile, really in IB the grading should be comparable as you are following the same curricular standards. And your opinion on your school’s rigour vs your friend’s school should be comparable by their previous IBD scores, can you compare those? Plenty of IB schools don’t weight at all and the kids still carry high GPAs.

5

Do not compare weighted GPAs across high schools, unless you know that the high schools use the same weighting system.