<p>I see a lot of people saying that their UC GPA is 4.5 or higher. If only 8 semester of weighted courses are counted, and only 10th and 11th grades are counted into GPA, isn't the max UC GPA like 4.33? Am I doing something wrong in calculations? :O</p>
<p>If someone took only 4 a-g courses each semester in 10 and 11, got an A in each, and had the max 8 semesters of AP/IB/Honors extra credit, then they would have a 4.5 UC GPA. Any higher number of courses and the average MUST go down.</p>
<p>Doesn’t the max GPA vary from high school to high school then? I mean my high school requires 6 courses per year, no less, but I know some other schools that allow students to take only 5. Do UCs consider your high school’s system at all?</p>
<p>Yes they do. One school may have students with high average GPAs but who perform poorly when admitted to Cal, another may have lower average GPAs but those students who are accepted get much better grades at Cal. That is why they admit in the context of the high school - knowing the patterns and history as well as rules that may be in place such as yours that limits classes to 5.</p>
<p>They are looking way beyond a simple number. They look at the rigor and difficulty of the classes, the amount of work you did, the other activities you pursued, any special passions or talents, many things are involved. Cal (and UCLA) use holistic admissions practices to look at the complete picture, while the other campuses deal much more rigidly and simplistically with GPAs and other stats.</p>