<p>It's not really the same thing as grade deflation. In my school, playing a sport, taking an elective, or taking any music, communications, or fine arts activity is considered a "class" on your transcript. Meaning, you actually get a grade for being on the basketball team and an A in basketball counts as a 4.0 (which I think is pretty stupid since they're supposed to be EC's).</p>
<p>Also, in my school, you can only take 3 AP/Honors classes a year. </p>
<p>This is what worries me. First of all, due to the "3 AP a year" restriction, no one can possibly get above a 4.43 for their weighted GPA - and that's IF that student doesn't do any EC's at school whatsoever because EC's have their own GPA. Needless to say, there are no "Honors" or AP Band, Choir, Journalism, etc., so you can't exactly get a 5.0 if you have an A. This drags down a student's GPA. Two students can take 3 AP's and get straight A's, but student A can be in a sport and band but can only get a 4.33 GPA max while student B can be in no ECs whatsoever and get a 4.43.</p>
<p>Will student A's involvement in EC's hurt his/her chances because of the lowered GPA?</p>
<p>Colleges aren’t going to care about a slightly lower GPA because you’re participating in extra-curricular activities. Also, I think you can include in your supplement how the GPA system at your school works.</p>
<p>IMO, the three AP/Honors limit is kind of pointless. You can, however, take as many AP exams as you wish (at a different location), and the school cannot prevent you from doing that.</p>
<p>The system is messed up, only 3 APs allowed? Anyhow, it seems like that system would be most impactful to a person’s rank, giving the person with no ECs the benefit. However, top colleges do not count EC gpas when re-calculating and they are sent a profile describing the weighting system in your school so your transcript will be evaluated in that context.</p>
<p>My daughter attends a small private school that offers only a few AP classes. I’ve asked a similar question to recruiters. They said that they evaluate your transcript based on your high schools profile. You are not penalized for going to a smaller school with fewer honors/AP classes.</p>
<p>"Many colleges use their own weighting schemes and disregard the high school’s weighting. " - Blueash</p>
<p>Exactly - colleges will recalculate your gpa. Pay attention to your class rank, more than your gpa. If you are doing well in your academic classes, you will be fine on the gpa part of your college apps.</p>