Do colleges generally look at your GPA on a 4.0 scale or on a 100-pt scale? Or both??
It depends on how it’s reported on your transcript. For example, my school only puts letter grades on the transcript, so it’s impossible to take the GPA out of 100.
Unless a college tells you to recalculate your GPA (e.g. UC), they look at the scale that is used by your HS.
@skieurope is that usually the case? I found the College Board’s GPA converter scale. I had assumed that that is (or is close) to the scale which colleges use. 100-97=4.0, 96-93=4.0, 92-90=3.7, etc. And then I figured colleges might add their own weighting to HS course. Reg HS = Grade; Honors = Grade +x%; AP = Grade + y%; and College = Grade + Z%. No?
@NewEngParent Some colleges (and a distinct minority, IMO) might recalculate on their own; some might not. Some might weight courses; some might not. Few colleges will reveal what they do, but you can certainly ask. Personally, I file it under “it is what it is.”
thanks
Your HS will have a “school profile” that explains how grades work at your HS.
Also, an anecdote:
My daughter moved schools after her sophomore year. The first high school was the US News #1 STEM public magnet school with a 0-100 grading system. We moved internationally for work, so the second was a German International School with an IB program that has a 0-7 grading system. We never knew what her 4.0 scale GPA was. Colleges admitted her anyway and gave her merit scholarships. The only glitch we had was our State Public U that had an automated system for scholarships based on self-reported data. An email to admissions cleared that up and she was also awarded merit.
My point is, don’t worry about it, the colleges figure it out.