Also, A+ is also a 4.0 on an unweighted scale - same as A. The reason for looking at unweighted gpa is that schools all calculate weighted gpa’s differently. I left “D” grades off (hopefully no one has those) but I think a “D” is a 1.0 and a D+ is a 1.3.
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Do all kids who say they have a 4.0 GPA have at least a 93 in all classes? It’s certainly possible because there are super talented kids out there. I was surprised that it took a 96 average grade to get into the Jr. NHS at our kids’ school.
Just saw that the President and CFO or Albertsons/Safeway Stores and previously CFO of Best Buy went to Univ of Central Oklahoma. It’s the same alma mater as the CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America.
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Our school only counts an A+ as a 4.0 - A is a 3.7 and an A- is a 3.4. It means D22’s GPA is going to look much lower than it actually is if she takes it straight from the report card (it’s still between 3.8 & 3.9). So someone with a 93 average at our school as noted above would only have about a 3.4 GPA, whereas at other school that would be a 4.0.
I don’t know. At our school to have an unweighted 4.0 you would have to have an “A” in every class (other than electives which are not calculated as part of gpa). An “A” is a 93 or better - they don’t give out A+. Some schools might award an “A” grade for something less than 93 but I don’t know of any personally.
I believe at our school a 4.0 is 90% and higher. They might only give while numbers? I should double check that though.
Ours has an A as 93 and up and that is a 4.0. A+ is also 4.0. Weighted classes are only weighted by 0.5 which seems lower than most.
I think we’re putting the essay on hold for a few days. The goal is the end of the month. I may suggest he talk to one of his English teachers for some help.
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My D has put together a spreadsheet with her colleges’ deadlines, majors, and requirements. Neither of my kids wanted help from their parents with their essays. My S asked his AP Lang teacher to read his. My D22 is having a woman who reviews essays professionally review hers.
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Are you entering grades in the Courses and Grades section?
It accepts 0-100, 0.0-4.0, A-F (with plus and minus), and other scales, selected in the Grading Scale question. I’m confused on why grades need to be converted.
Also be aware that it wants grades as it appears on the transcript. D22 receives a quarterly report card, but the transcript only has a single final grade per class, so that’s all that needs to be entered in the Common App.
Use this grid to report your courses exactly as they appear on your transcript
Only report what is displayed on your transcript. Do not add, average, or estimate. This must match your official transcript.
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Our HS grades are 90+ A; 80+B etc. so our kid’s 4.0 is less impressive from a similar HS who’s A is 93+. The colleges know what each school does from GC reports I’m sure considers accordingly
We only get a weighted GPA. The colleges we know calculate a GPA and consider course rigor. My S22 was far from making all As but we focused on rigor for stronger teachers, students and material. Hopefully it pays off.
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Good to know you can enter grades in various formats.
Even though I’ve been down this road twice before, I’ve officially had my fill already of the questions from relatives and friends as to S22’s “favorite” colleges or asking where he wants to go. Sure, he has 2-3 three schools he’d list as his favorites right now. But that will likely change by the time all applications are in, and it certainly does not mean he will be admitted to them all or that we’ll want to pay for them.
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Yes! It’s such an innocent question and people really are curious because it’s an exciting time. My canned answer, “he’s pretty clueless right now” pretty much mirrors my son’s answer, “I have no idea.” When pressed, I usually say he’s applying to 15 schools and it’s a crap shoot 
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The worst are the people who know exactly where S22 should go to college. We are chasing merit, and will yet fail others’ expectations. It doesn’t help that we live in an area where “good college” = HYPSM + selected few.
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Same feeling here.
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The HS transcript here lists unweighted and weighted GPA and the question on the Common App for cumulative GPA can be checked as weighted or unweighted. Which one is better to list? 3.67 UW or 4.43 W?
I’d probably put weighted, but it really won’t matter, IMHO. There are so many different weighting schemes, and rigor matters, that AO’s will look at your transcript - grades and courses - and proceed in a standard way for all applicants. They’re not going to assume my D’s 5.18 is “better” because it’s a higher number.
Similar to smiles2122, it seems that for many of my S22 safeties/targets is has to be >15 AP/IB courses to trigger an ‘excellent’ rating, which seems unrealistic. The threshold for Stanford was 27, MIT was 33 
I suppose to stand out in that crowd that would be necessary, but pretty impossible for mere mortals.
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Rich, your comment somehow reminds me of this scene from Spinal Tap.
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@RichInPitt Thank you for that information!!! S22 did not realize he could switch the grading scale to A-F.