Hi.
I’m a rising senior filling out the common app and I was wondering if I should list my weighted GPA and rank or simply unweighted. I started freshman year attending an online school that didn’t offer advanced classes so that year’s stats are unweighted. Sophomore year I transferred to a public school and began taking all the advanced classes I could get my hands on. Still, I won’t be at the top of my class rank-wise and my GPA isn’t a 5.0. So… Should I list weighted or unweighted?
Thanks!
P.S. I did mention these circumstances in my additional info section.
My recommendation is to list unweighted, and then explain your weighted and your rank in the additional info.
The CommonApp support info (Knowledgebase- Reporting Class Rank and GPA) states:
“If your school calculates both weighted and unweighted Class Rank/GPA, report the weighted value.”
Admissions offices will recalculate applicants’ GPAs based on what they want to pull from transcripts to make comparisons easier. Otherwise it can seem like apples versus orange. Depending on how ‘holistic’ the review is, explaining the transfer might be helpful, but your guidance counselor can do that in a recommendation. BTW many 9th graders cannot take weighted classes so you aren’t at a terrible disadvantage because of the online school.