<p>Recently, I was talking to one of my friends whose uncle is an admissions officer at Harvard University. We got to the topic of GPAs and how our school figures them out. We then began talking about how colleges view GPAs.</p>
<p>In our school, 90-100 percent is 4 points in a regular class, 4.5 in an honors class, and a 5 in an AP class. Thus, 80-89 percent is a 3 in a regular class, 3.5 in an honors class, and a 4 in an AP class, and so on.</p>
<p>As most of us know, most colleges count an A- as a 3.7, even though it is an A. Anyways, my friend was saying that her uncle said that there's a way colleges find one's "true" GPA. To do this, they take all A-s, and change their weight to a 3.7, or whatever it would be on the scale. Is this true? If so, should I be worried? I do have all As, but a few of them are A-s. In my school, that's still a 4/4.5/5, but would it be lower once colleges do the calculation of the "true" GPA, assuming that it's real?</p>
<p>Some colleges do recalculate. If is their way of differentiating the A- studnet from the A student. They also strip any bonus points for honors and AP classes - they already consider that when looking at your list of classes, and how rigorous it is. </p>
<p>It’s not something to worry about - they are just using their own way of looking at your transcript. You school weights things their own way, for their own purposes. As far as your school is concerned, a 90 is as good as 100 when determining class rank, and honors, colleges want more delineation. The extra points for honor and AP classes are viewed the same way - you school feels that they are worth that much more, other schools give 5.0 and 6.0 for those classes. If you have a 4.7, how do you want them to compare you with someone who took all honors classes (and no AP) at such a school with an A- average which also comes out to 4.7, or who took some AP, but got a B (5 points) in each of those?</p>
<p>…and other colleges (e.g., Dartmouth) do not recalculate. There are over 2500 four-year colleges and universities in the U.S.; they don’t all do the same thing.</p>
<p>But I think CTScoutmom is exactly right: there’s no sense in fretting about this. Any college or university is going to scrutinize your transcript, because your transcript is an exceedingly important part–perhaps the most important part–of your transcript. Some colleges may examine it in the way you described; others may not. But every college will examine it closely.</p>
<p>If you are talking about an absolute GPA that can perfectly and accurately measure candidates from varying schools, then I think it is more of a myth. Unlike SATs which are completely standardized and absolute, GPA calculation tends to vary from school to school.
For example, my schools weights them like this:</p>
<p>and here’s the weighting:
A in Standard = 4.0 (B = 3.0) (C = 2.0) and so on.
A in Honors = 5.0 (B = 4.0) (C = 3.0) and so on.
A in AP = 6.0 (B = 5.0) (C = 4.0) and so on.</p>
<p>The grading system between our schools vary a lot, which means that a wGPA at my school may not be the wGPA at your school.
Not to mention that there are some schools where there is rampart inflation, to the point that a 4.5 will not even get you in the top 20%, or some where extreme deflation happens, which means that someone with a 4.1 will likely be a valedictorian.
There is also the fact that the classes offered between two schools may be highly different, so how would you compare kid A, who has taken 2 AP courses, which is all his school offers, with kid B, who has taken 12 AP courses, while his school offers 20?
Not to mention that as said before, some schools may be harder than others. Sometimes even teachers at the same school have different expectations. This is exactly why SAT/ACT scores and class rank are also important to adcoms. Basically, even though all grades are given equally, some are more equal than others.</p>
<p>At least some of us guys think there’s no way to predict whether recalculating GPA would have any effect on your chances, and no point in stewing over it.</p>
<p>You are who you are. Your transcript is your transcript. Apply to college. Present yourself in the best light you can. As long as you have a suitable list of colleges–including good safeties that you like and your family can afford–there’s no point in obsessing about the things you can’t control.</p>