UC GPA counterintuitive -- more classes = lower GPA

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

I hadn’t played with the UC GPA calculator before, so I just noticed that if you get mostly As, then taking more classes only serves to lower your UC GPA. The 6 period day at DS’s high school that I’ve complained about is probably optimized to let kids get higher UC GPAs, right? Since only 5 of each year’s classes are probably a-g courses (toss out health and PE), the 8 weighted semesters raise the average more if there are fewer classes overall. So, taking a 7th class at the community college (or a 0 period class, or a summer class) is actually counterproductive for UC admission.

Interesting… Maybe it balances out with consideration for course rigor? They don’t ever look at the fully weighted GPA, right? CalPoly has that complicated computation where they give extra points for more classes in certain subjects, so maybe it’s a benefit there?

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UCLA and UCB will look at the fully weighted GPA and Cal Poly SLO’s MCA score system tops the GPA out at 4.2, but you get the most bonus points for the extra Science and Math classes taken.