unweighted gpa conversion to weighted

<p>My son has a 2.9 unweighted GPA. I hear U Mass adds .5 pts to an honors class. Weighted, the GPA becomes 3.01, an important change relative to some cut offs.</p>

<p>The high school he goes to only provides unweighted.

  1. How many colleges will recalculate it and
    2.how in the world do they practically manage to do that from hard copy transcripts? ( Maybe the answer is that it is by computer transfer… I have no idea…</p>

<p>Reentering all the data for a weighted GPA computation ( is that possible?)</p>

<p>I found a GPA computation tool at <a href=“http://www.iastate.edu/~registrar/gpa-calc/gpaCalculator.html[/url]”>http://www.iastate.edu/~registrar/gpa-calc/gpaCalculator.html</a>.</p>

<li>If our high school has a transcript column with 1 next to regular academic classes, .5 next to cooking type classes. .25 next to gym and so on…Are those types of differences sufficient resource if figured into the GPA calculaton along with the corresponding grades…is it the same as what colleges use to make sure computation is accurate?</li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

<p>While I don't know some of the things you ask (although I suspect there <em>is</em> a lot of manual data entry especially for state schools that have a formula for GPA), I would suggest that the GC (Guidance Counselor) letter or transcript should note what the transcript column designations mean and how they figure into the overall GPA, since there is so much variance among high school practices. Some applications offer a space below their "self-reported grades" section where an applicant can indicate any specifics about the levels of their classes or other important explanations.</p>

<p>i thought it was pretty obvious.....first, weigh yourself on your scale. Then, scoop up all of the grades that are strewn around the house into your arms and re-weigh. Subtract the first weight from the 2nd. And finally, divide by the number of grades and voila you will have your weighted GPA!</p>

<p>(sorry, its been a long week)</p>

<p>
[quote]
How many colleges will recalculate it

[/quote]
I don't think there's a handy answer to that but, based on what we learned at info sessions and here on cc, many do. It seems a herculean task and I don't know how they all do it (manual entry by clerical staff, etc.), but as I say, many do.</p>

<p>I think the only real source of info is to consult the actual colleges of interest to you. At the info sessions, perhaps on the websites (but I haven't seen this as much) or by calling the admissions office. Many, many will tell you that they don't really use the GPA <em>or</em> weighted GPA provided by the high school as they know there are so many variations in how the high schools do it. The selective schools we considered generally "throw out" everything but the academic core and then apply their own weighting system (for honors, AP) regardless of whether your hs uses the +.5 system, raise the grade system (B becomes an A), +30% system or whatever.</p>

<p>Some systems (the UCs in California, for instance) have a thoroughly publicized and clear UC-GPA calculation that you can replicate, but most don't seem to.</p>

<p>Most schools are going to re-weigh the calculations anyways - so the GPA is going to be a bit different than what you see on his high school transcript - they include the grades/weight of the major classes - and exclude the phys ed/cooking/electives usually - you may be able to find that info at their web sites - or by a t/c to the admissions office - as every high school seems to weight classes differently - so this somewhat standardizes things for all applicants.</p>

<p>Keep in mind also that your high school will be sending a ''school profile'' that explains the weighting system that they use - and info about the school also - so colleges have a pretty good picture of where the student is coming from.</p>