How much does unweighted/weighted GPA matter to schools like Duke?
My UNWEIGHTED GPA is a 3.75 (I’ve definitely gotten some B’s), but my WEIGHTED GPA is a 5.2 (Is this considered as a “high” GPA?)
I’ve definitely gone out of my way to take almost all the AP classes my school offers (Save for AP Art classes etc.) such as:
Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, Psychology, Chemistry, English Language & Composition, U.S History, Physics I, Physics II, Environmental Science, Music Theory, Human Geography, English Literature & Composition, U.S Government & Politics, Biology, Physics C: Mechanics, French Language & Culture
(That’s 17!!!)
I’ve definitely gone out of my way to take the most challenging courses at my school, but despite my weighted GPA (5.2), I feel like they won’t be able to look past my unweighted GPA (3.75). The only B’s I’ve gotten were during my Freshman and Sophmore years, I’ve worked incredibly hard to get straight A’s during my Junior and Senior years.
So, how much do schools really take in unweighted GPA vs unweighted GPA?
*Correction: the last line should be unweighted vs. weighted GPA
It’s not really a case of weighted versus unweighted.
They look at your grades (unweighted GPA) AND they take into account the difficulty level of the courses you took.
Effectively, they weight your GPA, if you want to think about it that way, but not necessarily the way that your HS did.
The answer is, it depends. Most selective colleges will look at your unweighted grades and the rigor of your curriculum and weight it themselves. Sometimes this weighting will have a specific formula and sometimes they just eyeball your courses and decide how rigorous the schedule was. If your school gives them a ranking based on the the weighted GPA, it can be helpful to be in the top 10% as colleges like to report that number. Some colleges don’t look at freshman grades at all and many will give you some leeway for B’s freshman year if you are otherwise an attractive candidate. Some colleges will use the school reported weighted GPA no matter how whacky it is, and it can be important for merit scholarships and the like. It’s fine to take the most demanding schedule you can, but you should be aware there’s a bit of diminishing returns taking so many APs. You might do better to go more in depth in the areas that really interest you, or spend more time on ECs.
Also, some schools recalculate your GPA after throwing out your non-core courses (like PE perhaps). Others may ignore freshman year.