<p>Have a HS Junior... new at this. Why would a college prefer a nonweighted GPA?
Seems like they are penalizing bright kids. A "B" in AP Calc is just not the same
as an "A" in standard Calc :/</p>
<p>From what I have seen, what they ultimately care about is unweighted gpa, and weighted rank. If you search a bit, you’ll find that there is a lot of information available on this. Here are a couple links that I think describe it fairly well:</p>
<p>[Weighted</a> GPA, Unweighted GPA, Class Rank, and College Admission|Educational Consultant and College Planner | Great College Advice](<a href=“Weighted GPA, Unweighted GPA, Class Rank, and College Admission | Great College Advice”>Weighted GPA, Unweighted GPA, Class Rank, and College Admission | Great College Advice)</p>
<p>[Weighted</a> or Unweighted GPA?|Educational Consultant and College Planner | Great College Advice](<a href=“Weighted GPA or Unweighted GPA? | Great College Advice”>Weighted GPA or Unweighted GPA? | Great College Advice)</p>
<p>Colleges generally don’t use weighted GPA because each school calculates it differently. They use UW GPA and the strength of the students schedule to judge the grades.</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies. It seems like they use weighted GPAs for admittance (yay) via classrank etc, but when it comes to $$, its unweighted. So unless your kid gets all As in Honors and AP classes, it doesnt matter what his ACT score is…If you check, every level of $$ awards have the same unweighted GPA, 3.7 or 3.8… with no nod to rigorous coursework. I dont know what all this chatter is about the well- rounded student.
My kid could have a 31 ACT and 3.6 unweighted GPA ( 4 AP or Honors classes each yr)
and get NO money. HE can get in about anywhere he wants but now we have to pay for it ALL. stinks.</p>
<p>If you’re talking about merit aid, as opposed to need-based aid, there are a couple of principles to bear in mind, no matter what your GPA or standardized test scores:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Many of the most selective colleges and universities in this country don’t give any merit aid; most of them give only need-based aid. There are some exceptions, of course, but this is the case in a lot of the country’s elite institutions.</p></li>
<li><p>Most of the colleges and universities that do give merit aid give it only to applicants at the very top of their applicant pool. If you’re looking for merit aid, it’s not enough to be good enough to get in. You need to be so good that the college or university thinks you’ll be likely to go elsewhere unless they offer you money. Often this means being around the top 10% of a college’s pool of freshman applicants.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>^ Well said.</p>
<p>Thanks, it makes sense that they are trying to “lure” the best of the best. So…
one last question… is that his GPA at time of Application? ( thru Jr. year)
Or are the Merit Scholarships thru colleges through Senior Year?</p>
<p>How much time does He have to pull it up to 3.8?? 
Thanks.</p>
<p>Most merit awards–at least, most of the really sizable ones that I know of–are institutional. That is, colleges and universities (occasionally other organizations) offer them according to their own standards and procedures, so there won’t be a one-size-fits-all answer to your question. </p>
<p>But I don’t think 3.8 is any kind of magic cut-off. Moreover, in terms of basic math, it’s very hard to move your GPA much when you’re over 3.5 with very few semesters left. </p>
<p>Of course your son should work for the best grades he can get for the rest of high school, but if you’re hunting for merit aid, you’re more likely to succeed if you take his stats and go looking for colleges that are likely to offer him a scholarship than if you start with a list of colleges and try to make him look like what they’re looking for. JMO. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC App</p>