I have been reading some old threads and saw many emphasized on unweighted GPA.
If we are not talking admission to Ivies, wouldn’t it be better, for the purpose of merit-aid, for a student to get an A in a non-AP course than taking a B in an AP course?
I understand some colleges, such as U of Alabama, will take whatever is written in the transcript, but is it even the norm?
If there are hard GPA cutoffs for scholarships you’re interested in, you should take the hardest classes possible while staying above the cutoffs. Taking all regular classes is not a good strategy unless you just want a scholarship at a less-selective numbers-oriented college.
I’ve heard this before and I wonder what it actually means. I’m sure they don’t consider, say, a 4.5/6.0 weighted GPA with a bunch of Bs on the transcript to be better than a 4.0/4.0 unweighted from a high school that didn’t calculate weighted GPAs?
@halcyonheather - I contacted U of Alabama, and was told that they looked at the GPA reported on the transcript for scholarship determination.
The problem is that the kid is junior and we have not decided on the list…I knew the reason for staying in the hardest classes, but I am not sure the impact on scholarship with a lower unweighted GPA.
Many colleges will evaluate the transcript for course rigor for acceptance. Taking non-AP classes vs. other students taking the APs may make a difference in course rigor rating. Some colleges will also do their own weighting of courses. I don’t think just taking the highest GPA on the transcript is the norm.
YMMV. There are plenty of colleges that recompute the GPA.
Remember, there are tons of different formulas for computing GPA as well as weighted GPA. Some schools recompute to even the field.
@annamom from my understanding, for most state schools GPA is a king, and one should protect it, for ex. take non-AP class (preferably honors) if AP course would result in a worse grade; for private colleges - AP with a lower grade is better since it shows student is not afraid to challenge themselves and possible scholarships from privates (not elite ones that don’t give merit aid as a rule) would take that into account. Of course it is hard to predict grades in AP vs honors courses because it depends on a teacher, student learning style, engagement when class is too easy and boring, and if you don’t stretch yourself how would you know if you’re capable to succeed, etc. Here, people are always in favor of AP courses, I’d say it depends on a student and for in-state schools protecting your GPA is more important. Even in 11th grade you should have some idea what colleges to target next year: state vs private, and go from there.