<p>Do they just look at the core classes like English, Social Studies, Math, and Science, (and maybe language) and then just calculate your GPA from there? Or do they look at everything, like music, tech, art, gym, and other electives? </p>
<p>So what I'm pretty much asking is if its a good idea to take classes that aren't required, but will interest me and most likely boost my GPA, because I'm not sure if colleges even look at stuff like that. I'm considering taking Java and maybe a music class next year, but I don't know if its a good idea.</p>
<p>I’m fairly certain that they only look at your zip code and phone number.</p>
<p>I think a lot of the competitive colleges calculate their own gpa based on core classes which would exclude things like gym. However, I don’t thinks that’s a reason not to take classes you’re interested in. You’ll find pursing your interests is one way of finding your “passion” that so many colleges seem interested in.</p>
<p>I agree with sadilly. Instead of taking AP math and science classes (because I’m horrible at math and science), I decided to take AP English and history classes, as well as journalism, newspaper, and creative writing classes. I love to write and I think it’s better to show your passion rather than grab at classes to boost your GPA. In my case, my passion was English, writing, and history, so I decided to show that instead rather than choose science and math classes that were WAY out of my league. </p>
<p>Truthfully, I think that’s what’s helped me so far in the college process.</p>
<p>This is one of many, many cases when you just can’t say, “Colleges do X.”</p>
<p>Some colleges and universities do recalculate your GPA using their own standard, as sadilly said. The University of California system does this in a pretty well documented, widely discussed way. Many other colleges and universities do the same thing; this approach is widely said to be favored by large public universities.</p>
<p>Some colleges and universities, on the other hand, don’t recalculate GPA at all. Dartmouth is an example. A couple of years ago, I saw the Dean of Admissions at Dartmouth say in a web video words to this effect (not these words, exactly, but words to this effect): We read a lot of transcripts. We’ve become very good at it. We read your transcript, noting both the grades you’ve earned and the nature of the classes you’ve taken. And then we move on to reading the rest of your application.</p>
<p>Kgoodwin, I think that’s the perfect approach in this matter. You want colleges to accept you based on who you are, and not on who you could pretend to be. If you’re strong in social studies and the humanities, and less so in science and math, then take the science and math that you need to take, and spend the rest of the time doing things you like that play to your personal strengths.</p>