what does "weighted gpa" even mean on these forums?

<p>my school uses a standard 4.0 GPA system, but AP or IB classes (school does not have honors) are given one "quality point" so A=5, B=4, C=3, D=2, F=0. You don't get anything for advanced/intensified classes that aren't ap or ib, you only get the point with taking the ap/ib exam. This means that the highest GPA anybody can realistically get is around a 4.5 taking the max course load with straight As. The school simply uses this as their "cumulative GPA" and does not report weighted or unweighted. I would imagine that generally, somebody with a 3.5 "unweighted" might have a 3.8 or so "weighted"
But i see people on here with, let's say, a 3.5 unweighted and a 4.3 weighted, which would be impossible unless the vast majority of one's classes were AP/IB (impossible if you include fresh/sophomore years).
Do these schools assign a higher gpa value for classes that are harder in general, or do most schools weight in the same way mine does?</p>

<p>All schools weight differently. In our local HS you get an extra 10% for honors and an extra 20% for AP. Both GPAs are reported.</p>

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what does "weighted gpa" even mean on these forums?

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absolutely nothing. There is no standardized process for weighting GPA. It often is rather important in a local context (because it usually determines class rank), but on CC, usually the UW GPA is what you should report/pay attention to. Granted, every school even calculates that differently, but overall UW GPA is the only thing on CC that can give you an idea of an applicant's academic record at a glance.</p>