What is the deal with GPA's?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hey guys. I keep hearing different variations in regard to GPA's. Some say an "A" means 90-100, and therefore, if your average is above a 90, then you have a 4.0 UW (Btw, I am only discussing UW GPA's, seeing as my school does not weigh GPA's, regardless of the course). Others say and A+ , which is a 95-99 is a 4.0. But my college guidance said that we had to calculate GPA's by the 4 method, meaning that whatever our composite average was, we had to take that and multiply it by 4, then divide it by a 100. So, with my 96.7 average, I'd only end up with a 3.87! That's totally unfair. How do so many people have 3.9's and 4.0's? I'm in every honors course, and I work pretty darn hard....I want to get into a nice college! I haven't got a B in my life!</p>

2

<p>Either colleges will recalculate your UW GPA or they won’t recalculate and just use the raw GPA provided (along with, of course, the grades and course information themselves).</p>

<p>Think of it this way: your school’s system will typically not be the reason for your rejection/acceptance, especially not from Harvard.</p>

3

<p>Look at the form for the school report. Not only will your GPA be listed there but also the GC will include information on the system used by that high school. The GC will also address the academic rigor of your coursework and your GPA in context of the rest of your graduating class.</p>

4

<p>@ Viviste: But my school doesn’t rank, or weigh GPA’s. So what other academic references can a college use?</p>

5

<p>@smoda61 : To what school report are you referring?</p>

6

<p>^ Take a look at the school report form. It will give you a feel for the information they request.</p>

<p>edit: let me look OM</p>

7

<p>I don’t quite understand…?</p>

8

<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>take a look at the secondary school report form and the midyear report. Both of these are submitted prior to their decision.</p>

9

<p>Don’t worry about your unweighted GPA. It’s a contrived means for colleges to provide a rough approximation of where their class of 20XX stands, for the public. You’ve got straight A’s - as long as you haven’t flunked any AP tests of classes you’ve taken or demonstrated in any other way your grades are inflated, you’re covered academically. Harvard shan’t reject you for thine high school’s weird system.</p>

10

<p>Don’t worry too much over your gpa. Admission offices realize that schools calculate things differently so most colleges will pay more attention to the actual grades not the gpa. The gpa matters most when colleges have to provide their admission statistics.</p>