<p>other posters have mentioned that the schools in California have an idiosyncratic way of calculating GPA, such that a very high percentage of students come out w/ 4.0 GPAs-- reflecting honors and AP courses. So you really need to go out further on the GPA Axis close to 4.0 to get a real picture of the relevant hurdle rate that needs to be cleared (and given that GPA is viewed much more importantly by the UC schools). But parchment is using Unweighted GPA in their measure. It is weighted GPA that is supposed to add in all the goodie points for AP and honors classes. So is the graph for the UCs really using a weighted measure of GPA rather than unweighted? Does California add in honors and AP courses where As were earned and call that part of the Unweighted GPA?</p>
<p>As an aside, I always get a chuckle when i see the Weighted GPAs of 5.6, 5.8 and occasionally even a 6.0 listed.</p>
<p>UC and CSU have a specific method of calculating admissions GPA described here:
[url=<a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU]CSUMentor</a> - Plan for College - High School Students - GPA Calculator<a href=“the%20main%20difference%20between%20UC%20and%20CSU%20is%20that%20UC%20does%20not%20use%2012th%20grade%20course%20grades,%20while%20CSU%20does%20if%20they%20are%20available”>/url</a></p>
<p>Basically, honors or AP courses get +1, but only up to 8 semesters’ worth of courses. So a student taking all honors or AP courses would likely get a +0.33 GPA increase for UC and CSU purposes (assuming 6 year-long courses per year = 12 semester grades per year = 24 total grades for 10th and 11th grades, so 8 extra honors or AP points will give a +0.33 GPA increase).</p>
<p>So 3.6 unweighted GPA probably means a 3.93 UC admissions GPA, if the grades were distributed evenly. If the grades were not distributed evenly, then the discarding of 9th grade course grades could result in a higher or lower UC admissions GPA on that basis. Applicants to Berkeley or UCLA with a UC admissions GPA of less than 4.0 did not have a good chance of admission a few years ago.</p>
<p>thx ucb, I gotta assume, at least for UCB and UCLA, parchment is calling the UC calculated admissions GPA an Unweighted GPA for their graphing purposes. It would explain the very heavy skew of GPA data points between 3.9 and 4.0. Really gets to be a headscratcher when there are different formulas for both unweighted and weighted GPAs. Some count honors classes, some don’t. Some count AP more than honors. Some give a different weight to IB courses. Some give still another weight and college credit to a class taken at a local college as part of a H.S. advanced course, but only if one actually commuted to that campus and took the course there sitting in class w/the college students (not merely following the same exact curriculum and testing at the student’s H.S. itself).</p>
<p>Pleaseadvise, I think Naviance would be a better measure of how competitive your d was, regardless of parchment. On Naviance, were there students at her high school accepted with equal and lower gpa, and equal and lower scores? That will give you a good indication of how competitive your d was. </p>
<p>I see no surprises; I really think your d was in range and helped by being full pay oos. Nevertheless, great schools. Congratulations on the product of her hard work!</p>
<p>I know this is still just quibbling over words, but I think there’s a difference between “is this a hook?” and “will this help me get admitted?” So, for example, being able to donate a million dollars is a hook–while having started your own charity will help you get admitted.</p>
<p>Maybe winning a major prize is a hook–but winning a bunch of small ones isn’t, although it sure might help you. Being a recruited athlete is a hook–but being a non-recruited athlete may still help you get in.</p>
<p>I agree completely with Hunt’s usage of the words, which is why it’s hard for me to think that much other than legacy / URM / recruited athlete / development candidate are “hooks.”</p>
<p>A physical disability related to the the hands and nautical skills combined with a very competitive nature - see major character in Peter Pan - would surely be groomed by HYP for Wall Street. :)</p>
<p>pleaseadvise, parchment.com relies on self-reported stats. While they clearly ask for unweighted GPA, and might also ask for weighted GPA, it’s unlikely that they ask for “UC GPA”. Which means that what they’re showing on their UCB and UCLA scattergrams is unweighted GPA covering at least 9th-11th grade, if not also first semester of 12th. UC GPA doesn’t count 9th or 12th grade and doesn’t count many non-academic courses. UC GPA can often exceed 4.0. Bottom line is that parchment isn’t a definitive place for drawing conclusions about UC admissions policies. </p>
<p>thumper, even now I’m sure that some high school student is plotting on how to snag a Nobel prize so as to have a sure-thing hook. ;)</p>
<p>Being full pay as an out of state student at a public university really does help!! Not a “hook” but certainly an asset in admissions. The schools NEED the money.</p>