My school gives us a calculator to use for our GPA scores, but mine is showing up as a 2.9. I was shocked and stressed about this because I’ve only gotten a couple of Cs throughout my year and a half here. I went to my guidance counselor and she told me that the GPA was usually always off and that I shouldn’t worry about what the calculator says. But I’d really like to know what it is know so I can see where I’m at.
For freshman year, I took almost all honors classes (I took honors geometry for the first quarter but switched out because it was too much to handle), and same for sophomore, except I’m taking regular algebra 2 and chemistry. I take an agriscience class which is a program within our school for people who want to pursue careers/education in those fields, and those classes go towards college credits through UCONN (my state college) so I’d assume they count that class as honors.
Anyways, my gpa freshman year was 3.2 and my current sophomore gpa is 2.9 (midterms are next week and I hope to raise my grades with those).
So what would my overall gpa be?
There is no standard way to calculate GPA so no one here can really help you. The reason is that scales are different and the classes that go toward GPA can differ by school. It sounds like your HS Counselor does not understand how to calculate it in your own school? That makes no sense… he/she should be able to clearly show you how to calculate it. Also, if there is a HS handbook posted, that should explain it so you can figure it out for yourself.
Do you get letter grades, A/B/C/D and F?
Yes, do you need this to be able to calculate it?
The best way to calculate your GPA based on the A/B/C scale is use the following guide:
A= 4 points
B= 3 points
C= 2 points
D= 1 point
F= 0 points
Most colleges will look at your academic classes so for you academic GPA, use all class grades and exclude PE/Health type classes from your calculation. For your cumulative GPA, you can add these in.
Count up all the A’s, B’s, C’s etc… and multiply by the correct points.
Then divide by the # of class grades and you have your unweighted GPA. Weighted GPA will be different and each HS does it differently, but the unweighted GPA is used by most colleges to give you an indication of where you stand.
For example:
10 A’s x4 =40 points
5 B’s x3= 15 points
3 C’s x2= 6 points
Total= 61 points/18 grades= 3.38 or 3.4
This will also depend on if the classes are yearlong or 1/2 year.
Unweighted on 4 point scale: A = 4 , B = 3, C = 2, D = 1
SUM(credits x points)/total credits
Normally .5 credit for semester and 1 credit for year. In college you use credit hours
So if you made 2 A’s, 2 B’s, and a C, all .5 credits it would be (.5x4 + .5x4 + .5x3 + .5x3 + .5x2)/2.5 = 3.2 GPA
It’s more complicated if schools adjust for plus/minus grades or numerical grades.
Yeah, my school does go by plus/minus. They add .05 to each value for honors classes for the weighted gpa.
In my 3 semesters, I’ve gotten 2 As, 5 Bs, 2 Cs, and 1 D (the class I dropped last year) and this year isn’t over yet. So what would my gpa be (unweighted) and how can I raise this with the semester I have left this year and then my 11th grade year coming up? I obviously can tell that the Ivies are quite out of the picture (I’ve dreamt of going to one since I was little), but how do I raise my chances now…I’m so stressed about all of this
Do not use your school’s weighting system to figure out if you are competitive for colleges, since each college will weight your classes based on their own weighting criteria. Go by the unweighted GPA.
(2 x 4) + (5 x 3) + (2 x 2) + (1 X1)= 8+15+4+1/10= 2.8 unweighted GPA
You can use this calculator to try and determine how much you can raise your GPA within the next 3 semesters prior to applying to colleges.
http://gpacalculator.net/how-to-raise-gpa/
Geez…that’s terrible. Is there any way to get that up past a competitive level standard over the next year or so?? I’m prepared to do whatever it takes. I want to get into CSU, ASU, Cornell (vet program), UNC Chapel Hill, Syracuse etc. (CSU and ASH have already automated-emailed me from CollegeBoard because of my PSAT scores being on there)
Here is another calculator to show if it is possible to a Specific GPA by Junior year:
http://www.collegesimply.com/gpa-calculator/raise-gpa-from-2.8-to-3.4/
Other than ASU and Cornell, I am not familiar with rest of the schools of interest. If you are an Arizona resident, ASU is definitely possible. Cornell not possible.
All of the other schools are state schools (CSU is Colorado state, UNC is univ. of North Carolina). I want to be a vet , run my own animal kennel (like a place where you put your animal in for the weekend you are going away) because they make a lot of money…and I love animals, or become a dentist.
But never in a million years did I think my gpa would be that low. That’s a bummer. I live in Connecticut, my cousin attended ASU but transferred to a dental school last semester.
- Running a kennel where you are not treating animals, does not require a Veterinary license/degree. If you plan to run such a business, a Business degree with some courses in Animal Science should be sufficient.
- Applying to OOS public schools will be expensive. Since you are not a state resident, you will be paying OOS fees so you need to check with your parents regarding costs. ASU is around $42K/year as an OOS student.
- If you plan to pursue Vet School, you want to keep your undergraduate costs at a minimum so staying in-state and looking for affordable schools would be a priority. Vet school will be expensive.
- Right now, you need to work on getting your grades up in the next 3 semesters. Do not worry about specific colleges. Once you have completed your Junior year, have taken the SAT and/or ACT, you will have a better handle on what type of schools will be best to apply.
Just work hard on getting those grades up. Community college for 2 years and then transferring into a choice college is always an option.
Good Luck.