What's the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?

[parakeety]

<p>I wa just wondering since I see it quite a bit on CC. Which one would matter more and why are they separated? </p>

[halcyonheather]

<p>Unweighted GPA ([source](<a href=“http://homeschoolroadmap.com/college-prep-glossary/]source[/url]):”>College Prep Glossary | Homeschooled & Headed for College by Denise Boiko)):</a>

Grade point average calculated with the assumption that all courses the student took will receive equal weight, with no extra points added for honors or Advanced Placement courses. Some colleges specifically ask for an unweighted GPA.

They’re kind of wrong here because courses that are worth different amounts of credit will not receive the same weight (a one-half-credit course won’t affect your GPA as much as a one-credit course), but the basic idea here is that the difficulty of your classes won’t matter as far as your unweighted GPA goes. Unweighted GPA is typically on a 4.0 scale, but it doesn’t have to be.</p>

<p>Weighted GPA (same source):

Grade point average calculated after adding extra points (“weight”) for honors or Advanced Placement courses. Typically this means that an A in these courses receives 5 points rather than 4 and a B receives 4 rather than 3, so the overall GPA can exceed 4.0.

Colleges generally won’t take either of these numbers at face value (especially weighted GPA), because some high schools offer more advanced classes than others, and different high schools calculate weighted GPA differently. You also shouldn’t compared weighted GPAs to unweighted GPAs, because they’re on different scales.</p>

[parakeety]

<p>Thanks for the info! </p>