<p>No, I am not an idiot. I am serious.</p>
<p>I've heard from some people that an unweighted GPA calculates honors and AP credits, but no +'s and -'s.</p>
<p>I've heard others say an unweighted GPA calculates no honors and AP credits, but does calculate +'s and -'s.</p>
<p>And, what I've been familiar with at my school, the GPA calculates no honors and AP credit, and also no +'s and -'s, meaning the maximum GPA is a 4.0. This is what I've standardly heard...but others seem to have suggested otherwise.</p>
<p>So, when colleges refer to an unweighed GPA...which of these options do they mean?</p>
<p>It depends on the college. I'm serious. Unweighted GPA as you might traditionally think with an A = 4.0, B=3.0, etc. There is variation between colleges on whether or not they go further than this. Some don't include freshman year at all. Some have formulas for +'s or -'s (since some highs schools do). People who traditionally list "unweighted" GPA just pretend as if all their classes were regular classes.</p>
<p>Different high schools do it different ways. One of the most common ways is.</p>
<p>Regular course: A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, etc.</p>
<p>IB, AP, Honors course: A = 5.0, B = 4.0, C = 3.0, etc.</p>
<p>At most of those schools, if you get a D or F in an IB/AP/Honors course, it is NOT weighted up.</p>
<p>And many colleges take your grades and reweight them according to their own personal standards.</p>
<p>BTW, most high schools don't screw around with +'s and -'s, and colleges are even less likely to care because they don't know unless it was on the transcript.</p>