I know that “outshine” is a very exaggerated word to use but here are my stats. (I’m a senior, btw.)
Unweighted GPA: 3.69
Weighted GPA: 4.58
Class rank: 63/278 (top 22%)
I’ve taken 7 AP’s so far, scores: (4,4,4,4,3,3,3.)
No. Many high schools do not weight anyway and college admissions staff are really good at evaluating the grades you got in the classes you took.
With some exceptions, weighted GPA means nothing outside the HS, since there is no standard. If there are multiple applicants from the same HS, the AO will note the different weighted GPAs. Otherwise they will look at UW and rigor.
Some colleges recalculate GPAs using their own formula too. So you might be evaluated by a different number altogether.
Basically your question boils down to the age old “Is it better to get a B in an AP class or an A in a regular one?”
Most colleges do not take HS weighted GPA at face value, since weighting method differ. If they did, South Carolina students would have a big advantage in college admission.
And the answer for the most selective colleges is always “A in the AP [or whatever is the hardest] class”.
I am a resident of South Carolina, actually.
A 4.58 HS GPA by the South Carolina scale ( https://ed.sc.gov/tests/tests-files/eocep-files/uniform-grading-policy-february-2018/ ) does not seem to be the kind of top-end academic performance that would give a reasonable chance of admission to the most selective colleges. Based on that scale, a top-end student in South Carolina would probably have a weighted HS GPA over 5.0.
The bolded is all the Adcoms need to see, and if its an Ivy adcom, you better have a BIG hook to get more than a cursory look. Sorry.
@VinSar21 what schools and majors are you considering?
I plan on getting a 1500 on the SAT’s. The schools I’m interested in are Georgia Tech, Duke, UNC Chappell Hill, the Ivys, and UC Irvine. Also several more I havent listed.
Come back when you have an actual SAT score.
I agree that it does not matter how your HS calculates weighted GPA, it matters how the colleges will interpret your GPA.
UC Irvine has a specific UC GPA calculation. They only use grades from the a-g courses taken 10-11th grades. They give extra weighting to UC approved Honors classes (in-state HS students only),AP, IB or DE courses taken during this time.
The UC’s look at 3 UC GPA’s: Unweighted, Capped Weighted (maximum of 8 honors points) and Fully weighted (unlimited honors points).
UC’s are currently test blind, so test scores will not be a consideration.
Here is the calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Below are 2019 admit rates for the Capped weighted UC GPA and not major specific. I have also posted the 2020 admit range for the Capped weighted UC GPA for UCI.
2019 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.40-3.79 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCI: 7%
2019 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCI: 35%
2019 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above capped weighted and not major specific:
UCI: 55%
**2020 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range: **
UCI: 4.11 (3.96-4.26)
I did the UC GPA calculator,
Unweighted: 3.72
Weighted: 4.28
Weighted Capped GPA: 4.00
So based on UC capped weighted, it puts in the 35% admit range which is considered a Low Reach depending upon major. You will also have a large price tag to attend at $65K/year with little to no financial aid since your out of state.
It depends upon the college. For scholarship purposes, it can depend upon that particular program. Some schools do seriously look at weighted Gpa along with unweighted, when assessing difficulty of curriculum
Also, the raw numbers are useless without a cap. 3.69 out of possible what? Same for the weighted. Class rank is also taken into consideration as well school profile.
Just curious, are you trying to understand how your grades would look to Princeton admissions?
The reach colleges will.look at the transcript, in detail. Not just GPA. Actual grades and in what classes.
A warning. The competition for the reaches will be fierce. Kids with solid rigor, 4.0, highest scores, plus challenging ECs, and more. All 5 scores on AP or nearly all. It’s that nuts. The fact you have 4 and 3 AP scores can be an issue.
Be sure you have happy, affordable matches and safeties.