Most
students think a lot about GPA in high school. There’s no doubt that
GPA is one of the most important pieces of information colleges will
consider in your application. However, it can vary drastically in the
way it’s calculated at different schools. Some high schools use
unweighted GPAs and some use weighted GPAs.
What is GPA?
In simple , GPA stands for Grade point average. Bytheway if you still wanted to know about GPA checkout this YouTube Video.
Weighted GPA
Weighted GPA is often employed by high schools to better represent students’ academic accomplishments. Weighted
GPA takes into account course difficulty rather than providing the same
letter grade to GPA conversion for every student. Usually, weighted GPA is measured on a scale of 0 to 5.0,
Weighted GPA Scale And gpa weighted scale , although some scales go up higher. An A in an Honors or AP class may
translate into a 5.0 weighted GPA, while an A in a low level class will
give you a 4.0 weighted GPA. Many schools also have mid-level classes
where the highest weighted GPA you can earn is a 4.5.
Calculate GPA Weight On GPA Weighted Scale
So with all this in mind, how do you calculate your weighted GPA? It’s pretty easy if you know your grades so far in high school and the levels of classes you’ve taken. The
simplest way to translate grades into weighted GPA is to follow the gpa weighted scale for low level classes, add 0.5 to the unweighted scale
for mid level classes, and add 1.0 to the unweighted scale for high
level classes.
Here’s the gpa weighted scale for reference:
Grade
GPA
A+
4.0
A
4.0
A-
3.7
B+
3.3
B
3.0
B-
2.7
C+
2.3
C
2.0
C-
1.7
D+
1.3
D
1.0
F
0.0
First Semester Freshman Year
Class
Level
Letter Grade
Unweighted GPA
Weighted GPA
1
Mid
B+
3.3
3.8
2
Mid
B
3.0
3.5
3
Mid
B
3.0
3.5
4
Low
A
4.0
4.0
5
Low
A-
3.7
3.7
The weighted GPA for this semester is the average of all the numbers in the last column. Your first semester freshman year weighted GPA would be a 3.7. For the second semester, let’s say you continued to take the same level classes but improved your grades.
Weighted GPA is a way for high schools to create a measure of academic achievement that takes into account the difficult of a student’s course load and not just his or her grades alone. On a weighted GPA scale, GPAs typically range from 0 to 5.0, with a 5.0 representing all As in the highest level classes. Weighted
GPA is important to take into consideration because it gives you a way
to gage your progress throughout high school based on both grades AND
willingness to take on intellectual challenges.
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