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what's the difference? does this have anything to do with AP classes and subsequently higher GPAs because of them?

unrelated, but--what SAT IIs are the best bets to take? i know most of the time it depends on the college. however, since i have no idea where i'm going, which tests will fit most schools' criteria?

By Constellation35 (Constellation35) on Sunday, January 18, 2004 - 09:58 pm: Edit

Here in Florida, AP classes add two points. An A in AP counts as a 6.0. An honors class adds one point.

They put NO emphasis on unweighted GPA's here, so I assumed it didn't matter. But it does, and it ruined my chances at a lot of places I would have liked to attend.

By Anothersuitcase (Anothersuitcase) on Sunday, January 18, 2004 - 10:35 pm: Edit

Weighted grades are usually used by your high school to determine ranking (adding points to honors and AP classes, etc.), whereas colleges prefer using your unweighted GPA for admissions purposes.

I'm in Florida too, and it's ironic that a good friend of mine has a 4.6 weighted GPA and a 3.5 unweighted whereas I have a 4.4 GPA and a 3.9 unweighted (and I take a harder course load.)

By Constellation35 (Constellation35) on Sunday, January 18, 2004 - 10:37 pm: Edit

Yeah, it is unfair. I didn't deserve a 4.7. But my unweighted wasn't too high, so I didn't benefit from the 4.7 AT ALL except in ranking. Even with that I was still only in the top 16%!

By Iflyjets (Iflyjets) on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 12:33 am: Edit

The individual college in preparing your application file will usually recalculate your GPA based on the weight they assign grades. That is why they want a clear transcript that displays what type of course it is (regular, honors, Ap, IB), as well as any other grading parameters your HS can supply, such as a numerical (percentage) grade for the class. Even within a state rules can vary. Constellation writes that at his/her HS in FL, APs are worth 2 points over a regular course. At our FL HS, honors adds 0.5 point, and AP only adds 1 point over a regular course, making the maximum scale a 5.0 (versus 4.0).

In contrst, the unweighted GPA will be based more on the final grade in the course, without "bonus" scaling. This is why it is possible, for example, to have "only" a 4.75 weighted overall GPA on a 5.0 scale (with APs included), while your unweighted GPA could be 3.99 out of a possible 4.0. In this example, the weighted GPA was affected by how many honors/AP/IB courses you took out of your total number of HS course credits; unweighted was unaffected by the number of challenging courses.

The good news is that most colleges have a way of "adding" points back in for advanced classes based on their proprietary systems. So, in the end, you will get credit for the tougher classes.

For your applications, you simply have to put down whatever is on your transcript/official school record as your cumulative GPA to date. Most colleges will take it from there.

By Jay12602 (Jay12602) on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 07:54 am: Edit

is cumulative GPA different from unweighted GPA?

By Drusba (Drusba) on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 08:45 am: Edit

"What SAT IIs are the best bets to take? i know most of the time it depends on the college. however, since i have no idea where i'm going, which tests will fit most schools' criteria?"

It does depend on the college. However, many that require SAT II's require three (none require more than three), and many of those require SAT II writing and either the Math IC or IIC (IIC is required by some schools only if you are applying to engineering). Thus, if you take the writing and one of the maths you will generally meet the ones needed for most schools that require them, and then usually you can take one other of your choice. Be aware that there only about 50 schools in the US that require SAT II's although they are usually the eastern elites (like all ivies) and the University of California Schools require three; also the majority of colleges that do not require SAT II's don't even want them and will not rely on them for admission even if submitted.

As to the distinction between cumulative GPA and unweighted, I guess it might depend on how your school defines a "cumulative GPA" but generically a "cumulative GPA" is simply your total GPA for all years and it can be weighted or unweighted.

By Jay12602 (Jay12602) on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 10:09 am: Edit

OOOOOOOOO! Now I get it! The class I took over the summer isn't included till next year, so that's why my cumulative is much lower! Thanks!

By Musefinity (Musefinity) on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 04:46 pm: Edit

Washington state has no weighted GPAs....

So I went from a 4.38 to a 3.875. Sucks, because I'm applying to eastern schools that don't care about unweighted.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 05:47 pm: Edit

If you go to a school that has unweighted grades, the colleges will adjust accordingly when viewing your record.

By Musefinity (Musefinity) on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 06:50 pm: Edit

Hey, I was wondering, when colleges say the average GPA of their incoming freshman class is like 4.2, is this stat lowered by all the people who enter with an unweighted GPA? Or do they "reassign" you a GPA when they look over you? Talking about UNC.

By Iflyjets (Iflyjets) on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 10:10 pm: Edit

See my post above. They usually weight GPAs according to their own system, as you wrote, "reassign" your GPA. And this is not necessarily the system used by your HS or for HS of any state-wide system. When we toured UNC (assuming Chapel HIll) I do not remember any exceptions to the concept of the college re-centering your GPA for their needs. If they are reporting "4.2" as an average GPA, for example, you would have to ask the school whether it is just listing the average of all the GPAs applicants reported (both weighted and unweighted), or whether that average was after UNC re-centered everyone's GPa to whatever system they choose to use. In either case, most schools remain very consistent to keep the comparison across applicants as fair and unbiased as possible.

By Amihdir (Amihdir) on Thursday, January 22, 2004 - 04:07 pm: Edit

I am a junior in high school but i am taking full time classes at University of Minnesota...so the classes are obviously harder than high school...do u think colleges will weight that? my high school refuses to do it even though they weight AP classes

By Iflyjets (Iflyjets) on Thursday, January 22, 2004 - 04:35 pm: Edit

You could call and speak generally about this topic with an admissions counselor at any school you are interesting in attending (although, this time of year is starting to become a very busy time for most admissions offices). My D's school did not add wieght for college courses on the HS school transcript either until this year, so I understand. I also can see the HS's viewpoint. Some AP classes, for example, can be worth 2 college courses at some universities/colleges if the student achieves a high enough score on the AP test, so I think that may be part of the reason some HS tend to shy away from weighting college/dual enrollment classes. In addition, not every college class in equal in difficulty level, so HS can be in a quandry on how to evaluaute the content and compare it for GPA weighting to a HS AP course. I should think, however, that most colleges would certainly look favorably on coursework from U of Minn, so I'd have to guess (and it is just a guess) that it will look positive on your overall application when you apply even if it does not reflect in your GPA as such Good luck.

One last thing, if you are enrolled full-time at U Minn, then are you taking any classes at your HS; are you completely dual enrollment, and have you finished your HS curriculum? Are you planning on graduating early? Perhaps you should consider early HS graduation (not something I normally would recommend), if this is possible.

By Amihdir (Amihdir) on Friday, January 23, 2004 - 01:59 pm: Edit

Thankx for all the information..i think i will call the admissions councelor in a couple of months when it is a little less busy.
About the high schools dont weight the grade but it is a little frustrating when ppl who are workin much less than i am get a better rank or scholarship.
About the questions, no im not taking any classes at my HS. i do still have some grad standards that need to be fufilled but i can take those at the U of M. I was thinking about graduating early but right now the state pays for my tuition at the U of M and if i graduate they wont do that. So, instead i am trying to complete two years of my undergrad by the time i gradute from high school that way i save money and time.

By Iflyjets (Iflyjets) on Friday, January 23, 2004 - 05:53 pm: Edit

Amihdir, if those same credits you are earning a U of M to complete your HS requirements can also be counted towards your BA/BS, that's terrific. I would guess that you have your answer: don't graduate early. Taking all your classes at U of M, especially if you are getting good grades, should cetainly show most colleges (some of the ultra-competitive schools may be harder to impress) that you are capable of success at the college level. Sounds like you have a good grasp on things. Good luck.