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What is the difference between a weighted average and an unweighted average? Can you help me out? I don't know what this means, thanks

By Dadster on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 - 06:42 am: Edit

Unweighted GPA counts all courses on the same scale. Weighted GPA counts some courses, like honors or AP courses, on a different scale (e.g., A = 5.0), which means an A in an honors class will result in a higher GPA than one in a regular class. Some schools don't weight grades at all; schools that do weight grades don't all use the same weighting scheme.

By Sally R. on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 - 01:31 pm: Edit

During the decision-making process, college admission officers do scrutinize transcripts to see if GPAs (and class ranks) are based on weighted or unweighted averages. If it's the latter, and an applicant has taken honors and AP (or IB) classes, officials understand that no extra consideration was granted for the challenging load and give appropriate leeway.

Sometimes, however, this information is not clearly presented by the high schools. Thus, my advice would be: If you take honors-level classes at a school that DOES NOT WEIGHT, be sure that this is conveyed to every target college. Likewise, if the weighting system is unusual or convoluted, make sure it is clearly explained.

Most of the time, colleges learn about a high school's grading and weighting protocol via the "School Profile"--a short pamphlet that all guidance counselors are supposed to enclose with every transcript that is mailed to colleges. You can ask to see a copy of what your school submits and decide for yourself if it's clear to outsiders.

Even if the profile itself seems fine, if your guidance department has come across as ditzy or inefficient in other areas, it may behoove you to send a profile yourself or add an attachment to the application that clarifies the grading/weighting system at your school.

By mona on Thursday, September 05, 2002 - 06:14 pm: Edit

Our school purports to have a weighted GPA system, however the maximum allowable is 4.0 or 100.0. We have been told that your grade is weighted for AP and honors only up to 100. So we think this means that a "90" and "99" unweighted will both be raised to a 100.0. My average unweighted is 99.4, so I guess all those AP and honors classes were a total waste as far as GPA. How will I ever explain this on applications? Any suggestions greatly appreciated - our school has no written profile and no literate counselor. (Sorry to be rude, but true.) Thanks for your help.

By kristie smith on Monday, October 21, 2002 - 05:18 pm: Edit

For a scholarship I'm applying for, could you possibly answer a question: what do you think a weighted 3.82/5 GPA converts to as an unweighted GPA??? About a 3.6??? I need to know!!! THANKS!

By monica on Monday, October 21, 2002 - 06:21 pm: Edit

ask someone how much honors or ap/ib classes are weighted. then figure it out yourself.

By questionative on Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 05:05 pm: Edit

At my school, this is the weight system:

    REGULAR     HONORS     ADVANCED PLACEMENT 
A    4.0         5.0             6.0 
B    3.0         3.75            4.5 
C    2.0         2.5             3.0 
D    1.0         1.25            1.5 
F    0.0         0.0             0.0

By Chigetai on Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 02:00 pm: Edit

My school's got a truly screwy GPA weighting system. You don't get an A; you get an A-, an A, or an A+. Numerically, an A- is equivalent to 90-92, an A is 93-95, and an A+ is 96 on.

GPA wise, an A is still a 4.0, a B is still a 3.0, etc. The + indicates +.33, so that an A+ is 4.33. Likewise, an - indicates -.33, so an A- is 3.67.

Now, for WEIGHTING...
IF you take an Honors level class, your base GPA is modified by +.33. Thus an A in an Honors class is 4.0 + .33 = 4.33, which is basically equivalent to an A+ in a Regular class.

AP classes are weighted only +.43. So an A+ in an AP class is only 4.33 + .43 = 4.73. The only time any of us can use "5" and "AP" in the same sentence is when talking about the actual AP exams. ;-)

Confusing. And my school explain this weight system in TWO lines on the transcript... I had my guidance counselor include another, more detailed explanation just to ensure the adcom understands.

Which is probably the best advice regarding weighted/unweighted GPA - find some way to get your school's weighting system known to the adcom, as Sally R. suggests.

By adm1 on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 09:26 pm: Edit

It seems like these weighted GPAs are pretty confusing...my school is based on a 4.0 scale, but I guess we don't get as much credit for AP classes as students at other schools do. This is our system:
4.0 = 95-100
3.9 = 94
3.8 = 93
3.7 = 92
and so on...a 91-100 is an A, 81-90 is a B, 73-80 is a C, and 70-72 is a D.
This is the weight system: The GPA for any honors or AP class is multiplied by 1.07. So if you get a 95-100 in regular english, you get a 4.0, but if you get a 95-100 in honors or AP english, you get a 4.28.

By chemkid on Sunday, January 26, 2003 - 01:13 am: Edit

My school doesn't weight at all, or calculate our GPAs. In fact, every trimester we get letter grades, and only for our end-of-year grades do we get numbers. Talk about screwed up! I'm in all honors Judaic classes, and taking 2 (the max we can take) APs, and my GPA is suffering!