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You all might laugh at me for asking this but, what is the difference between a weighted and a non-weighted GPA? I truly don't know the difference and the words weighted and unweighted pop-up alot and I see no difference. Thanks a bunch!

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Wednesday, June 25, 2003 - 10:40 pm: Edit

Weighted is when AP or honors are given more points than regular classes. Unweighted GPA is the GPA for regular classes. Straight As in a regular course schedule, for example, translates to a 4.0 GPA. But if you have 4 regulars and 2 honors and you get As in all of them, your GPA will be higher than 4.0 . Usually, an A in an honors class is equivalent to 5 points. Does that make sense?

By Amisu (Amisu) on Thursday, June 26, 2003 - 10:21 pm: Edit

If you are taking all honors would your unweighted GPA be 4.0 ? Also, which is more important the weighted or unweighted GPA?
Thanks

By Andymcgav (Andymcgav) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 10:11 am: Edit

unweighted is more important, and if you are taking all honors your unweighted GPA would be 4.0 if you got all A's.

By Mattman (Mattman) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 02:08 pm: Edit

wouldn't it be that unweighted is mostly important for high school (class rank) and weighted is mostly important for colleges (to put more emphasis on AP Physics over PE)?

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 03:41 pm: Edit

In other words, straight As honors or regulars or a combination of both is an UW 4.0 GPA. I think weighted is more important because it reflects how you did in honors/AP classes.

By Savoirfaire87 (Savoirfaire87) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 05:59 pm: Edit

Mattman--my school uses weighted to determine class rank!

By Nymom (Nymom) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 06:08 pm: Edit

Gianscolere: most colleges look at your unweighted grades. Applicants to the more competitive colleges are expected to take the most challenging courses offered by their high schools; the top candidates to the top colleges are expected to ace those courses. Weighted GPA is only a means some schools use to calculate class rank.

By Savoirfaire87 (Savoirfaire87) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 09:09 pm: Edit

I agree w/ nymom

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 01:22 am: Edit

But wouldn't that be unfair if someone from the same school took less challenging classes and got a 4.0 UW GPA and another one with the most rigorous schedule gets the same GPA. I know colleges will look at what courses each student took, but I'm still not comfortable having the same GPA as a person who exerted less effort.

By Mattman (Mattman) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 02:56 am: Edit

savoirfaire87, my high school uses unweighted for class rank, but we separate all the kids into two groups: honors (85+) and standard (and any honor kid who had D or F average).

what colleges use unweighted grades?

By Nymom (Nymom) on Sunday, June 29, 2003 - 11:21 am: Edit

Gianscolere: the top colleges will look at every grade you get in every class you take. In our school, students who take a less challenging curriculum (non-honors) do not get into the same type of colleges as honors students, even if their GPA is somewhat higher. Our school (private) does not weight, and feeds into several top colleges. Most of those top colleges will not consider non-honors students from our school; the guidance dept would discourage a nonhonors student from even applying. So, forget about weighted/unweighted average; just do the best you can in the most challenging curriculum your school offers; you will only be competing against students who have taken a comparable curriculum.