Hey guys, I just want to make sure I've got this right. When colleges ask for my 'cumulative grade point average', they're asking for the overall average of all my grades from freshman to junior year, correct? How is this different from just my GPA?
Hey there! You've got it exactly right. A 'cumulative grade point average' is essentially your GPA that's calculated by averaging all of your final grades from the beginning of high school through the end of junior year. It represents the entirety of your high school performance, rather than just a single term or year. The term 'GPA' is sometimes used to refer to your grade point average for just one semester or one year, depending on the context. So if someone's talking about your GPA generally, they might mean just your most recent term. But when colleges ask for your cumulative GPA, they're specifically looking for the average of all your grades throughout high school up to that point. Be sure to include all your final grades in your calculations, and if your school uses a weighted GPA system that takes into account the difficulty of your courses, that's the number you'll want to report to colleges. Hope this helps clarify things!
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