Unweighted vs Weighted GPA: What's the difference?

I'm a junior trying to understand my GPA more clearly. I know that colleges look at both weighted and unweighted GPAs, but I'm unsure of the difference between the two. Can anybody break it down for me?

Certainly, I'm happy to help clarify this for you!

An unweighted GPA is the average of all your grades on the standard 4.0 scale. Essentially, an A (whether it's in an Advanced Placement (AP) class, an honors class, or a standard class) is a 4.0, a B is a 3.0, and so on.

On the other hand, a weighted GPA takes into account the difficulty level of the classes you've taken. This means that grades in AP, IB, or honors classes receive a GPA boost. Most high schools give an additional weight of 0.5 for honors classes and 1.0 for AP and IB classes. So if you get an A in an AP class, it could be calculated as a 5.0 as opposed to the 4.0 you would get from an A in a standard class.

Weighted GPAs usually range from 0.0 to over 4.0, but it can go even higher if a student takes multiple weighted classes.

Just to note, colleges understand the difference and can see both on your transcripts. They may also recalculate your GPA based on their own scale. It would be generally advised for students to take more challenging courses and receive slightly lower grades than to simply inflate their unweighted GPA with easier classes. This reveals a level of academic rigor that admissions officers appreciate.

To get a better understanding of how your academics compare to accepted students at the colleges to which you're applying, you should look at the unweighted GPA range as well, in addition to the weighted range, if available.