Hi folks! Lately, I've been trying to figure out my GPA. My school uses a weighted system and my GPA is 4.3. I've been seeing a lot of unweighted GPAs around. How exactly do I convert my weighted GPA to an unweighted one? Is there a standard conversion or does it vary? Also, do colleges prefer one over the other when evaluating applications?
Your weighted GPA is a measure of your academic performance considering both your grades and the rigor of the classes you take. Therefore, to transform your weighted GPA to an unweighted one, you'd need to calculate your GPA solely based on your grades without considering the course rigor.
In many school systems, an A is typically a 4.0, a B is a 3.0, a C is a 2.0, a D is a 1.0, and an F is a 0.0 in the unweighted scale. If grades are on a percentage scale, usually a grade of 90-100% is an A, 80-89% is a B, 70-79% is a C, 60-69% is a D, and anything below 59% is an F.
Here's how you can do this:
1. Assign each of your grades a value based on the unweighted scale.
2. Make sure you include all your courses, whether they're AP, IB, or regular classes.
3. Add these values and divide by the total number of classes.
Thus, the steps differ slightly depending on your school's grading scale.
Regarding which GPA colleges prefer, it depends on the college. Most colleges review both weighted and unweighted GPAs to get a comprehensive view of your academic performance. They look at the weighted GPA to see how you performed in challenging courses and the unweighted GPA to compare you to students across different schooling systems. However, every college may have its unique preference or system in place, and it's essential to research the specifics for each school you are interested in.
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