Which is preferred by colleges: weighted or unweighted GPA?

Hi all, my school provides both a weighted and unweighted GPA. I’ve been putting a lot of effort into my AP classes to boost my weighted GPA, but I'm unsure if it matters. Do most colleges prefer or accept the weighted GPA?

The great thing about college admissions is that they recognize there's variation in how different high schools report GPA. Many colleges actually recalculate all received GPAs, using their own system to create a level playing field for all applicants.

When colleges review your application, they're looking at the substance of your transcript as much as the GPA itself. This means they're paying attention to your course rigor—the difficulty of the classes you've taken, including the number of honors or AP classes—and the grades in them.

If your school provides both a weighted and an unweighted GPA, colleges will consider both. The unweighted GPA shows your average grade overall without any extra points for harder courses, while the weighted GPA shows your average grade with added significance to more rigorous classes.

In essence, colleges like to see both higher GPAs and harder classes. An applicant with a higher weighted GPA because they took more challenging classes looks better to the college because they demonstrate academic ambition and the ability to handle a challenging coursework load. However, a high unweighted GPA indicates strong academic achievement across the board.

So in short, your effort towards your AP classes is not in vain. A high weighted GPA due to performance in AP classes could potentially give you an edge.