Weighted vs. Unweighted GPA - What's more important to colleges?

I'm neck-deep in the college application process and I've been hearing things relating to 'weighted' and 'unweighted' GPA. What do colleges typically consider? Do they generally consider the weighted GPA (taking into account AP and honors classes), or the unweighted one?

When colleges evaluate your application, both your weighted and unweighted GPA are considered, but they may put more emphasis on one over the other depending on the college and situation.

A weighted GPA scales grades based on the difficulty of the class. For example, an A in an AP class could translate to a 5.0 grade point count on a 5.0 scale, whereas an A in a standard class might be a 4.0. The idea behind a weighted GPA is to reward students for taking challenging courses.

On the other hand, an unweighted GPA doesn't consider the rigor of courses and always assigns an A a 4.0, a B a 3.0, and so on, regardless of whether the class is an honors, AP, IB, or regular class.

When a college receives your application, they will typically receive both GPAs. However, they commonly re-calculate your GPA based on their specific methodology, sometimes creating a new 'weighted' GPA that accounts for course rigor. For instance, if you took a rigorous class load with lots of AP or honors classes, the admissions team would account for the difficulty of your courses in this recalculated GPA.

Commonly, if a school were to look more intently at one GPA over another, it would be the weighted GPA because it indicates your willingness to challenge yourself acadically.

However, every college has its own process. It is also important to note that GPA is just one factor of many that colleges consider in the admissions process. For a more definitive answer, check the admissions websites of the schools you're interested in to see if they provide specifics on their process.