Hey all! I recently heard about someone mentioning a 4.2 unweighted GPA. Is that even possible? I thought the highest unweighted GPA you could have was a 4.0. Can someone please clarify this for me?
Hi there! You're correct that the highest unweighted GPA is typically a 4.0. Unweighted GPAs are calculated on a 4.0 scale, where an A equals 4.0, a B equals 3.0, and so on. The scale doesn't go beyond 4.0—a perfect record of straight A's will result in a 4.0 unweighted GPA.
However, some schools use a weighted GPA scale, which factors in the difficulty of the courses a student takes. On a weighted scale, honors, AP, or IB classes can be worth more than a 4.0. For example, an A in an honors course might be equivalent to a 5.0, providing students with an opportunity to earn a GPA higher than 4.0. In this context, a 4.2 GPA might be possible, but it would be weighted, not unweighted.
So, the person you heard mentioning a 4.2 unweighted GPA might have been mistaken or misunderstood the difference between a weighted and unweighted GPA. Just to reaffirm, a 4.0 is indeed the highest unweighted GPA possible.
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