Understanding GPAs: Weighted vs Unweighted?

Hey everyone! Quick question - what's the difference between a weighted and an unweighted GPA? How do colleges interpret these scores? Does one hold more weight over the other while being evaluated?

A very good question! Unweighted and weighted GPAs are two different ways of evaluating a student's academic performance.

An unweighted GPA is a scale that grades from 0 to 4.0 and doesn't take into consideration the difficulty level or rigor of the courses you've enrolled in. In other words, an 'A' in an AP class and an 'A' in a standard-level class are both calculated as 4.0 in an unweighted GPA system.

On the other hand, a weighted GPA also factors in the difficulty of your courses. It usually scales from 0 to 5.0, although some high schools use a different scale. With weighted GPA, rigorous courses like AP, IB, or Honors are generally graded on a 5.0 scale. That means if you score an 'A' in such a course, it will be a 5.0 instead of a 4.0 when you're calculating your GPA.

Regarding the college admissions process, note that colleges often recalculate your GPA using their own standards and methodology to ensure a level playing field, and that the factors they prioritize are emphasized. They also have access to your transcripts, so they can see the rigor of your coursework as well as your grades - the transcript is especially important if your school doesn't calculate weighted GPA.

In terms of calculating your GPA yourself, though, both unweighted and weighted GPAs can give colleges a picture of a student's academic capabilities. Unweighted GPA gives a raw understanding of your grade performance, regardless of course rigor, while a weighted GPA offers insight into how well you handle challenging courses.

Neither is inherently more important; instead, colleges often look at both in conjunction with your course rigor, school profile, and other factors to evaluate your academic potential. The complete context is what really matters.

For example, if you have a lower unweighted GPA but a higher weighted GPA, schools will see that you have been challenging yourself. Or, if your weighted GPA isn't much higher than your unweighted one, but your school doesn't offer many advanced courses, colleges will understand that you have made the most of the opportunities available to you.

To learn more about how schools evaluate unweighted vs weighted GPA, I'd check out this blog post from CollegeVine: https://blog.collegevine.com/is-weighted-or-unweighted-gpa-more-important/. I hope you find this initial overview helpful, though!