Taking Summer Classes for GPA Boost
Hi everyone! I'm a rising senior and was wondering if I should take community college classes over the summer to boost my GPA a little more, I am already enrolled in 2 virtual summer honors classes but I need to boost my GPA from a 3.57 UW to a 3.8 UW by this fall :( Is this possible? I expect my GPA to raise after this semester is over by quite a bit. How much will these community college courses boost my GPA? Is it similar to an AP class? Any advice is appreciated.
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3 answers
If your HS administration can give you assurances that taking college-level courses will result in a higher weight than a normal HS class and that they will be transferable to your HS transcript as a weightef course (e.g. if you get an A in college-level Physics and your school uses a 5.0 scale for weighted AP/IB classes and that your HS will treat this as a 5.0), then I believe that taking 2 college classes will give you a slight boost to both your UWGPA and WGPA but not the 3.8 UWGPA. For that to happen you are going to have to take a full semester worth of classes like 5 or 6 APs or college-level ones. So if you take 2 college online classes (for instance Outlier.org college classes) and a full load of APs this fall, you might get close by the time you apply regular decision. Nevertheless, taking classes outside of HS is evidence of your intellectual curiosity and course rigor which are things top schools like to see.
I took 2 college classes after 11th grade, got As but never transferred them to my HS transcript. I did however record them on my college application and submitted the 2nd transcript from the University of Pittsburgh for those 6 college credits. I didn't need to raise my GPA so I didn't bother. But in your case, you want to check and verify upfront prior to registering for the courses otherwise it might not work out for you as a GPA bump.
Good luck
At my school and most schools I know, community college classes are weighted on the 5.0 scale, the same as AP's. For example, taking intro to psych at a college is basically the same as taking AP psych. I don't know if you would be able to raise your GPA that much, but try using online GPA calculators to see how many classes you would have to take and maybe talk to your counselor. Good luck!
I think that is a great idea. Plus it will show how committed you are to graduating in your applications.
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What are college classes that you suggest I should take? Generally, what do people take? I'm a sophomore right now, and in 12th grade, I will take 2-3 CIS (College in schools) courses at the UMN-Twin Cities. This is also the school I want to get into. I want to take more college classes outside of school so that it can add to my GPA, but I'm not sure where to start.