Weighted GPA vs Unweighted GPAAnswered
Will schools see my unweighted gpa or my weighted gpa because my unweighted gpa is a 3.4 which is low for my standards but my weighted gpa is a 3.9 which is good. What will colleges see and will I have even a shot for a great school. (I'm a freshman)
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2 answers
Hi, thank you for asking this question! Most schools will re-calculate your GPA based on the number of AP, Honors and CP level courses. In terms of the expectations for selective school admissions (top 40 schools in the US), try to aim for an overall GPA of at least 3.75/4.0. Specifically, in AP/IB HL courses aim for a 3.75; Honors/Dual-enrollment/IB SL courses a 3.85; and CP courses 4.0. These are minimum thresholds for top schools, so the higher the better of course.
On top of GPA a lot of academic details matter such as your standardized test score, upwards trend in GPA and upwards trend in course rigor over the 4 years of high school. Additionally try to aim for more honors and AP courses in the later years of high school. On average, a competitive applicant to top schools will have 7+ AP courses during the course of their studies.
I think you have a fabulous GPA and there is no where else to go but up! Best of luck. I would suggest you use our GPA calculator if you were curious about your overall GPA:
https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-calculate-your-gpa-use-this-step-by-step-guide
I was pretty much in the same boat during freshman year, 3.48-5UWGPA and 3.9 ish W. Our school doesn't use WGPAs so everyone who had a 4.0 either took rigorous classes or took the easiest classes. But if your school uses WGPAs, then you're in a good area. If not, you have two more school years to improve your UWGPA. At this point, I'd like to tell you that your UWGPA could increase by a lot (4.0 or even a 3.9), but it's probably not going to happen. One way you can estimate your UWGPA is: go on google sheets and list all the GPA scores from freshman year to the end of junior year you think you might (realistically) achieve then average the scores. You might get to a 3.8 3.85 UWGPA if you put in a lot of effort, like 4.0s every semester. This is a huge jump from 3.4 UWGPA! I'm a sophomore, and I got a 3.7 UW, so I still have one more year to get to a 3.8. I'm no expert, but I think colleges would like to see that you're taking very rigorous classes, which I see that you're already doing.
One way you can try to increase your chances in your college of choice is perform better on the ACT/SAT. I think you can "compensate" for your UWGPA by doing better on standardized tests. If it doesn't work out, you can always transfer after your first year of college. You can also try to improve your ECs. You have a lot of time to get to a leadership position or other high achievements.
I hope this helped! Good luck improving your UWGPA! :)
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Update; my school uses weighted gpa's