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Apr 8, 2023 · With an 860 SAT score, you’re effectively out of running for the Top 10 universities and Ivy League schools. These comprise most of the well-known and highly-sought after colleges and universities including Harvard, MIT, UPenn, Caltech, Brown, Princeton, and more.
- Overview
- Why is your high school GPA important?
- Types of GPAs
- How to calculate high school GPA
- Examples for calculating high school GPA
One of the first spaces to fill out on a college application is high school grade point average (GPA). Knowing how this number is calculated can give you better insight into what it is and how your grades affect it. There are variations in GPA calculations. In this article, we explain why calculating a high school GPA is important, discuss the vari...
Most colleges and some technical schools have more applications than they do spots for students. When this happens, they use a differentiator to decide which students they should accept. Admissions officers who review applications and decide which students are likely to excel in their program typically look at an applicant's GPA.While there may be ...
While a GPA is always an average of scores expressed in decimal format, there are several different kinds of GPAs that you should be aware of. It may be that a college or job may ask for your GPA, and knowing which one they're asking about can significantly affect the number.Before advanced placement (AP) and honors coursework were available, there was only one kind of GPA. It factored in the grade received and the number of courses taken, with each course holding the same weight. The unweighted calculation is still the most common, although that may change in the future.Today, with the wide variety of advanced classes available, "weighted" GPAs are growing in popularity. A weighted GPA gives more challenging classes (like AP or honors) worth more in the calculation. For example, if straight As in regular classes is worth a 4.0 GPA, under a weighted system, straight As in all AP classes would be worth 5.0 and straight A's in honors classes would be a 4.5.This also means under a weighted GPA system that a B in an AP class is a 4.0, which is the same as an A in a regular class. So a higher grade in an AP class will make your GPA look higher than those with the same grade in a regular class.In addition to weighted and unweighted, you have semester (or trimester) GPAs as well as cumulative GPAs. Your cumulative GPA factors in the grades from all of high school. The cumulative GPA, along with your high school transcript of the classes you've taken and the grades you received in them, will be what colleges see. They are not as concerned with individual semesters. The cumulative GPA gives them a broader understanding of your overall high school academic performance.Most employers do not ask to see your high school transcript. While the cumulative GPA provides greater insight into overall performance, if you graduated with a much higher GPA than you have cumulatively, you could provide the GPA for your graduating semester instead of the cumulative score and you could explain the hard work you put into bringing your grades up that may not show in the cumulative GPA.Related: How To List Education on a Resume
Semester 1
Course
Grade
A+
A
Unweighted
The basic GPA calculation assumes all classes are worth the same weight and each letter grade corresponds to a number from 0-4.A: 4.0 B: 3.0 C: 2.0 D: 1.0 F: 0Some schools grade with plusses and minuses as well. In those situations, the corresponding letter and number grade looks more like this (with an F receiving no credit and a 0 for the course):A+: 4.0 A: 4.0 A-: 3.7 B+: 3.3 B: 3.0 B-: 2.7 C+: 2.3 C: 2.0 C-: 1.7 D+: 1.3 D: 1.0 D-: .7Here are the steps for calculating unweighted high school GPAs:
Weighted GPA
A weighted GPA gives a higher corresponding number to classes that are AP, advanced or honors. In those cases, the corresponding numbers are slightly higher than those that are not weighted.For AP classes:A: 5.0 B: 4.0 C: 3.0 D: 2.0 F: 0For advanced or honors classes:A: 4.5 B: 3.5 C: 2.5 D: 1.5 F: 0Here are the steps for calculating weighted GPAs:
Semester calculations
A semester GPA calculation factors in all the grades you received for only that semester. Past academic successes or challenges would not be calculated in this number.Here are the steps for calculating semester GPA:
Unweighted GPA
Jan Bing goes to a school that does not differentiate between AP classes or regular ones. Everyone falls under the standard 4.0 scale. The school doesn't use plusses or minuses. Jan received the following grades:Math A = 4.0Language Arts C= 2.0Spanish B = 3.0Science B = 3.0History C = 2.0Art History A = 4.04.0 + 2.0 + 3.0 + 3.0 + 2.0 + 4.0 = 16.016.0 (total points for grades received) / 6 (number of classes) = 2.67Jan's GPA would be 2.67.
Weighted GPA
Jan has a friend who goes to a school that gives weighted averages for AP and honors classes. Jan and Lynn get the same grades, but Lynn takes some AP and honors classes. Lynn's grades are:Math AP A = 5.0Language Arts AP C= 3.0Spanish (Regular) B = 3.0Science Honors B = 3.5History AP C = 3.0Art History Honors A = 4.55.0 + 3.0 + 3.0 + 3.5 + 3.0 + 4.5 = 2222 / 6 = 3.67Lynn's weighted GPA with the same grades as Jan but with accelerated classes would be a 3.67.That's a full point higher than Jan's even though they received the same letter grades. Video: How to Calculate Weighted Average | Examples, Tips, and Tricks!A weighted average means that values have different weights. Watch these methods and calculate weighted averages with ease!
Semester and cumulative GPA examples
Your semester GPA is your average grade point average for that current time frame. A cumulative GPA factors in all of your grades in high school. For instance, let's look at Chris Lee's grades from freshman year:GPA First Semester 1.9GPA Second Semester 4.0Cumulative 1.9 + 4.0 = 5.95.9 / 2 = 2.95As you can see from the example, there's a big difference in these numbers. The first shows an underperforming student, while the second equates to all A's in an unweighted scale. But cumulatively, the GPA is not even at the B level.If Chris was a senior, this cumulative GPA would average the grades from the first and second semesters for all four years. The calculation would look like this with S standing for semester:Freshman year S1 + freshman year S2 / 2 = cumulative freshman yearSophomore year S1 + sophomore year S2 / 2 = cumulative sophomore yearJunior year S1 + junior year S2 / 2 = cumulative junior yearSenior year S1 + senior year S2 / 2 = cumulative senior yearCumulative freshman year + cumulative sophomore year + cumulative junior year + cumulative senior year / 4 (years) = total cumulative GPARead more: How To Ask for a Letter of Recommendation for College Students
For example, on a traditional unweighted 4.0 scale, an A is a 4.0, a B is a 3.0, and so on. When we apply the weighted scale, a typical honors course might add 0.5 to the grade point, making an A worth 4.5, while an AP or IB course might add a full point, making an A worth 5.0.
Jan 1, 2018 · For example, if the college credits you earn during high school add up to a semester of college-level work, you might be able to graduate from college in three and a half years rather than the traditional four. The types of college credits you can earn during high school may also be less expensive on a per-credit basis than a traditional four ...
Take math at the highest level offered by your school, such as at an honors or AP level. There are three AP Math classes: Calculus AB, Calculus BC, and Statistics. There are four IB Math classes that cover roughly the same material but vary in difficulty and speed. Take pre-calculus and calculus, if possible.
For example, if you're currently a junior in high school, your grades in freshman and sophomore year will anchor your GPA so that your junior grades won't be able to change your total GPA much. Here's a calculator for you to see how much your GPA can improve in different cases.
Here's how a 4.0 GPA compares to the nation: 99.24% of schools have an average GPA below a 4.0. You can apply to colleges and have a good shot at getting admitted. You have a low chance of getting into with a 4.0 GPA. To elaborate, the national average for GPA is around a 3.0, so a 4.0 puts you above average nationally.
