GPA's

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SRHSMOM

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Weighted or unweighted? when people are discussing their GPA's which are they usually referring to? For those of you with appointments in hand, if you care to share, what was your weighted GPA?
 
not all schools weigh the grades. as ours does not, but my daughter wishes they did.
 
For the most part, USNA is interested in the unweighted GPA. I don't have an appointment yet so I don't know what the average GPA is or anything. However, I do know that USNA takes class standing into account because schools vary in difficulty. So a student from one school might have a 3.91 GPA, and be refused an appointment, while a student from another school may have a 3.67 and be accepted. Also, I believe they take into account the courses that were taken.
 
^^^

That is essentially correct. The courses you take are critical. A senior taking Algebra II, Level 3 language, English, Art History, and Band, with a 4.0 GPA would not be viewed as favorably as someone taking AP Calc, Physics, AP English, World History, and Level 4 language with a 3.7 GPA.

Class rank is important as is the "quality" of the high school. However, there are exceptions to every "rule," so do not assume that your application is doomed if you don't excel in every area.
 
I think there is an advantage to having a weighted grade even though the academies look at the unweighted since I believe the weighted GPA still affects class rank (I might be wrong though).

I would be kind of mad if this is the case, since I've taken the hardest curriculum EVER in the history of my school BY FAR and gotten all As and Bs and my class rank is only top 31% since my school doesn't weight the classes.
 
usna1985 said:
^^^

That is essentially correct. The courses you take are critical. A senior taking Algebra II, Level 3 language, English, Art History, and Band, with a 4.0 GPA would not be viewed as favorably as someone taking AP Calc, Physics, AP English, World History, and Level 4 language with a 3.7 GPA.

Class rank is important as is the "quality" of the high school. However, there are exceptions to every "rule," so do not assume that your application is doomed if you don't excel in every area.
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Sad thing though.. this is the first year our school has even offered AP calculus.. and AP biology. My daughter is just now in PreCalc, but she is in AP Biology.. she also has run out of classes to take... Not all schools offer all the AP classes that others do, so that shouldnt be a deciding factor in anything either.
 
GPA

I just received my appointment last week, and this is how my school handles GPA

AP Class
A-6 points, B-5, C-4, D-3, F-0
Honors
A 5, B 4, C 3, D 2, F 0
Regular/CP
A 4, B 3, C 2, D 1, F 0

this all gets averaged over my 1st three years, and we multiply the credit hours [periods of class/week] by the above points, and divide it by the total number of credit hours i have [most classes are 5, so an A in an honors course gives 25 points added to the pool average].

I graduated with a 4.0 uw and a 4.775 weighted, so i hope that this could help out anybody that's looking for some data.
 
My school weights AP and Honors classes the same, they multiply your grade by 1.1. so if you get a grade of a 90, it goes into the system as a 99. Not too shabby, i sure do like it! For those with unweighted scores, USNA realizes the differences and also that some schools dont offer AP classes, that it why it is stressed that they also take into account the difficulty of the school. They will not penalize you for not taking AP Calculus if it is not even an option.
 
Roman said:
I think there is an advantage to having a weighted grade even though the academies look at the unweighted since I believe the weighted GPA still affects class rank (I might be wrong though).

I would be kind of mad if this is the case, since I've taken the hardest curriculum EVER in the history of my school BY FAR and gotten all As and Bs and my class rank is only top 31% since my school doesn't weight the classes.
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Roman, you will succeed regardless of weighting. Your class rank may not be terribly impressive, but I bet you excelled in your ACT/SAT scores. Because of the courses you took in H.S., you may be able to graduate from an academy with a DOUBLE MAJOR!!! Some might think that THAT'S not fair, but you certainly earned it, and will work in your favor. Sometimes I love it when life is not fair!:shake::zip:
 
How does it work if you school does not calculate GPA or Class Rank
 
My Mid's HS did not calculate class rank and grades where done on a numerical bases. I believe the HS Counselor is asked to estimate the rank when they submit your transcript. Typically on the high school transcript there is a second page that gives the school profile. Included is usually a breakdown in quartiles of the GPA's or numerical grade average of your class, helping schools estimate where a person fits when rank is not calculated. This profile also will give information on how grades are weighted.
 
Could someone please explain to this old dork what a weighted GPA is? :confused:

I fully understand how a 4-hour course is weighted differently than a 2-hour course, and how a "D" in the former can kill an "A" in the latter, but I'm not sure if the "weighing" process is the same in this case.

Thanks for educating me. :redface:

For the record, I have no earthly clue how my HS calculated GPA's. I don't recall USNA asking for GPA. They asked for a transcript and class rank.

But hey, this was back when the 600-ship Navy was still in vogue, so you know how old THAT info is. :shake:
 
Zaphod said:
Could someone please explain to this old dork what a weighted GPA is? :confused:

I fully understand how a 4-hour course is weighted differently than a 2-hour course, and how a "D" in the former can kill an "A" in the latter, but I'm not sure if the "weighing" process is the same in this case.

Thanks for educating me. :redface:


I got this one! Let's say your high school offers Physics as a class at three different levels (read levels of difficulty). You can take the regular "on level" Physics, get a A, and receive a GP of 4.0; if you take honors Physics or AP Physics and get an A, you would get a GP of 5 for the A because it is recognized as a more challenging course. If you take many of these weighted classes during your high school years, and get straight As, you will end up with an unweighted GPA of 4.0, but a weighted GPA of, say, 4.8. No one gets a 5.0 as there are some classes like gym that have no advanced classes.
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Zaphod,

At some schools AP, Honors, and IB courses are factored into the GPA as more than 4.0 points. I've seen schools award as many as 6 points for an A in an AP class. My school awards 4.1 points for an A in an AP class.

i.e. Straight A's with 5 classes (unweighted): 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 20
average: 20/5 = 4.0 ... simple

Straight A's with 5 classes (weighted; 2 AP): 6 + 6 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 24
average 24/5 = 4.8 .. a better GPA

I hope that helps.
 
The weight is designed reward those that take an honors or AP course, and make a B in those classes on par or better than an A in a regular college prep course.

My school does it a little different than assigning 5 or 6 points for an A in an AP course. Instead my school will add on .025 each semester to the GPA for each AP course and a few honors courses (H English 11, H Precalculus, Discrete math... all other honors receive no weight). In theory, receiving a B in a weighted course is better than an A in a non-weighted course. 21 credits are required to graduate. Say a student took all weighted courses (not possible) and got a B in every one of them. The unweighted GPA is a 3.0, but the weighted GPA would be a 4.10. The valedictorian's GPA is usually around a 4.3. Given that, I'll take my weighted 4.10 (unweighted 3.86ish)
 
Weighted grades or not, I have been told that the GPA itself isn't the only crucial element. The course of study is examined and the admissions board of any higher educational institution will give consideration for a student pushing themselves beyond what is minimally required of them. Way to work hard...it will only make you more successful at whatever you end up doing.
 
USNA I'll add even a stranger one to the equation - know of a school that gives NO GRADES! Everything is done as written evaluations and observations. This school send kids to very high end institutions so it works.

Higher Ed is used to seeing all sorts transcripts. Some colleges/universities chose to use SAT as an equalizer (although that is not good either) and others use GPA or Class rank and then there are those who do not even require SAT's. Since there is no set formula you can not worry about it.

Kamajama has it right. Push yourself, do the very best you can. Take advantage of what your HS offers.
 
Here in Fairfax county, VA the high school does NOT rank, counselor will supposedly give estimate - our grading scale is 94-100 A, 90-93 B+, so on. NO WEIGHT FOR HONORS and only .5 added to end of year GPA fpr AP course. HAve had big uproar past year or so - now county will begin to give extra weight to AP -1. but next year. Think they will give .5 for honors course. Still considering whether to change scale to be more in line with country in general. A decade ago when my daughter went thru HS in texas they showed number not letter - think that would be clearer, regardless of scale - wish my son's (current candidate) had that kind of reporting. sorry for poor typing
 
Zaphod said:
Could someone please explain to this old dork what a weighted GPA is? :confused:

I fully understand how a 4-hour course is weighted differently than a 2-hour course, and how a "D" in the former can kill an "A" in the latter, but I'm not sure if the "weighing" process is the same in this case.

Thanks for educating me. :redface:

For the record, I have no earthly clue how my HS calculated GPA's. I don't recall USNA asking for GPA. They asked for a transcript and class rank.

But hey, this was back when the 600-ship Navy was still in vogue, so you know how old THAT info is. :shake:
Click to expand...

Zaphod, I think others 'splained GPA weighted vs. unweighted fairly well. Truth is, I have been told that the academies "unweight" the GPA's when reviewing transcripts. Example: If you have a 4.8 GPA weighted, it could be 3.3 or even 3.85 unweighted. It all depends on how the school district has decides to "weight" the AP/Accelerated/Honors classes. Since "weighting" can be quite different or arbitrary across the board, most colleges (and I believe ALL of the academies) strip out the weighting. Yet, they look closely on the courseload.

There's pros and cons. Example: We have had Valedictorians in our district that received straight A's in sandbox. Students whose highest math class was Algebra, and never even took a foreign language. Yet, the ones who challenged themselves with AP classes, but received a B or two, don't receive recognition at graduation. Long view...these students will likely still be recognized. Maybe by a fine US Service Academy!!! :yay::bang::yay:
 
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