Recalculated GPA

[2PilotMom]

My DS has all As with 6 dual-credit courses completed and taking another this year. We are in a very rural community and do not have AP, IB, or Honors courses, but luckily have the opportunity for the duals. His unweighted GPA is obviously 4.0 (our school does not weight). USAFA's recalculated GPA is still 4.0. He called this fall and they said to send a copy of the college transcript, which he did. He followed up with an email last week asking if the courses did not qualify to increase his GPA. His admissions counselor simply answered that 4 is the highest GPA, no explanation, nothing. We have seen posts of recalculated at 5 and higher. Has anyone else heard of this?

 

[NervousMother]

My son’s “recalculated” GPA was the same as his school GPA, over a 5.0

 

[CGA applicant 2024]

My DS has all As with 6 dual-credit courses completed and taking another this year. We are in a very rural community and do not have AP, IB, or Honors courses, but luckily have the opportunity for the duals. His unweighted GPA is obviously 4.0 (our school does not weight). USAFA's recalculated GPA is still 4.0. He called this fall and they said to send a copy of the college transcript, which he did. He followed up with an email last week asking if the courses did not qualify to increase his GPA. His admissions counselor simply answered that 4 is the highest GPA, no explanation, nothing. We have seen posts of recalculated at 5 and higher. Has anyone else heard of this?

Mine on the website is above a 4.0. My guess is that it is whatever the high school reports as the weighted.

 

[2PilotMom]

Our HS doesn't weight grades, so his all A's is simply a 4.0. He has taken every available dual credit, so there isn't anymore he could do. Perhaps our high school counselor didn't have a "school report" for the academy? DS is the first known to apply to any service academy from our town.

 

[Heatherg21]

Our DS is also rurual and only dual credit options. His GPA is weighted and near 5. They recalculated it, and it shows above 4 but lower than actual. This is what I found in the instructions, who knows how the antilogarithm they use actually comes up with the GPA in the portal.

"Your counselor will be able to upload your transcript along with a profile of your high school and your senior class schedule. If your school does not have a profile your counselor must complete the entire form. We will not process your transcript without a school profile AND senior year schedule. If you attended more than one high school you must ensure we receive a profile from each school. We will recalculate your GPA on a 4.0 scale. We may adjust your Prior Academic Record (PAR) if a large percentage of your class enters college, if you take an unusually rigorous college preparatory curriculum, or take honors and Advanced Placement courses that were not given extra weight toward your class rank. You must also have a new official transcript sent to us if your rank in class changes and/or when you graduate "

 

[HawkeyeMom]

Our HS doesn't weight grades, so his all A's is simply a 4.0. He has taken every available dual credit, so there isn't anymore he could do. Perhaps our high school counselor didn't have a "school report" for the academy? DS is the first known to apply to any service academy from our town.

My DD's GPA was not recalculated either; but she is a what I call a "hybrid" student- homeschooled exclusively until her sophomore year in which she took a few classes at the local HS and then dual enrollment courses at the local university after that. She has around 30 hours of college credit after this semester. I believe academies recalculate GPA based not only on courses, but also on the strength of the HS and the student's class rank. So if the applicant attends a "tough" HS that has this reputation, then his/her GPA may be calculated up.

 

[DadOf2024Candidate]

We are in the same boat here... my DD’s school transcript is unweighted but she has a ton of AP and IB courses. We were expecting the score to be recomputed and updated but it did not happen so far. She is going to contact the academy about it.

 

[kinnem]

I believe that when they recalculate the GPA they take the "strength" of the school into account somehow. They are attempting to "normalize" GPAs across all the schools in the nation. Perhaps this is a factor?

 

[DadOf2024Candidate]

This does not sound right, especially if they rank afterwards. As a random question - would you think the USAFA admissions meticulous and accurate in their procedures or things are sometimes falling through the cracks? I do not have enough first hand experience either way - but I am sincerely puzzled by the contradiction in GPA treatments.

 

[2PilotMom]

We are in the same boat here... my DD’s school transcript is unweighted but she has a ton of AP and IB courses. We were expecting the score to be recomputed and updated but it did not happen so far. She is going to contact the academy about it.

I’ll be interested to see what they tell you. My son specifically asked if his gpa is not being adjusted then are the dual courses not worthy of adjusting his gpa. His response was “4 is the highest gpa”. , nothing else written in the email, no explanation, nada.

 

[MidCakePa]

Do not overthink GPA. SAs know that GPAs are not created equal. Too much variability within a school and among teachers to simply rack and stack candidates based on GPA, whether recalculated or not.

As stated above, SAs pay most attention to transcripts within the context of the school profile. They look to see whether the candidate took the hardest classes the school has to offer, and excelled in them. They pay particular attention to core classes: math, English, science, history.

Remember also that SAT/ACT serve as the so-called great equalizer. The system isn’t perfect, but again, it’s more meticulous than just racking and stacking GPAs and plucking from the top down.

 

[GreenGate1]

Also, I was under the impression that class rank is what is used to evaluate, not GPA. MidCakePa is right on. SAT/ACT is the equalizer (and carries even more weight if the school doesn't rank).

 

[Stealth_81]

As a random question - would you think the USAFA admissions meticulous and accurate in their procedures or things are sometimes falling through the cracks? I do not have enough first hand experience either way - but I am sincerely puzzled by the contradiction in GPA treatments.

They do this process every year and they are meticulous. I don’t see how worrying about something that you have no control over is going to accomplish much. They will recalculate based on their criteria and we do not know the hows or whats of that process. There is enough to worry about in the application process without creating more.

Stealth_81

 

[ellensh]

Also, I was under the impression that class rank is what is used to evaluate, not GPA. MidCakePa is right on. SAT/ACT is the equalizer (and carries even more weight if the school doesn't rank).

Based on what we've read and after talking with admissions, class rank does factor in, but only when combined with school profile & GPA. In my DD's case, she attends what is basically a public prep school. All classes are Honors/AP or Dual Credit and the school is ranked in the top 50 most challenging high schools in the country. There are less than 150 students in her graduating class and at one time 56 students comprised spots 1,2 and 3 and only, and when graduation nears they will go out more decimal places in order to compute final rank. At the much larger high school down the road, her GPA would place her in the top 2 out of 750 students, so class rank can be just as skewed as GPA! Her school doesn't weight GPA's and the difference between # 1 and #60 is only 0.15, SAT/ACT does become more of an "everyone is taking the exact same test", but like someone else mentioned, there are also lots of factors that go into those scores as well.

At the end of the day, I believe that's why they take the WPC approach. There really is no exact answer for sure, but at the end of the day, you can only work hard, do your best and pray it's what they're looking for!

 

[DadOf2024Candidate]

Based on what we've read and after talking with admissions, class rank does factor in, but only when combined with school profile & GPA. In my DD's case, she attends what is basically a public prep school. All classes are Honors/AP or Dual Credit and the school is ranked in the top 50 most challenging high schools in the country. There are less than 150 students in her graduating class and at one time 56 students comprised spots 1,2 and 3 and only, and when graduation nears they will go out more decimal places in order to compute final rank. At the much larger high school down the road, her GPA would place her in the top 2 out of 750 students, so class rank can be just as skewed as GPA! Her school doesn't weight GPA's and the difference between # 1 and #60 is only 0.15, SAT/ACT does become more of an "everyone is taking the exact same test", but like someone else mentioned, there are also lots of factors that go into those scores as well.

At the end of the day, I believe that's why they take the WPC approach. There really is no exact answer for sure, but at the end of the day, you can only work hard, do your best and pray it's what they're looking for!

Excellent points. Also very similar to my DD case - a nationally ranked magnet school, no student ranking, no GPA weighting, all the classes are either honors, AP, or IB. Her raw GPA is a number bit short of 4.0 then. So, I am looking wistfully at posts that stated that their GPA was recalculated by AFA and they got a number above 4 (and perhaps even 5) there.
The intrigue and all that waiting is unbearable!

 

[DadOf2024Candidate]

Just as a side and lighter note: when my younger daughter joined a club soccer team - parents had to sign a promise ‘not to post anything on online club soccer forums’. Indeed the soccer forums proven to be valuable sources of information, misinformation, rumors, and genuine anguish. I eventually stopped bothering to go there.
These forums feel very different for sure. But I wish service academies had designated officials dropping by once in a while to clarify most misconceptions. (IMHO, They are definitely more transparent with the process than normal colleges though. )

 

[Stealth_81]

These forums feel very different for sure. But I wish service academies had designated officials dropping by once in a while to clarify most misconceptions.

We do have people in the admissions process post here all the time. ALOs, BGOs, FFRs, and Admission Partners are all on these forums. In fact, USAFA admissions has it’s own account here that is used to post information. One of the reason that we are successful here at SAF is that we try and keep the information posted as correct and current as possible.

However, keep in mind that these people are here to help and offer general information, not to hold your hand or do special favors for candidates or parents. And, they are not going to offer inside information that is not available to the general public.

Stealth_81