Unweighted Class Rank

[MrSoapman]

Hey all, class of 2026 applicant here. I have completely finished my application aside from getting a nomination, and I have an interview scheduled this Friday and one mid-November.

My school does not weigh the class rankings or GPA; class rankings are only based on GPA on the 4.0 scale. Although I'm 33/313, I have 2 AP classes (my school only offers 5 and I'll have 4 by the end of this year) which means I should actually be towards the top 1% based on me asking around. USAFA would know that it isn't weighted, right? And if they know, how would they calculate my actual ranking?

I am also possibly (if I don't screw my grades up) in the running for valedictorian, but that isn't decided until May of next year. Is that pertinent information to let the admissions counseling team know? I just want to ease my conscience a little bit because I've let this stress me out over the past couple of weeks. Any information is greatly appreciated!

 

[hopefulmom182]

Part of your application requires a statement from your school (school profile, I think it was called?) that shows how your school weights/doesn't weight, etc. USAFA is used to seeing different schools do different things.

 

[SOLL]

The admissions staff knows your school profile better than you. The info you provided sounds competitive to me. But it is only one aspect.

You are competing within your congressional district to be the top nominee, while also competing nationally to be one of the appointees to round out the class which also takes into consideration your region of the country. And possibly on some other nomination pool like a senator's nomination, and presidential or vice presidential nomination list.

To ease your mind, while not decisive, that info is competitive.

 

[Old Enlisted Marine]

Please correct if I am wrong but I believe all the academies recalculate your GPA using their own formula once they have your transcripts. This allows them to have a level playing field when making admission decisions. Best of Luck on the Nomination and Appointment.

 

[MrSoapman]

Thank you all, this means a ton!

 

[USAFA10s]

Please correct if I am wrong but I believe all the academies recalculate your GPA using their own formula once they have your transcripts. This allows them to have a level playing field when making admission decisions. Best of Luck on the Nomination and Appointment.

Yes - this is how they do it

I went to a fairly large high school that offered maybe 6 APs plus some dual credit options, but only had a 4.0 scale with no weighting. I was one of 10 "valedictorians" but only two of us actually had AP classes...I may or may not still be a little bitter

USAFA recalculated my GPA from a 4.0 to a 4.34 based on my school's profile and the classes I took

 

[bopper]

Also know that all schools send colleges/SAs a "School Profile" that outlines how many AP classes are offered, how they handle class ranks, what the average SAT scores are and info like that. So colleges/SAs will get a good idea of how you rank relative to your school and also in general.

 

[In-the-Know]

Please correct if I am wrong but I believe all the academies recalculate your GPA using their own formula once they have your transcripts. This allows them to have a level playing field when making admission decisions. Best of Luck on the Nomination and Appointment.

I'm not sure about the other academies, but USAFA does recalculate your GPA and weights based on your curriculum. AP/IB (Higher Level), and dual enrollment get the most weight, honors comes next, and standard college prep courses are weighted the least (they are the base case.)

 

[HCopter]

Make sure your GC is also aware of the importance of class rank for SAs. In most if not all SA applications, I recall DD had several factors required and I mentally thought of it as a "four-fer": transcripts, class profile, senior class schedule, and...something like an SOE, where they may have to fill something out as well, so if you haven't already done so, ask your GC if she could make some positive commentary about your projected class rank and rising to the rigor of what your school has to offer. Teachers put you in the context of the class, GCs put you in the context of the school.

 

[BBMomma]

I'm not sure about the other academies, but USAFA does recalculate your GPA and weights based on your curriculum. AP/IB (Higher Level), and dual enrollment get the most weight, honors comes next, and standard college prep courses are weighted the least (they are the base case.)

Wow this is great to know! My boy has 22 college credits, 34 by the end of this semester and another AP course, plus a second AP and one honors that wasn’t a dual credit from last year, so the Air Force Academy could look at this recalculate his GPA to higher? For freshman and sophomore years, our school did not weigh courses and was on the scale where an A- was only worth 3.66 an A&A+ Were only worth 4.0, unless they were a core course, then it was 4.3 if you got an A+, but nothing higher for dual credit or anything. Then last year the school changed it’s grading system and an A regardless of whether an A+ or an A- was worth 4.0... and they started weighing college classes at 5.0. My boy has a 3.9998/4.0 unweighted and weighted 4.22 all together but with the lower weighted scale his first two years, I worried how they would figure this out. Hopefully our school profile shows the two grading systems and they recalculate. He’s the top ranked kid with the 4.22 and should be valedictorian because the second ranked kid has under a 4.19, and She shouldn’t catch him unless he messes up big time, especially with his AP course and 12 other college credits.

 

[FiveByFive]

Wow this is great to know! My boy has 22 college credits, 34 by the end of this semester and another AP course, plus a second AP and one honors that wasn’t a dual credit from last year, so the Air Force Academy could look at this recalculate his GPA to higher? For freshman and sophomore years, our school did not weigh courses and was on the scale where an A- was only worth 3.66 an A&A+ Were only worth 4.0, unless they were a core course, then it was 4.3 if you got an A+, but nothing higher for dual credit or anything. Then last year the school changed it’s grading system and an A regardless of whether an A+ or an A- was worth 4.0... and they started weighing college classes at 5.0. My boy has a 3.9998/4.0 unweighted and weighted 4.22 all together but with the lower weighted scale his first two years, I worried how they would figure this out. Hopefully our school profile shows the two grading systems and they recalculate. He’s the top ranked kid with the 4.22 and should be valedictorian because the second ranked kid has under a 4.19, and She shouldn’t catch him unless he messes up big time, especially with his AP course and 12 other college credits.

You are worrying too much and are way too micro on your kid's grades. The average GPA for USAFA for the CO 2025 was 3.88, so please just relax. USAFA has been evaluating these grades for almost 60 years and they know what they are doing when it comes to class rigor, conversion, rank, college classes, school profiles, etc.

Make sure that your kid does everything else to be competitive as grades are only one part of the equation.

 

[kinnem]

Wow this is great to know! My boy has 22 college credits, 34 by the end of this semester and another AP course, plus a second AP and one honors that wasn’t a dual credit from last year, so the Air Force Academy could look at this recalculate his GPA to higher? For freshman and sophomore years, our school did not weigh courses and was on the scale where an A- was only worth 3.66 an A&A+ Were only worth 4.0, unless they were a core course, then it was 4.3 if you got an A+, but nothing higher for dual credit or anything. Then last year the school changed it’s grading system and an A regardless of whether an A+ or an A- was worth 4.0... and they started weighing college classes at 5.0. My boy has a 3.9998/4.0 unweighted and weighted 4.22 all together but with the lower weighted scale his first two years, I worried how they would figure this out. Hopefully our school profile shows the two grading systems and they recalculate. He’s the top ranked kid with the 4.22 and should be valedictorian because the second ranked kid has under a 4.19, and She shouldn’t catch him unless he messes up big time, especially with his AP course and 12 other college credits.

Yes. His GPA, as rated by any academyn should go up.

 

[BBMomma]

You are worrying too much and are way too micro on your kid's grades. The average GPA for USAFA for the CO 2025 was 3.88, so please just relax. USAFA has been evaluating these grades for almost 60 years and they know what they are doing when it comes to class rigor, conversion, rank, college classes, school profiles, etc.

Make sure that your kid does everything else to be competitive as grades are only one part of the equation.

Lol yah I don’t micromanage his grades, he does that all on his own and he has been worried about it so I asked. He even took two core classes over the summer to raise his GPA by .1 before he applied. His application is very well rounded, ranked #1 in his class, varsity captain of multiple sports, varsity all state and academic all state, national all American, numerous international trainings and placements, national honor society, student council, Honor roll and presidents list, youth wrestling coach and numerous leadership roles, he had just been worried and asking me if they would adjust his GPA since it was not the same scale for his first two years and until I saw these forum posts I had no idea how to answer him. It was nice seeing that they adjust the scales and that I could finally have an answer for him. My other children were recruited to their universities or went straight military, he is the first to seek out appointment to an academy and these forums have been a blessing to help answer questions he has that I can’t answer.

 

[BBMomma]

Yes. His GPA, as rated by any academyn should go up.

Awesome, thank you so much!

 

[MidCakePa]

This, directly from a well-regarded SA admissions consultant who is also an SA grad (we didn’t use the firm, but got great pro bono advice): It’s much less about GPA, much more about detailed review of transcript in the context of school profile. Specifically, consultant said USAFA looks at whether the candidate has taken the hardest classes the school had to offer and has excelled at them. If yes, then that’s the best the candidate can do.

 

[bopper]

@BBMamma Curious why he would want to start over if your son basically has two years of college done.

 

[BBMomma]

@BBMamma Curious why he would want to start over if your son basically has two years of college done.

He has always been a high achiever and it has been his goal to try to graduate with an associates. He will be close to this when he graduates, but he doesn’t look at it as starting over, he looks at it as focusing on his future. He always knew he wanted to be lifelong military.. dad navy, brother navy, brother army, sister was on delayed entry for Air Force, but that was placed in hold as she just gave birth recently, but he also knew what he wanted for his future, and the Air Force academy has the best Astronautical Engineering program. He knows going this route, he will get the best education while being able to serve his country! And while most of his classes, except for a select few of his AP courses, won’t transfer into the Air Force academy, he is ok with that as it will help him with his aspirations of becoming a astronautical engineer and pilot in the Air Force or Space Force, and it will give him the best opportunity to achieve his future goals post military retirement.
If he doesn’t get into the Academy, he will pursue the same degree at another top Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering school ans then he will go into the Air Force/Space Force as an Astronautical Engineering Officer anyways.

 

[OldRetSWO]

@BBMamma Curious why he would want to start over if your son basically has two years of college done.

Many/most good colleges don't/won't take all of what you might think that they'd take.
Many of my students come from highly rated Community Colleges with Associates Degrees and still end up
repeating courses. What makes this particularly galling is that we are a state institution and the state wants
us to accept all of the Community College courses but somehow there are still many not accepted.