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The GPA Scale
The Grade Point Average, commonly referred to simply as the GPA, is a numerical average that gives a summary of a student’s academic performance in all of their courses at a given school. In the United States, a standardized GPA system is typically used to track undergraduate progress in institutions of higher learning. However, some high schools have different GPA scales that determine whether students fail a program or if they are successful at it. Despite these differences, most college candidates need to know their academic standing.
During the freshman admission process, colleges and universities will consider numerous factors before accepting a college application for enrollment. In addition to extracurricular activities, standardized test scores, and college essays, admission officers look at your grade point average scores according to the official high school transcript. High schools or secondary schools and colleges typically use different grading scales. Therefore, as a student, your main goal is to focus on maintaining a high number on the GPA scale, regardless of the scale adopted by your school. How do you do this? By participating actively in class activities, taking tutorials, and acing your classes.
Why Should You Understand How GPA Scaling Works?
High school seniors must understand that the sum of their academic achievements is measured on a grade point average scale. Secondary schools generally make it evident that the culmination of the results of all your classes plays a huge role in getting admitted to a good college. However, these schools seldom explain the importance of these digits. How do schools calculate GPA scores, and how significant are they during college admissions?
Luckily, Empowerly experts are here to give you a comprehensive overview of how GPA scaling works—and the average GPA grades that colleges and universities look for in a candidate.
Most of the time, your high school GPA scores can be obtained through a report card, your school’s transcript, or conversing with your guidance counselors. Generally, the higher the number, the better your academic standing. Different high schools adopt different GPA scaling methods, and it is important to understand how to convert these scores to a 4.0 grading scale. But first, let us discuss the types of GPA scales used by schools.
Types of GPA Scales
There are two types of GPA scales, and they are 1) Weighted and 2) Unweighted. The two scales serve the same purpose, which is to provide an accurate representation of a student’s performance in their classes. However, they go about separate ways to represent performance based on course difficulty.
In general, universities and colleges prefer a holistic overview of students’ academic performance. Therefore, an admission officer searches for good academic achievements for both unweighted and weighted GPAs. Nevertheless, let’s discuss the differences for your information.
Unweighted Scales
Traditionally, an unweighted GPA is calculated in a range, from 0.0 to 4.0. This system considers the student’s grade from letters A to D and matches it with the corresponding number on the scale. An “A” grade is given a 4.0, and the values go down by to a “D” average at 1.0 (any lower is considered an “F” for failing).
An unweighted GPA scale, however, does not consider the difficulty of the coursework in the final grading system. It directly represents a high school senior’s grades in compulsory courses and extras throughout their high school years without giving additional points to the challenging courses.
Weighted Scales
Weighted scales, on the other hand, represent a student’s ability to excel with additional and more advanced coursework. This scale gives more points to grades obtained from Advanced Placement (AP) and honors classes. In other words, it does not just give a 4.0 grade to distinctions earned in these classes. Instead, it considers the levels of coursework as well. Consistently, weighted scales assign 5.0 and 4.5 for distinctions in honors and AP classes, respectively. Because more points are given to challenging courses, weighted GPA scales tend to exceed the 4.0 scale.
How to Convert Your GPA to a 4.0 Scale
Most colleges and universities in the United States adopt the four-point or the 4.0 grading scale. As a standard metric, it is used to evaluate student’s academic strength and excellence under pressure.
There are many factors to consider if you want to manually calculate your GPA on a 4.0 scale. You need to understand that honors and AP classes have higher points than traditional high school courses. An “A” in an honors course is 4.5 points on a weighted scale, while an “A” in an AP course is 5.0. We have provided a table for reference to help to complete your 4.0 GPA conversion.
Here is the 4.0 GPA equivalent for regular high school courses.
To complete your weighted grading calculations, you should add a half point to your Honors classes and an entire point to AP classes. Since these courses are more challenging, you are awarded extra points for completing them. If you get a “B” in an honors class, instead of a 3.0 grade, you get a 3.5. In the same vein, If you get a “B-” in an AP class, you are awarded a 3.7 instead of a 2.7.
Get Your GPA On a 4.0 Scale
There is quite a bit of calculation required to acquire your grade point average. Using the 4.0-grade scaling described above, you will need to multiply grade points for each earned score with each course’s unit (the course’s level of difficulty). When you are done multiplying all your courses with their units, you will have to add all the values together to get a total sum of your grades. Once you have this value, for the final step, you have to divide the total sum by the total number of credits your courses are worth.
That is the formula for how to manually calculate your GPA grade on a 4.0-grade scale. This approach works for both weighted and unweighted GPAs. It can be exhausting to manually compute your GPA, especially if you have completed quite a number of courses in high school. Fortunately, there are college 4.0 calculators available online, which you can use to speed up the process.
Average Weighted GPA Considered By Top Schools
Here is a table displaying the average Weighted GPA of Students accepted at some of the top universities in the country.
While creating your college applications, you have to check out the average weighted GPA score that your preferred institutions accept. Suppose your weighted score does not fall in the required range. In that case, you have to complement your grades with a high standardized test score, a powerfully written essay, evidence of extracurricular participation, and leadership skills. Taking extra honors and AP classes will make you stand out among your peers. Also, providing a quality internship experience is a proven way to boost the strength of your college applications.
The institutions see candidates with extensive work experience as dedicated individuals who are career oriented and take their education seriously. On the surface level, sending as many college applications as possible may sound like a good idea. However, Empowerly experts have determined the magic numberof colleges you should select.
As we described earlier, two students can have the same unweighted grade on the 4.0 grading scale but a different weighted grade. The levels of your classes can make a huge difference in your weighted GPA. Colleges may care more about weighted GPA scores, but that does not mean that they just check the numbers and approve students for admission. They will look at all available information about your coursework to get an idea of your academic strengths. The factors that they consider are the level of difficulty of classes you take in high school.
A transcript lists all your grades and subjects, including challenging classes in your coursework. Colleges are more interested in accepting applications from students that challenge themselves by opting for rigorous classes. Even if your GPA is not a perfect 4.0, your application has a better chance of getting selected than a student that follows the easy route and has a perfect GPA. To stand out entirely during the admission process, you should attempt to add honors and advanced placement classes to your coursework and make sure to excel in them. Although it is extra work, the benefits you will gain are worth it. Maintaining a high-weighted and unweighted grade on the 5.0 and 4.0 grading scales is just a part of the requirements to get into a good college.
You should also explore articles from Empowerly experts that will give you tips to prepare for an Ivy League college interview, in this case, an Harvard University interview.
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