Weighted vs Unweighted GPA Trips Up College Applicants

“Is it possible to get into top schools or any ivies with weak ECs I have a summer job, tutoring, newspaper club, and key club that’s basically it. No leadership 4.0 UW gpa, top 10% in the class, 7APS, 1510 superscore Can my essays and academics be enough or is it a waste of time? submitted by /u/geeldan [link] [comments]”

“if my gpa is either 5.355/6 W or 4.0/4.0 UW which is better to submit. The W would differentiate me more but i don’t like that it says out of 6 bc i could never get 6 submitted by /u/Effective_Bus_1057 [link] [comments]”

“Question…. Stats: 3.84 UW GPA (school doesn’t do weighted), 11 APs by end of senior yr, a C in second semester math 🥀🥀 Major in psych or smth related of the sort/healthcare (nothing hard science tho) Decent ecs related to intended major… Should I submit 30 ACT for EA or wait to retake and apply RD submitted by /u/Famous-Anything5281 [link] [comments]”

“my original plan was to ed cornell but after what happened idk if i should. my next option if not cornell would be ed usc but i feel like if im going to ed i should aim higher. i also researched a lot into cornell but eding there would be giving up a lot of my morals. i rlly dont know what to do. submitted by /u/No_Pollution_9864 [link] [comments]”

“Not good freshmen and sophomore year, but did better in junior and senior. 3.58 UW 4.26 W Freshmen- Honors Bio- 87 World Geography- 93 Honors Geometry- 84 Honors Lit Comp 1- 91 Sophomore- Honors Chem- 86 Honors Adv. Algebra- 91 Honors Lit Comp 2- 88 AP Psychology- 83 AP World- 83 Spanish 1- 93 Junior- AP Physics 1- 86 Honors Lit Comp 3- 91 Honors Precalc- 93 Dual Enroll Spanish 2- 95 AP Physics 2- 83 AP Statistics- 90 Dual Enroll US History- 95 Senior- Dual Enroll English Comp 1- 95 Dual Enroll”

“my school does class rank by weight so i figured yes submitted by /u/Ok-Operation6537 [link] [comments]”

“Edit: I know it’s unrealistic! And I have a balanced list of schools. This is like the one reach I want to get into!! Like a 3.1. I know it’s kind of crazy to think about uchicago and certain other schools but I know I’m smart. I’ve always been a straight A student up until sophomore and junior year. I do have extenuating circumstances, I’ve struggled with my mental health so badly throughout my life, but frustratingly it’s only affected my grades when it mattered most. Despite my depression and”

“so i had straight As my freshman year in all the hardest classes, took 3 APs my sophmore year and got 6 semesters with a C and 2 semesters with a D. worse is that those classes are STEM related which doesnt really help my major (aero eng). then junior year i had straight As in everything taking 5 APs which made my UW a 3.1 and my weighted a 3.7. this is really bad so how do i explain that dip sophmore year? if i'm being honest the real reason is that this girl i really liked rejected me and”

“I go to a super competitive school where getting a 10% class rank is basically impossible. I had the rigor to do it but then I got some Bs in three of my classes which fucked my GPA :( I'm still in the top 15% but I have a 3.88UW and 4.57 weighted. I know kids with a 4.3 that aren't even in the top 50%, for reference. A friend of mine was salutatorian and he took 3 AP courses in all of high school, in the same county. Do colleges consider the difference between that kind of thing or do t”

“for context ive taken 15 ap + de classes, the usual ones like ap chem, ap bio, apush and whatnot. im applying for bio and im scared my low capped gpa will cook me when i apply for this fall as bio in the uc systems is very impacted. should i be worried? submitted by /u/Ok-Category-5744 [link] [comments]”

“I experienced certain financial hardship which impacted prep and my gpa just a little, but my AP scores r all 5s (13 aps by the end of senior year). Rlly good Ecs, want to major in neuro, cognitive science, or psych. Would TO hurt ? submitted by /u/Dismal_Wishbone502 [link] [comments]”

“I have a 3.9 uw and a 4.7/4 weighted gpa, I am class rank 10/659 students , my freshman year i got 2 b's in non stem classes and my sophomore year I took 8 DE and 4 AP classes and ended up getting all a's except for 1 c in a non-stem class. Is it even worth applying ppl on reddit keep on giving me mixed answers i js want it to be direct lol. from 9-11 grade I took 12 AP and 16 dual enrollment classes, I am applying as a engineering or cs major and I have a 35 ACT. Awards: 2nd place TSA,”

“For context i got 1 B freshman year 4Bs sophmore year 4B one C junior yr and got into UCI! dont lose hope i guess current seniors. 10 APs, no clubs, unique extracurriculars but nothing outstanding! Relatively comp high school too. submitted by /u/Raspbertrea09132 [link] [comments]”

“Hi, im planning on applying to some competitive colleges (5-20% Acceptance rates), so any advice is appreciated :] ——— 1. Should I use my weighted (5. Scale) or unweighted GPA? W: 4.438 UW: 3.958 For context, I am currently in the IB DP program (Taking max HL classes with all A grades) Additionally, I did 2 APs sophomore year (A in CSP & B in Lang) Also, I just started 2 dual enrollment classes this semester I have not gotten anything other than an A throughout highschool, besides a B in AP”

“As a rising senior, I’m trying to get into Barnard ED with a 3.721 UW/4.233 W on a 4.0/5.0 scale. My school is very competitive, and I was just wondering if it’s worth applying to Barnard still. Is that average or should I save my ED? submitted by /u/Outrageous-Coat7000 [link] [comments]”

“Do colleges care more about unweighted or weighted GPA? If I take a lot of APs next year, sure my weighted GPA would be good, but I’m worried about my unweighted. Can anyone provide any insight? submitted by /u/EntertainmentBusy638 [link] [comments]”

“Stats: 3.92 uw and a 4.71 weighted class rank 10/659 ACT: 35 I am applying as a Computer science or engineering major Course rigor: 10 APS, 14 DE classes *** more info below**** **I had a C in a CC class in 10th grade in a non stem class, i got an A in the AP version of the class and it is completely unrelated to my major and I had 2 b's freshman year in non stem classes, I got A's in the subsequent versions of the classes I got a b's in Awards: 2nd place TSA, led to qualifying for n”

“Hi! I'm curious because people generally say that there's a GPA cutoff below which your application won't be considered - which, okay - and then a GPA like a 3.85 or 3.9 UW is usually above the cutoff and you will be considered. Makes sense. It also seems to be emphasized that you need to be in a top very few percent of your graduating class GPA wise . A lot of high schools today are grade inflated-- and at my competitive school like 20 % of the graduating class has 4.0s. Competitive”

“Hey I’m really discouraged with my grades. As of senior year I will have taken 9 aps throughout my high school career but I’ve gotten Bs in almost all of them. I’m really discouraged because my gpa is not the best at all but i do well in many other things. I’m just crushed because I feel like if I had a good gpa my application would be pretty competitive. The thing about me is that I’m a Jack of all trades master of none type of person so I’m very well rounded. I have a lot of ecs that are all a”

“Hi everyone, I'm a rising sophomore in florida who got bad grades in 9th grade (3.259 UW, 4.148 W); can I still get into an Ivy League school? I experienced a family member passing, which is why my GPA was so low. I've done well on standardized tests (a 5 on AP World History and a perfect score on the Florida state reading test). I also have decent extracurriculars. My extracurriculars include 3 internships (ADP, a German banking firm so which I traveled abroad for, and a local school IT”

“For context I took 8 aps and 7 AICE classes with a few Dual Enrollment classes, so I went max rigor in my school. I'm in top 5% too. submitted by /u/Unusual-Ordinary-271 [link] [comments]”

“Alright soo my counselor snubbed me of an off period for the school year and placed me in academic psychology for the year which, compared to my higher weighted AP classes, will inevitably even with a perfect 100 bring my GPA down. I’m just wondering, would this have any significant effect on my application? Given that the most recent thing they see on the app is end of junior year grades, and after that they just monitor you to make sure you’re not flunking do you think having this class on my”

“(International student here btw studying in a uni outside US) I will be starting college this fall and one of my dream colleges cost a lot of money. I can only end up there if I get close to a 4.0 and rank top in the batch (this way I get a scholarship and only then would my dream college become affordable). Should I place this bet? (I do have straight a+ grades throughout my highschool) Colleges in my country don't offer financial aid at all. I also want to live a life in college. Spent a l”

“Hello! I'll try keep things brief. I went to Berkeley (go bears!) from 2015-2019.and majored in ME. I started off really strong, but I was really depressed (spoiler for mental health) and borderline extremely suicidal and antisocial ended up tanking my sophomore and junior year GPA. my trend went as follows: 4.0--> 2.3 --> 2.5 --> 4.0. Ended up graduating with a 3.5(?) cumulative since I didn't take many credits during my sophomore + junior years. I think my major gpa was a 3.3-”

“Ok I apologize in advance but I’m just overthinking about this - is one singular B+ fine for applying to T20s? I got the B+ in AP Statistics junior year. It is the only B+ on my transcript and I took 5 APs that year including AP stats (a lot for my school). I got a 5 on the exam and it’ll hopefully be fine, right? I’m just so used to seeing perfect 4.0 students so please don’t berate me submitted by /u/mirrorballmastermind [link] [comments]”

“so i'm looking at applying to some top schools. my unweighted gpa is a 3.99, with my only a-'s coming from painting and freshman year english. i haven't gotten my weighted gpa from my school yet but based on what i calculated it's only ~4.15. while i have taken a ton of ap/advanced classes, i'm also very heavily involved with music and have taken 4 unweighted music courses per year for all of high school. i'm worried that my weighted gpa will seem kinda low, but i also do”

“So basically I have a 3.5 (uw) gpa from my freshman year second semester (where I got an 89 in all my classes) and sophomore year (where I was really homesick and didn’t get the best grades) but have gotten straight A’s since then. I was wondering if I should go through my entire senior year first semester (where I assume I’ll also get straight A’s to boost my gpa further and maybe show more of an upward trend but leave me hitting submit to all my apps in late December/early January or just appl”

“I have received a C in my DE class over a false cheating accusation, and unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it. I have also received 2 b's freshman year. My uw gpa will likely be a 3.92 uw and my weighted will be close to a 4.6. I will be applying with 11 AP classes taken and 8 CCP classes taken, how much will the C hurt me? I am currently a Sophomore, this year I will have taken 6 CCP classes and 4 AP classes. EDIT: The C was in principles of microeconomics and I will be applying”

“I got a C in a summer dual enrollment class for introductory sociology. I’m so upset and it is going to bring my UW gpa from a 3.92 down to about a 3.81. will this seriously hurt me? especially if i have a 4.6 weighted and 1510 SAT? looking at unc chapel hill (in stat), Duke, Ut austin submitted by /u/gigilolreddit [link] [comments]”

“As a summary, I got terrible grades in my freshman and sophomore year, and was all sparkly in my junior year after I felt better. Because of my slightly unusual track record, I am unsure if my application is pulling me more towards something like a bad community college or more respectable, mid-tier one. Ideally, I'd like to be at a t40 or study internationally. I will describe my circumstances in further detail: (I am aware that this one thick block of text) During my freshman and sophomore”

“DO THEY RECALCULATE. BTW IM EDING TO CORNELL submitted by /u/heezz12312313 [link] [comments]”

“Hi! I'm an undergrad and I'm used to the competitiveness of undergrad admissions so this quesiton might seem stupid. But I'm taking study abroad classes and am a bit worried about my grade in one class-- I've never gotten anything below an A- in a class before, and it would sting to get a B in a sic-week study abroad class. I also don't know much about how different grad programs look at grades. But I have 28 pass/fail credits from freshman year (mostly bc I was in an intensi”

“I'm a rising senior and I'm super conflicted about what to do. For context, I have a 3.93 UW GPA (Will probably go up to a 3.94 after my summer courses), a 4.23 W (will also go up after my summer courses), and a 36 ACT. In school, I'm a three-year varsity captain, am the assistant coach for one of the boys' varsity teams, was on student council for a year (during which I created new school systems that drastically changed student involvement/ engagement in events), am a school am”

“Context: Rising sophomore with a 4.25/4.6 UW gpa, school doesn't do weighted. The letter grades chalk up to 4 A's (4) and 3 A+'s (4.6). The 2 top advanced courses anyone in grade can take (I took) are a's. Obviously, I want to get my GPA up. But, lets say it stays the same. Do colleges recalculate GPA for everyone? Also, does the 4 A's and 3 A+'s seem like it would be a 3.7 or is that low? submitted by /u/Independent-Rub3156 [link] [comments]”

“3.5 UW 4.1 W 1500 Indian female bay area California premed pretty good extracurriculars and course rigor. I’m worried abt my low GPA in between Tufts, CWRU, Brown, BU, and NEU for early decision? I have visited/toured all of these and have demonstrated interest. any current student experiences submitted by /u/Street_Queen [link] [comments]”

“gang I might have posted about this before but I’m really stressed out 😭 so I have a 3.6 gpa as a rising senior because my school is competitive and grades are really deflated. I tried really hard to increase it and genuinely had no free time this year because of that but it still remains a 3.6 🙏, and i feel like that’s low, especially if i’m trying to get into t50s 😭. the rest of my application is fine but definitely not anything that will make up for the 3.6 times like these make me feel li”

“I'm going into my senior year this year. My class rank is 175/386 and I have a weighted GPA of 3.7. I'm in the top 50% of my class, but I really want to go to a (not that hard to get into) university, then law school, so I need to try to get into the top 25%. I take dual credit courses (I'm about to be double enrolled in 2 different universities) and APS. (I'm taking gov this year) Is it possible to jump that many spots this late?? My counselor was talking about how Junior year i”

“Hi! I had a question about AP scores and whether I should submit them to colleges. I’m planning to major in Biochemistry on the premed track . I got a 3 on AP Calculus BC (with a 4 AB subscore ) and a 3 on AP English Language . Would it be better to submit these scores, or would they hurt my application? I’m applying to a mix of schools, and I’m not sure if these scores are worth sending, especially for a STEM major and premed. I’d appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thanks! sub”

“Hey guys it’s me again I got my AP calc bc score today and I got a 3 with a 4 ab sub score and I want to apply to t20s for data science or stats and cs. I know this is not ideal but will it hurt a lot in admissions? I’ll retake it next year for college credit but I just wanted to know if colleges will care a lot about it since I’m applying for STEM. I got A’s all year in the actual class bc my teacher was pretty chill tho, will that make up for something? submitted by /u/No-Jaguar275”

“Ik this is a first-world problem, but I'm concerned about my AP scores. So far, I have 3 4s and 3 5s; however, all of the exams related to my intended major are 4s. has anyone else had experience with this? I'm not sure how it'll affect my application if at all. submitted by /u/boomchakabaka [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone! I posted here a while back when my GPA was much lower, and I wanted to come back with an update and ask for some honest advice about my chances moving forward. For some background, I started college pretty young and didn't have the strongest start academically. At my lowest, my cumulative GPA was around a 2.9. I have about five C's on my transcript, mostly from earlier in college (first year), which obviously brought my GPA down quite a bit. Since then, I've worked reall”

“Gpa UW: 3.8 GPA W: 4.2/4.3 APS: 16 SAT:1580 Context: my school grade deflates and my grades have a crazy upward trend bc I was super depressed and lowk a chud in my freshman year submitted by /u/No-Confusion2192 [link] [comments]”

“Hi so Im a rising senior and applying to 4 year colleges, and I know UC requirement is gpa of 2.5+, and i have failed some classes and Im nto sure if I am even uc/csu eligible, is there anything I can do at this point? I have decent extracurriculars (like research,sport,internships,coaching,tutoring,volunteer), its just my gpa. what can i do at this point as a rising senior? im genuinely so scared pls dont bash me like I just fully gave up on my studies I think. But over the summer right now I h”

“Hey so I see many college app stories and all of them got this thing in common where they put their GPA in this format(x/4.0). But in my school it's from 100, like they take average. Mine is 99.1(no it's not inflated,most students get in 80's). My question is how do colleges see this? Like is it 4.0 or they see it just as it is submitted by /u/philly_eth [link] [comments]”

“I’m going into my 5th year as a senior psych major. I have a 2.20 GPA at my current institution and left my previous one with a 2.50 GPA. I have a mix of A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, F’s, W’s, and WF’s on my transcript. Probably an even amount of all of those grades. I graduate next spring 2027 and my plan is to get mostly A’s and B’s this last year. I’m worried that I’ve wasted my time and money in college because of how bad I think my transcript is. If you’re a professor, could you be blunt and honest”

“Honestly I wouldn’t consider myself T20 material, but I still hope to get to a decent college with good education. I’ve locked in a bit decently in academics and got a 3.8 UW gpa, took 4 aps so far (also trying to get my act score up 🫠). I’ve signed up for more ap and dual college credit classes for senior year to build a good academic profile. But I just really don’t know about extracurriculars. Aside from tutoring as a side hustle, I don’t have anything else. I’ve tried to get more involved i”

“I have a 3.5 UW GPA, my SAT is around 1100 (currently spamming khan academy and studying for the aug/sep SAT hopefully can improve to 1300s. ). I take all IB courses. (Only one HL though- art) My GPA isn't the highest at all but I dont think its terrible. I have a lot of extracurriculars but they are all athletic, and im hoping I can get some sort of aid to help out my parents especially because I want to go to school in the US coming from southeast asia. Im 2 year volleyball captain, partic”

“Hi everyone, I am currently a rising senior in college majoring in business analytics and information systems (3.6 gpa). I had a realization last semester that I heavily disliked my major and wasn’t passionate about it enough to push myself to excel, and I couldn’t ignore anymore how much I felt out of place personality wise (which is crucial for networking/corporate politics). I also never felt challenged or stimulated in a way that played to my intellectual strengths. I decided to pivot and go”

“I have a 3.76 UW 4.6 W after junior year and I'm still studying for the SAT but in case I do bad is it possible to get into a top 30/20 test optional? Senior year course load is 5 AP's so I will have taken 10 APs throughout hs. Planning to major in Finance/Economics depending on school submitted by /u/Alarming-Gur5461 [link] [comments]”

“Hi all, thanks for reading. I am currently a junior and I have just finished school. I was going through some mental health problems this year, including depression, and I also received an ADHD diagnosis. I have had decently okay grades the past 2 years, but this marking period they were particularly bad due to everything that was going on. My average would be at roughly 92 overall weighted with the bad marking period, although I do have upward trend besides that. My sat is a 1540 and I have goo”

“my unweighted gpa is a 3.9 ish but if i exclude freshman year like the ucs and stanford do, it drops to a 3.84-3.85 (i had a bad sophomore year). because this gpa is on the lower end, i was just wondering if ivies would leave out freshman year when calculating gpa? submitted by /u/Natural_Regular7471 [link] [comments]”

“Biggest question: My school uses the 4.0 scale, but an A in a weighted class is a 5.0. I have a 4.48 WGPA 9-12 and that is the only 9-12 (cumulative) GPA shown on my transcript. Anyway, do I put that the school uses a 4.0 scale, or do I do 5.0 because a 5.0 is achievable in weighted classes? If parents are divorced and you split time equally between their houses, do you say that your primary residence is with "both parents"? The best other option would seem to be "Other" or &”

“so i just ended my junior year with a 3.0. which i realize isnt great, but it ended up being a pretty good comeback from the dumpster fire that was my sophomore year. (bunch of medical issues, ended up missing a ton of school, shot grades) so all in all im not terribly upset, but i would like to get my gpa up to a 3.2-3.4 if possible. i know that would be a lot of hard work, but thats not really what my question is about. im just wondering: so if i apply to colleges in october lets say, and then”

“I'm a rising senior and have been struggling to decide on a major before application season starts. I'd appreciate any advice on majors, careers, or colleges that might fit my interests and background. Background Korean immigrant, moved to the U.S. in 2015 and later became a U.S. citizen Family income: ~$400k+ California resident Interested in attending a university with strong academics, internship opportunities, and good career outcomes Academics GPA: 3.89 weighted 3.62 unweighted. Out”

“i really messed up freshman year—largely due to circumstances outside of my control but that’s life. my gpa is a 4.1w counting freshman year but a 4.55w without considering freshman year. i was wondering if anyone knows any schools that don’t consider freshman year grades. i know the ucs and emory don’t, but i cannot afford oos tuition at ucs. if anyone knows any other schools that would be much appreciated. i heard somewhere that princeton doesn’t but i haven’t seen that confirmed anywhere. &#3”

“is this enough for t20s? It is max rigor but I am worried about the gpa number itself. (4.72 weighted, 3.8 uw but colleges dont care about weighted?) I go to a small school that has a standardized curriculum and we take classes that are classified as Advanced Honors (supposed to be ap or harder equivalent, but not exact bc we have classes like AH Geometry). 5 core classes per year (plus AH theology but I am not counting that) x 4 years = 20 AP equivalents. Took 6 AP Exams (all related to course”

“Hi! I’m a rising junior interested in applying to business schools, probably for finance, but I feel like my extracurriculars don’t really line up with that interest and honestly aren’t super competitive compared to a lot of applicants. Most of my activities are focused on civic engagement and community service because those are the opportunities I’ve found and genuinely enjoyed: Co-President of Community Service Board Peer Leader (selective mentoring program) Stage Manager/Assistant Stage Manag”

“I'm unsure if colleges take the type of school you attend into account but these were my freshman stats at a private school. I took 2 honors classes. (8 classes) 2 B 1 B+ 2 A- Does this screw me up in the long run? submitted by /u/LuleKaX [link] [comments]”

“I was wondering if high test scores, great essays+ec's, and recommendations could help combat a lower GPA (~3.5 uw), especially if you are applying for ED0 with an upward trend and lots of academic rigor while going to a competitive school that has close relations with Universities like UChicago? submitted by /u/Fabulous-Yogurt5862 [link] [comments]”