Which gpa is more important

Knowing and understanding how colleges interpret and use these numbers is crucial to your game plan. An unweighted GPA uses a 4. Simple, right? A weighted GPA uses a scale that typically goes higher than 4. This usually means a 0 to 5. But fair warning, schools often have their own weighted GPA scale, so the above examples are only general estimates. These two numbers show admissions teams how well you perform academically — individually and compared to your class — and if you have a challenging course load.

Generally speaking, official high school transcripts include both unweighted and weighted GPA , but this can differ between schools. Instead, impressing colleges with your grades is all about working your magic on core classes including math, science, social studies, and English. This Ivy League school is extremely selective when it comes to reviewing applicants, with an acceptance rate of only 5.

The school has said that there is an advantage for students that take advanced courses — honors, AP, and International Baccalaureate classes — in high school, pointing out that the strongest, most promising candidates earn high grades and have taken full advantage of the academic opportunities available to them. There is a preference for your weighted GPA since the difficulty of your curriculum and maximizing college-preparatory courses are strongly reviewed.

It also welcomes non-traditional students, such as those who are homeschooled or completed General Education Development GED tests that meet the same requirements or at least the equivalent as other high school graduates.

Colleges look at both your unweighted and weighted GPAs. The simplified data found in the unweighted GPA helps colleges know how you perform academically while the weighted GPA indicates your class rank and how you challenge yourself with advanced classes — all of which are necessary to make a decision.

Grades are just one part of the equation. For starters, you need to work on your college essay and get your hand on some great recommendation letters! At the same time, it might be good to search for more grants and scholarships , or perhaps student loans , that will help pay for college. College admission teams look at grades very closely — including both your weighted or unweighted GPA — to determine if you deserve a spot in their freshmen class.

By working hard to get your numbers up, your application will have what it takes to attract several colleges. Sometimes weighted GPAs can be hard to understand, because different high schools may weight honors courses differently, or they may cap how many AP courses a student can take.

First, know that admissions committees are not fooled by weighted GPAs! This means excluding non-academic classes like physical education from their academic evaluation. Another thing colleges sometimes ask about is class rank, which is determined by GPA. Class rank used to play a big role in college admissions, but more recently it has fallen out of favor. Many educators argue that ranking fosters cutthroat competition among students, when in fact precise enumeration does not mean as much to colleges as overall academic performance.

For this reason, many high schools now report decile instead of rank, while some provide no comparative measure between students at all. Additionally, know that most colleges do not have official GPA requirements for admission, because grades can vary so much by student and by high school. They always seek to contextualize those grades in your larger profile. Finally, remember that while your GPA matters, the rest of your college application is also extremely important.

In addition to your GPA, admissions officers will look at your standardized test scores, college essays , extracurricular activities, and your scores on AP exams not just the grade in the class. College admissions is a largely holistic process, so any one factor can offset another. Vice versa, and they know you have innate intelligence but may struggle in certain classroom settings.

Categories: College Admissions. Subscribe to our newsletter for college admissions news. Which Colleges Consider Legacy Status? Once you've found average GPAs, compare them to your own. Are you above or below average? Most schools will give you unweighted GPA statistics , so if your GPA is weighted make sure to take this into consideration. It most likely means that you have a good chance of admission. If you're below the average, you may still have a chance depending on how far off you are.

This just means the school will probably be a reach for you. Two schools may have very different admission rates but the same average GPAs.

This means that the more selective school expects the same GPA but with more challenging coursework. I aced the rainbow parachute unit! I won't sugarcoat this: It's not easy to improve your GPA , and it only gets more difficult as high school goes on. If you're a freshman or sophomore, you still have time to make significant changes.

If you're a junior, you should probably focus more on improving your test scores. Relative to time spent studying, test scores are the easiest way to improve your chances at college admission. They will be given about as much weight in the admissions decision as your GPA for most schools. If you can manage really good scores, you will have a much better chance of getting in even if your GPA is below average for admitted students.

I would say there are three main things that you can do if you want to make your GPA better in the eyes of colleges:.

This may seem paradoxical. Won't your GPA go down if you take harder classes? Well, yes, the numbers might go down, but your GPA will be more impressive to colleges if it was earned in challenging classes. Try to level up as you progress through high school to show that you're willing to work hard for your grades. You should only follow this advice if your GPA is already good by the numbers but you aren't taking difficult classes.

If you're struggling with your current course load, don't risk moving up and failing a class! It's your job to understand and respect your limits in terms of stress and time spent on schoolwork.

A mistake that many struggling students make is that they don't ask for help from their teachers. I understand that asking for help isn't always easy—I know that I myself avoided it for years, and it only hurt me. Asking for help is the SMART thing to do, and it's going to allow you to get the individual attention you might need in order to understand concepts better. Your teachers will appreciate that you're making an effort, and you will most likely come away feeling more optimistic about your ability to grasp the material.

This is going to be one of the best ways to see a significant positive effect on your grades. Easier said than done, right? But if you're serious about improving your grades, this is the bottom line. Procrastination and lack of studying may be hurting your grades more than your academic ability. If you always do everything the night before for "long-term" projects or just glance over your notes briefly before tests, you may need to reassess your habits.

Casually reading over the stuff you need to know doesn't count as legitimate studying unless you go back and verify that you've absorbed it. Think critically about your study habits, and see if there are any areas where you can improve. If you need to create a schedule for yourself in order to keep up with your goals, go for it.

All you need is a calendar and some glue. That's how this works, right? What's a good GPA? What's a bad GPA? The real answer, as frustrating as this may be, is that it depends! Though the national average high school GPA is around a 3.

It's important to consider how your school calculates GPA, the level of your coursework, and the selectivity of the schools you hope to attend in deciding whether your GPA is good. Though GPA is very difficult to improve, you may be able to make significant changes if you're a dedicated freshman or sophomore by challenging yourself with your coursework, asking for extra help, and revising your study habits.

If it's too late to significantly improve your GPA and you don't feel that it's quite as good as it should be, focus instead on improving your standardized test scores. This will give you a better return on investment for the hours you spend studying.

Remember that the actual number value of your GPA doesn't matter nearly as much as the effort you put in to get there.