A weighted GPA reflects the difficulty of students’ coursework and considers the rigor of their high school classes when measuring their GPA.
Eliminating weighted grades that come with these advanced classes could impact how high school students’ college applications are received, creating an unfair competition between students who take advanced courses and those who don’t.
The difference between an unweighted and weighted GPA is that an unweighted GPA simply calculates the overall grade of a student without any regard for the rigor of their coursework. Conversely, a weighted GPA demonstrates the more advanced aspect of students’ courses and adds value to their GPAs depending on the classes taken.
While many people may argue that weighted GPAs are not required or not important in the admissions process, it might help to know that most college admissions officers take academic GPA and the rigor of students’ course load very seriously.
Generally, more selective universities such as Ivy League schools and other top schools find more advanced courses and higher GPAs to be more attractive and compelling when considering applicants.
Many Ivy League colleges, including the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Cornell, and Yale, mention in their common data set that they find the rigor of high school and academic GPA to be very important in a student’s college application.
Some people argue that weighted GPAs put pressure on students and coerce them to take more AP and honors classes. But eliminating the weighted GPA altogether could place an even bigger pressure on high school students because it can become more difficult to stand out in a competitive environment without weighted GPAs.
For instance, if students take AP US History, a course that is said to be one of the most difficult AP courses, their cumulative GPA might be lower than those who took regular history. This is because all GPAs will be represented on a 4.0 scale and not on a scale that compensates for the rigor of classes.
When taking into account the importance of a weighted GPA, it should be noted that students’ GPA, including the additional points they get for the completion of an honors course, is what college admissions will consider when reviewing applications.
It goes without saying that weighted classes should be treated differently from other courses on students’ transcripts. While it is true colleges have access to a complete transcript, GPA is an important factor in the college admissions process.
In the eyes of admissions officers, a student who has a high unweighted GPA is someone who performs well academically, while students with high weighted GPAs demonstrate they can keep up that level of accomplishment when challenged with more rigorous curriculum. Colleges look at both when reviewing a college application.
Eliminating weighted GPAs could change this because colleges will only look at the unweighted GPA.