Is it unusual to have a 5.0 weighted GPA upon high school graduation?

[Anonymous]

Yes bc the 5.0 scale is weird & many districts require (often multiple) unweighted core or elective courses.

All A’s, however, is not unusual. I think I read a WaPo article a year or two ago that Arlington’s W&L hs had 108 kids all with straight As in advanced courses.

[Anonymous]

I can't speak to any other system, but for MCPS specifically, the inflationary impact of having Honors, AP and IB classes all weighted the same, combined with an 89.5 (or higher) one quarter plus a 79.5 (or higher) the other quarter of a semester yielding the exact same semester grade as a 100 both quarters, is well known to the admissions offices of all top schools. At most high performing MCPS high schools, there are way more kids graduating with straight As every year than get into T10 or T15 schools. The only way to graduate with 5.0 is to some way have avoided the PE requirement.

Because they understand that the important issue is whether you get As in the most rigorous classes -- not whether you have a 4.8 versus a 4.9 -- I don't know any kid who declined to take PE as a freshman, when their friends did, but perhaps the culture at other schools is different. But to answer OP -- coming from MCPS, no, a 5.0 won't get you anywhere that an unweighted 4.0 in rigorous classes will get you, regardless of the weighted GPA that results.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:In MCPS this is only possible if you figure out a way to fulfill the PE requirement with a weighted class- not sure if there’s a DE class for this? Some people do wait until senior year to take gym since most colleges are looking at your end of junior year GPA. Seems pretty ridiculous though.

+1 PE and health are required and unweighted so impossible to get a 5.0. But yes, as PP said, if they wait til senior year to do it, maybe their junior year GPA could be a 5.0.

OP here. It's true DD hasn't taken PE yet. We were waiting til senior year so she could have a stress-free period during college application season.

But she took Honors Health A and B the summer after 8th grade, and apparently this still counts as an advanced class.

You're, "Gee, golly...we had no idea honors health would have been a grade boost...until now we didn't realize the word "honors" in the title "apparently" had meaning..." is disingenuous. Same with saying you waited until senior year to take PE so she had a stress free period in app season. That may be a tangential benefit, but your family knew long ago doing it this way meant no unweighted grade entered for PE by the time colleges look at the transcript. And planned it out that way.

Obviously the schools will see through the latter. A kid with a 5.0 at the time of application, who is taking less rigor senior year because of the choice to take PE then isn’t going to have an advantage over a kid who chose to save their elective spots for senior year so they could take extra advanced courses.

The 5.0 is one impressive choice but not more so than others.

Of course...but OP is the one who said, "apparently" the honors health courses she took during the summer boosted the kid's grade. That's what the "gee, golly" is addressing. AOs won't be saying it.

That was in response to an earlier PP who said Health was not weighted. Don't jump down people's throats with accusations when you haven't read the natural back and forth.

I think Health in MCPS is now exclusively Honors, so kids don't even have a choice. Plus, it's boring as heck.

It is bizarre that MCPS has "honors" health weighted the same as AP Physics. Grade inflation central.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Anyways, if the school recalculates GPA using the same scale for everything, this non-sense is all mooot

But applicants do get a nod for taking the hardest courses, no matter how the GPA is recalculated.

But is it better to take AP Physics and get a B because it's a hella hard class or "Honors" Physics and get an A and a GPA boost and a more pleasant life with less studying. That is the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It only matters in the context of the high school. It’s not the 5.0, it’s where a 5.0 falls in the graduating class.

+1

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:In MCPS this is only possible if you figure out a way to fulfill the PE requirement with a weighted class- not sure if there’s a DE class for this? Some people do wait until senior year to take gym since most colleges are looking at your end of junior year GPA. Seems pretty ridiculous though.

+1 PE and health are required and unweighted so impossible to get a 5.0. But yes, as PP said, if they wait til senior year to do it, maybe their junior year GPA could be a 5.0.

OP here. It's true DD hasn't taken PE yet. We were waiting til senior year so she could have a stress-free period during college application season.

But she took Honors Health A and B the summer after 8th grade, and apparently this still counts as an advanced class.

You're, "Gee, golly...we had no idea honors health would have been a grade boost...until now we didn't realize the word "honors" in the title "apparently" had meaning..." is disingenuous. Same with saying you waited until senior year to take PE so she had a stress free period in app season. That may be a tangential benefit, but your family knew long ago doing it this way meant no unweighted grade entered for PE by the time colleges look at the transcript. And planned it out that way.

Obviously the schools will see through the latter. A kid with a 5.0 at the time of application, who is taking less rigor senior year because of the choice to take PE then isn’t going to have an advantage over a kid who chose to save their elective spots for senior year so they could take extra advanced courses.

The 5.0 is one impressive choice but not more so than others.

Of course...but OP is the one who said, "apparently" the honors health courses she took during the summer boosted the kid's grade. That's what the "gee, golly" is addressing. AOs won't be saying it.

That was in response to an earlier PP who said Health was not weighted. Don't jump down people's throats with accusations when you haven't read the natural back and forth.

I think Health in MCPS is now exclusively Honors, so kids don't even have a choice. Plus, it's boring as heck.

Please quote what I said that was jumping down your throat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes bc the 5.0 scale is weird & many districts require (often multiple) unweighted core or elective courses.

All A’s, however, is not unusual. I think I read a WaPo article a year or two ago that Arlington’s W&L hs had 108 kids all with straight As in advanced courses.

That depends on what tricks the schools uses to convert numerical grades to letter grades.

What is the numerical cut off for an "A", 90? 93? 97? Do students get extra points added for honors or AP before conversion to letter grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyways, if the school recalculates GPA using the same scale for everything, this non-sense is all mooot

But applicants do get a nod for taking the hardest courses, no matter how the GPA is recalculated.

But is it better to take AP Physics and get a B because it's a hella hard class or "Honors" Physics and get an A and a GPA boost and a more pleasant life with less studying. That is the question.

If someone takes AP Physics and has to study more and have a less pleasant life and still gets a B, well, maybe STEM isn't for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It only matters in the context of the high school. It’s not the 5.0, it’s where a 5.0 falls in the graduating class.

You may want to check out Naviance to see how other kids from your kid's school fared with similar GPAs when applying to highly selective schools, if that is what your kid is interested in. Note: Naviance is more useful for colleges with many applicants from your particular high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyways, if the school recalculates GPA using the same scale for everything, this non-sense is all mooot

But applicants do get a nod for taking the hardest courses, no matter how the GPA is recalculated.

But is it better to take AP Physics and get a B because it's a hella hard class or "Honors" Physics and get an A and a GPA boost and a more pleasant life with less studying. That is the question.

Not any question asked by anyone on this thread.