Which GPA matters most? UW or weighted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several kids in MCPS will get WGPA's like that...if they have many honors or AP classes plus middle school classes that have high school credit...Like French 6 or Algebra. If the child is in one of the science or math magnets Wheaton Biomedical, Blair math program etc. Then yes they can get a high weighted GPA because most of their classes are honors or AP plus they have the extra middle school component classes. Very few, but a few.

I have a child at Blair and have not seen a 4.89 on Naviance.

It’s almost impossible. We have a couple get close at our W school but none that high. I’d say it’s a troll with Naviance access.

4.8 PHS. Beginning of Senior year. All As. 5 HS credits earned in MS. 2 were honors. These are kids who took AP world lang in 10th grade. Do the Math. In the SMCS pathway, these scores add up, especially if the kid is doing HS level credits in MS.

In fact, the HS level credits at MS actually pulls down the wGPA because there are 3 or 4 credits that are unweighted. If you just take the credits earned during HS ...the wGPA shoots up because the unweighted credits in MS gets dropped. Essentially, these kids have credits from 7 years of school instead of 4. And without the unweighted foundational courses in MS, they would not have been able to do the APs and post-APs early in their HS career.

I did do the math and it doesn’t add up. 4.8s are somewhat common. Even 4.87s. But not above 4.87.

I am seeing several 4.89 on Naviance in Poolesville. I know several kids who have 4.8 at end of Junior year, and have a completely weighted course load in Senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh and i say that because you are competing with kids like mine who is 4.89 with 15 AP classes, National Merit Semi Finalist and Valedictorian or Sudatorian depending on how senior grades go. In the DMV higher is way better because higher here is average.

Your child must be great at memorization!

What else do they do in AP classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and i say that because you are competing with kids like mine who is 4.89 with 15 AP classes, National Merit Semi Finalist and Valedictorian or Sudatorian depending on how senior grades go. In the DMV higher is way better because higher here is average.

The 4.89 is likely MCPS. Colleges know those GPAs are inflated and judge students by their own school district.

Even at MCPS that high of gpa is very rare. You see a couple in Scattergrams heading off to the Ivys. Many incredible colleges are taking kids with lower gpas and more reasonable AP loads than 15. That said, 1 AP as a junior is low for most competitive DMV high schools.

My kid has a weighted GPA of 5.something. Taking a pile of idiotic AP classes. Some of the kids in those classes are dumb as dirt, so my kid says. But they get more "weight" in their GPA for the APs.

It's completely ridiculous!

Any college that r=relies only on GPA/test scores I don't want my kid attending. Do they even bother looking at the classes the kids take? Read recommendations? Interview the kid? (ya, covid...) Read their essays? Look at the whole kid?

The college admissions process is completely broken.

And don't go cawing about Europe. I think their system is better in some ways because kids who aren't college material don't end up in college. Here, everyone has to go to college, also ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

College application reviews by admission committee is an iterative process.

First and preliminary selection - Unweighted GPA is KING in the initial sorting. This is where they will cull most students.

Second round - Course rigor based on course availability in the school.

In the second round - the GPA of CORE SUBJECTS, course rigor, AP- IB performance, SAT/ACT scores etc, will all be ranked and examined by the college and assigned one numerical score called the ACADEMIC INDEX. This score enables them to do apples to apples comparison between different candidates from different schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and i say that because you are competing with kids like mine who is 4.89 with 15 AP classes, National Merit Semi Finalist and Valedictorian or Sudatorian depending on how senior grades go. In the DMV higher is way better because higher here is average.

And yet, this child’s parent cannot spell Salutatorian.

Not worldly enough to have encountered auto-correct, eh?

Autocorrect doesn't default to non-existent words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been looking at college GPA averages or the likely minimums they accept.

Junior is in 5 honors and 1 AP this semester. In past: Has received all A with two A- freshman year and one A- sophomore year.

Currently has D in math, which is concerning but time to fix it.

GPA: 3.89 UW

Some schools that look good seem to take 3.91 or above. Would they accept someone with a lower than normal GPA if they have a lot of honors classes and spend time on service and sports?

This all seems so crazy to me...that a few A- makes a student less desirable?

This seems perfectly fine. Schools take a range of students and if you have an interesting blend of service and sports they will prefer that over a student with higher GPA and very little EC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and i say that because you are competing with kids like mine who is 4.89 with 15 AP classes, National Merit Semi Finalist and Valedictorian or Sudatorian depending on how senior grades go. In the DMV higher is way better because higher here is average.

Your child must be great at memorization!

What else do they do in AP classes?

Seriously, put away your claws. Your jealousy makes you look stupid.

- NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and i say that because you are competing with kids like mine who is 4.89 with 15 AP classes, National Merit Semi Finalist and Valedictorian or Sudatorian depending on how senior grades go. In the DMV higher is way better because higher here is average.

The 4.89 is likely MCPS. Colleges know those GPAs are inflated and judge students by their own school district.

Even at MCPS that high of gpa is very rare. You see a couple in Scattergrams heading off to the Ivys. Many incredible colleges are taking kids with lower gpas and more reasonable AP loads than 15. That said, 1 AP as a junior is low for most competitive DMV high schools.

My kid has a weighted GPA of 5.something. Taking a pile of idiotic AP classes. Some of the kids in those classes are dumb as dirt, so my kid says. But they get more "weight" in their GPA for the APs.

It's completely ridiculous!

Any college that r=relies only on GPA/test scores I don't want my kid attending. Do they even bother looking at the classes the kids take? Read recommendations? Interview the kid? (ya, covid...) Read their essays? Look at the whole kid?

The college admissions process is completely broken.

And don't go cawing about Europe. I think their system is better in some ways because kids who aren't college material don't end up in college. Here, everyone has to go to college, also ridiculous.

You cannot score above a 5.0 in wGPA and above a 4.0 in unGPA. If your kid is anything like you, colleges should avoid him. Wow!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and i say that because you are competing with kids like mine who is 4.89 with 15 AP classes, National Merit Semi Finalist and Valedictorian or Sudatorian depending on how senior grades go. In the DMV higher is way better because higher here is average.

The 4.89 is likely MCPS. Colleges know those GPAs are inflated and judge students by their own school district.

Even at MCPS that high of gpa is very rare. You see a couple in Scattergrams heading off to the Ivys. Many incredible colleges are taking kids with lower gpas and more reasonable AP loads than 15. That said, 1 AP as a junior is low for most competitive DMV high schools.

My kid has a weighted GPA of 5.something. Taking a pile of idiotic AP classes. Some of the kids in those classes are dumb as dirt, so my kid says. But they get more "weight" in their GPA for the APs.

It's completely ridiculous!

Any college that r=relies only on GPA/test scores I don't want my kid attending. Do they even bother looking at the classes the kids take? Read recommendations? Interview the kid? (ya, covid...) Read their essays? Look at the whole kid?

The college admissions process is completely broken.

And don't go cawing about Europe. I think their system is better in some ways because kids who aren't college material don't end up in college. Here, everyone has to go to college, also ridiculous.

Recommendations are completely subjective. White teachers give poor recommendations to other races (Harvard has made that excuse for why exceptional Asian-Americans do not get admission). Interviews are even worse and is completely biased.

Yes, your kid will not get in because of his GPA and scores that measures merit and capability. But, you probably know ways to get in, correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and i say that because you are competing with kids like mine who is 4.89 with 15 AP classes, National Merit Semi Finalist and Valedictorian or Sudatorian depending on how senior grades go. In the DMV higher is way better because higher here is average.

Your child must be great at memorization!

What else do they do in AP classes?

I was in AP classes 30 years ago and have two kids in them today. They do much less focused on memorization now, from what I can tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and i say that because you are competing with kids like mine who is 4.89 with 15 AP classes, National Merit Semi Finalist and Valedictorian or Sudatorian depending on how senior grades go. In the DMV higher is way better because higher here is average.

The 4.89 is likely MCPS. Colleges know those GPAs are inflated and judge students by their own school district.

Even at MCPS that high of gpa is very rare. You see a couple in Scattergrams heading off to the Ivys. Many incredible colleges are taking kids with lower gpas and more reasonable AP loads than 15. That said, 1 AP as a junior is low for most competitive DMV high schools.

My kid has a weighted GPA of 5.something. Taking a pile of idiotic AP classes. Some of the kids in those classes are dumb as dirt, so my kid says. But they get more "weight" in their GPA for the APs.

It's completely ridiculous!

Any college that r=relies only on GPA/test scores I don't want my kid attending. Do they even bother looking at the classes the kids take? Read recommendations? Interview the kid? (ya, covid...) Read their essays? Look at the whole kid?

The college admissions process is completely broken.

And don't go cawing about Europe. I think their system is better in some ways because kids who aren't college material don't end up in college. Here, everyone has to go to college, also ridiculous.

You cannot score above a 5.0 in wGPA and above a 4.0 in unGPA. If your kid is anything like you, colleges should avoid him. Wow!!

Not correct but given the snark, my guess is it is not worth trying to explain it to PP.