There's a 1 point weight for all honors/AP classes, and classes taken in middle school aren't included in the WGPA if they hurt the GPA. So if a kid took the first two language classes (e.g., Spanish 1 and 2, no honors options) in middle school, as well as Algebra 1 (no honors available) in middle school, then I believe the only class they would have to take in high school for which no weighted option exists would be 1 year of PE. There's a fine arts requirement, too, but at least in some high schools a student could audition into a higher level (weighted) ensemble for that.

Imagine:
-4 years of honors/AP/IB math
-4 years of honors/AP/IB English
-4 years of honors/AP/IB foreign language (starting with level 3, which is honors)
-4 years of honors/AP/IB social studies
-4 years of honors/AP/IB science
-1 of weighted music ensemble or other weighted fine arts
-1 year of unweighted PE
-1 year of honors (weighted) health
-1 year of honors/AP tech (e.g., AP Comp Sci Principles)
-fill in remaining options with honors/AP electives

I think that would end up with a WGPA of 4.96 for a regular 7 classes/year schedule if a student earned all A's (27 *5 + 1*4).

I also think it would be crazy to base class choices entirely on maximizing WGPA (I'm not saying the OP is doing that; just pointing out that I figured this out just from curiosity, not to use it for guiding my own child!).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not MCPS, but for our district the answer would be: Yes

It is a cause of friction as kids not in the advanced academic programs have no chance to be in the top 10% of their HS class as they do not have as many weighted classes available to them, nor as early as kids in those STEM and IB programs. Those programs are not pull out but integrated in the HS. Academies within basically.

Our district:
Honors: no bump
AP: 0.0488 bump for A, getting lower if B or C
DE: not sure

Highest I have seen in recent years: 5.1 GPA

Yes, I am wondering if the difference between the highest weighted magnet GPA and the non-magnet students is significant. There seems to be a benefit to the magnet programs however, there is also a possibility of having a lower, weighted GPA because of the intensity of the program. A student in the general program could max out on AP/IB and honors courses, and still earn a high weighted GPA.

In MCPS there is a 1.0 bump for Honors, AP, and IB classes. A kid could only ever take all Honors Classes and have the same WGPA as a kid with straight As in the IB magnet program. This is why schools have students enter their transcripts into the SRAR and then calculate academic strength with their own formula. It’s not worth overthinking this. Having a very strong academic record and only a couple of Bs is fine. After that, admissions decisions rely more on ECs and the rest of the applicant pool.

Thanks. I read that UMD cares about WGPA and I really hope that my child is admitted because of financial reasons. Rationally I realize that there are no guarantees and DS should pursue the best HS education possible without worrying about college admissions but I am still anxious after reading posts on DCUM.

UMD cares about actual strength of academic program especially in math and science if you are applying for Engineering or Computer Science, both of which are limited enrollment. As part of their application they have kids enter the whole transcript. They also definitely know MCPS schools and courses and have their own algorithm for assessing strengths besides WGPA. I teach in HS and every year have kids with 4.0 GPAs, but mostly Honors courses, who aren’t accepted (and are surprised by that) while students with worse GPAs but strong AP/IB classes get in.

Higher at the wealthy potomac schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not MCPS, but for our district the answer would be: Yes

It is a cause of friction as kids not in the advanced academic programs have no chance to be in the top 10% of their HS class as they do not have as many weighted classes available to them, nor as early as kids in those STEM and IB programs. Those programs are not pull out but integrated in the HS. Academies within basically.

Our district:
Honors: no bump
AP: 0.0488 bump for A, getting lower if B or C
DE: not sure

Highest I have seen in recent years: 5.1 GPA

Yes, I am wondering if the difference between the highest weighted magnet GPA and the non-magnet students is significant. There seems to be a benefit to the magnet programs however, there is also a possibility of having a lower, weighted GPA because of the intensity of the program. A student in the general program could max out on AP/IB and honors courses, and still earn a high weighted GPA.

In MCPS there is a 1.0 bump for Honors, AP, and IB classes. A kid could only ever take all Honors Classes and have the same WGPA as a kid with straight As in the IB magnet program. This is why schools have students enter their transcripts into the SRAR and then calculate academic strength with their own formula. It’s not worth overthinking this. Having a very strong academic record and only a couple of Bs is fine. After that, admissions decisions rely more on ECs and the rest of the applicant pool.

Thanks. I read that UMD cares about WGPA and I really hope that my child is admitted because of financial reasons. Rationally I realize that there are no guarantees and DS should pursue the best HS education possible without worrying about college admissions but I am still anxious after reading posts on DCUM.

I don't know about UMD, but I have read applications for a university that explicitly compares students to peers at their own school. So I wouldn't worry too much about gaming the system to try to attend a school with the highest possibility GPA. I would make sure my kid could do well at whatever school they're at.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not MCPS, but for our district the answer would be: Yes

It is a cause of friction as kids not in the advanced academic programs have no chance to be in the top 10% of their HS class as they do not have as many weighted classes available to them, nor as early as kids in those STEM and IB programs. Those programs are not pull out but integrated in the HS. Academies within basically.

Our district:
Honors: no bump
AP: 0.0488 bump for A, getting lower if B or C
DE: not sure

Highest I have seen in recent years: 5.1 GPA

Yes, I am wondering if the difference between the highest weighted magnet GPA and the non-magnet students is significant. There seems to be a benefit to the magnet programs however, there is also a possibility of having a lower, weighted GPA because of the intensity of the program. A student in the general program could max out on AP/IB and honors courses, and still earn a high weighted GPA.

In MCPS there is a 1.0 bump for Honors, AP, and IB classes. A kid could only ever take all Honors Classes and have the same WGPA as a kid with straight As in the IB magnet program. This is why schools have students enter their transcripts into the SRAR and then calculate academic strength with their own formula. It’s not worth overthinking this. Having a very strong academic record and only a couple of Bs is fine. After that, admissions decisions rely more on ECs and the rest of the applicant pool.

Thanks. I read that UMD cares about WGPA and I really hope that my child is admitted because of financial reasons. Rationally I realize that there are no guarantees and DS should pursue the best HS education possible without worrying about college admissions but I am still anxious after reading posts on DCUM.

Blair Magnet has an extra period so the ceiling is higher than other non-magnet schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not MCPS, but for our district the answer would be: Yes

It is a cause of friction as kids not in the advanced academic programs have no chance to be in the top 10% of their HS class as they do not have as many weighted classes available to them, nor as early as kids in those STEM and IB programs. Those programs are not pull out but integrated in the HS. Academies within basically.

Our district:
Honors: no bump
AP: 0.0488 bump for A, getting lower if B or C
DE: not sure

Highest I have seen in recent years: 5.1 GPA

Yes, I am wondering if the difference between the highest weighted magnet GPA and the non-magnet students is significant. There seems to be a benefit to the magnet programs however, there is also a possibility of having a lower, weighted GPA because of the intensity of the program. A student in the general program could max out on AP/IB and honors courses, and still earn a high weighted GPA.

In MCPS there is a 1.0 bump for Honors, AP, and IB classes. A kid could only ever take all Honors Classes and have the same WGPA as a kid with straight As in the IB magnet program. This is why schools have students enter their transcripts into the SRAR and then calculate academic strength with their own formula. It’s not worth overthinking this. Having a very strong academic record and only a couple of Bs is fine. After that, admissions decisions rely more on ECs and the rest of the applicant pool.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not MCPS, but for our district the answer would be: Yes

It is a cause of friction as kids not in the advanced academic programs have no chance to be in the top 10% of their HS class as they do not have as many weighted classes available to them, nor as early as kids in those STEM and IB programs. Those programs are not pull out but integrated in the HS. Academies within basically.

Our district:
Honors: no bump
AP: 0.0488 bump for A, getting lower if B or C
DE: not sure

Highest I have seen in recent years: 5.1 GPA

Yes, I am wondering if the difference between the highest weighted magnet GPA and the non-magnet students is significant. There seems to be a benefit to the magnet programs however, there is also a possibility of having a lower, weighted GPA because of the intensity of the program. A student in the general program could max out on AP/IB and honors courses, and still earn a high weighted GPA.

That sounds like you are factoring in GPA to formulate kid's education. Sounds crazy to me.

Anonymous wrote:Not MCPS, but for our district the answer would be: Yes

It is a cause of friction as kids not in the advanced academic programs have no chance to be in the top 10% of their HS class as they do not have as many weighted classes available to them, nor as early as kids in those STEM and IB programs. Those programs are not pull out but integrated in the HS. Academies within basically.

Our district:
Honors: no bump
AP: 0.0488 bump for A, getting lower if B or C
DE: not sure

Highest I have seen in recent years: 5.1 GPA

Yes, I am wondering if the difference between the highest weighted magnet GPA and the non-magnet students is significant. There seems to be a benefit to the magnet programs however, there is also a possibility of having a lower, weighted GPA because of the intensity of the program. A student in the general program could max out on AP/IB and honors courses, and still earn a high weighted GPA.

Wootton reported it as 4.85 on its 2017-18 profile. There could be some minor changes to this with changes like being able to uncount middle school grades on gpa for this year’s rising seniors.

OP here: should have clarified— WGPA as a rising senior.

7.98

Forgot, certain Magnet post AP level courses get weighted the same as AP.

Not MCPS, but for our district the answer would be: Yes

It is a cause of friction as kids not in the advanced academic programs have no chance to be in the top 10% of their HS class as they do not have as many weighted classes available to them, nor as early as kids in those STEM and IB programs. Those programs are not pull out but integrated in the HS. Academies within basically.

Our district:
Honors: no bump
AP: 0.0488 bump for A, getting lower if B or C
DE: not sure

Highest I have seen in recent years: 5.1 GPA

What is the highest weighted GPA possible in MCPS? Does attending the STEM magnet or RM IB magnet allow the possibility for a higher weighted GPA?