Your grades in high school are the most importantfactor in college admissions decisions.
Colleges look at individual courses, yes, but they also look at the aggregate - your grade point average (GPA).
I’ve seen many different schemes for calculating GPAs.
Some high schools operate on a 4.0 scale. Some use a 5.0 scale. Some rely on a 100-point scale (yes, this exists).
Some give extra “weight” to grades earned in AP classes, IB classes, honours classes, and so on.
Surprise(!), some high schools include courses student may have taken in 7th or 8th grades for high school subjects like Algebra, first year of a language other than English (Spanish, French, Japanese, etc…), and lab sciences like biology or chemistry.
I’ve even seen some schools not provide any GPA at all, as every class is pass/fail.
It’s no wonder then that colleges all over the country have adopted their own ways of handling this lack of uniformity in high school grade point averages.
Let’s answer three common GPA questions important for college admissions:
How does your high school calculate your GPA?
How do colleges calculate your GPA?
What GPA do you need?
Breaking Down Your High School GPA: What It Really Means
Your high school GPA, or Grade Point Average, is a numerical representation of your academic performance throughout your high school years.
It is typically calculated on a 4.0 scale, where each letter grade corresponds to a specific numerical value.
For instance -
A is equivalent to a 4.0
B to a 3.0
C to a 2.0
…and so on
Some schools grade using + and - systems, so a B+ might be equivalent to a 3.3 and a B- equivalent to a 2.7. Other schools list the letter grade using + and - but calculate GPA using absolute value, meaning B+, B, and B- grades are all equivalent to 3.0.
A weightedGPA takes into account the difficulty of your courses, giving an extra point for honors, AP, or IB classes. Your high school decides whether to use a weighted system, or not. As an example, if you earned an A in an AP class your high school might score that as a 5.0, a B a 4.0, and so on when calculating using a weighted scale. Such a system “rewards” students for taking more challenging classes, and doing well in them. If you see a GPA above 4.0, you are looking at a weighted GPA.
In contrast, an unweightedGPA treats all classes equally, regardless of their level of difficulty. Unweighted GPAs use the 4.0 scale.
How do you know your GPA? Ask your school counselor for your transcript.
Seriously, ask your school counselor for your unofficial transcript right now. I’ll wait.
The transcript is so much more valuable than trying to calculate your GPA yourself because it will show you exactly what colleges will see.
Your GPA
How it is calculated - whether or not your school uses weighted or unweighted GPA (or both)
The names of your courses
What courses are included (look especially at - courses from 7th/8th grades, courses taken at community colleges, transfer credits, etc…)
How advanced courses such as honours / AP / IB / running start are noted
Grade reporting cadence - are grades listed per quarter, trimester, semester, only “final” grades?
How Colleges Evaluate Your High School GPA
When colleges assess your GPA, they don't see it as just a standalone number; they view it through the lens of your entire academic journey.
Colleges look at the rigor of the courses you've undertaken—did you opt for challenging honors, AP, or IB classes, or stick to a standard curriculum? Moreover, they consider your school's profile (this means: what sort of advanced courses your high school offered) and grading scale, acknowledging that a 4.0 at one high school may not be equivalent to a 4.0 elsewhere. The trajectory of your GPA is also important; an upward trend can reveal your resilience and academic growth. Equally important is your consistency, demonstrating your ability to sustain academic performance over time.
How do they do all this?
Sometimes, it is just by simply reviewing the information your guidance counselor sends along that describes your high school environment and the courses offered. Sometimes, it is through familiarity with your high school. And, sometimes, it is through recalculating your GPA using their own formula - to create an apples-to-apples comparison across interested students.
Examples of colleges and universities that have their own GPA calculation:
The University of Californiasystem (e.g. UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, etc…). There are different minimum GPA requirements for residents of California and non-resident students. UC GPA only uses grades attained in classes in college-preparatory courses (so, you don’t generally get credit for that A in PE class), classes taken during sophom*ore and junior years, and a partially-weighted system (up to a maximum of 8 extra points for UC honours-level courses, and there are quite a few restrictions about which courses count towards this).
The California Statesystem (e.g. Cal Poly, San Diego State, etc…). It's pretty similar to the UC system above. Note that Cal Poly SLO campus has its own special GPA calculator.
University of Michigan(Ann Arbor). Converts all grades to an unweighted scale and uses absolute value of letter grade (no B- or B+ for example).
University of Georgia. Recalculates to a weighted scale for AP / IB courses.
More…
Are you a student athlete? The NCAA also has minimum GPA requirements to be eligible to participate in college sports in Division I and II, and has a special GPA calculatorfor this.
The GPA You Need: Setting Realistic College Admission Goals
There is no one size fits all: the GPA required for college admission varies widely.
Here’s a quick set of steps you can take to see how your high school GPA compares to recently admitted students.
STEP #1 - Get the basic facts
Google the admitted class profile, e.g. Google “admitted class profile University of Washington”.
Many colleges, particularly public colleges, are very transparent about their admitted students. Look through the admitted class profile to understand average GPA, mid-50% GPA (meaning, the middle two quartiles… so 25% of admitted students would have been lower than the range and another 25% of admitted students would have been higher), and whether the college uses weighted or unweighted GPA.
Another avenue for simple data is websites that provide college admission data. My goto is CollegeData.com, which is free.
STEP #2 (OPTIONAL) - Get the details
If you desire to be a bit more thorough in your data gathering, Google the college’s Common Data Set, e.g. Google “Common Data Set University of Washington”.
This is typically a PDF or spreadsheet download of detailed information. Colleges update this info every year, so try to find the most recent you can so that you’re working from the most up-to-date data. In Sections C11 and C12 you’ll find self-reported data for admitted student GPA ranges and average GPA.
STEP #3 - Get your high school transcript
As previously mentioned, reach out to your guidance counselor at your high school to get an unofficial copy of your transcript. This will have your GPA.
STEP #4 (OPTIONAL) - Convert your GPA
If needed, use the GPA re-calculation steps as provided by the college you are interested in. For example, if you are trying to see how your GPA compares to recently admitted students at one of the University of California schools, you’ll want to follow their detailed stepsto compute this.
STEP #5 - Do an honest comparison
A general rule of thumb is that if you are above the mid-point of the average GPA for previously admitted students, you’re a strong candidate on that dimension of your application. The same would go for mid-50% GPA distribution - if you are within that range, you are probably competitive.
But what if your GPA is below average? Will a lower GPA mean you won’t get in? Not necessarily - most colleges practice a holistic admissions process that weighs many factors. But, it probably does mean that you need to be honest with yourself about your admissions chances at those schools.
If you are interested in searching for colleges that might be a best match given your GPA, the BigFuture websiteprovided by the College Board does allow you to do so.
