As I look at the Common data sets and attend tours I am continually surprised by the increasing GPAs schools say are their averages. Does anyone sense that these are actually the student’s weighted grades/“recalculated” grades being broadcast? And does anyone know if grade recalculation goes beyond honors/APs where certain schools of high rigor give the grades a further bump? I’m seeing state schools (not top 50 or main campus) stating most kids have 4.1 GPAs and that seems off to me. Is this just grade inflation?
4.1 is obviously weighted.
Schools weight differently. Some may not weight at all but rather take at face how the high school weights.
Often, not in CDS, if you google the school name + student profile, they’ll show an UW GPA range.
But yes grade inflation is rampant.
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The only way to know for sure how a college is calculating GPA on the CDS (if they even fill out that field) is to contact institutional reporting and ask.
Sometimes the way GPA is calculated for the CDS is not the same way admissions calculates GPA (if they do recalculate GPA.)
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Yes and that is my real question…is the 4.1 their weight or the student’s high school weighted GPA. Do the kids from Exeter/Eastlake, etc. get an extra weight because of rigor.
This could be a secret sauce question that only someone in admissions knows the answer to.
FWIW, the grading scale at my D’s HS was unweighted up to 4.3 (A+) so a student could technically have an unweighted GPA up to the 4.3.
I don’t believe that a college will give GPA bumps based on school but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t rating the rigor at certain schools higher than others when evaluating applications.
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Good question but difficult to answer as it is school-specific.
For example, I’m in GA where our flagships are transparent about how they treat GPA. UGA recalculates all applicant GPAs and clearly explains their formula. Georgia Tech clearly states they accept whatever GPA is on an applicant’s transcript (without recalculation) but looks closely at class rigor.
I wish all schools were so transparent, but they are not.
What I do think is important is understanding your student’s class rank (or decile) more than GPA since the calculations vary. School recognition may be a positive as AOs are familiar with the general rigor, curriculum and the level of success of prior grads; however, many school’s are looking for more diversity so that may limit the benefit of familiarity. I don’t believe any school is getting a GPA boost based solely on reputation, but it may help with context. If your school is off the beaten path, work with the GC to communicate your student’s strengths within the student body and academic opportunities.
Are you trying to determine where to apply or something else ?
I wouldn’t over think it. Compare yours to what’s reported as best you can or ask for help here on realistic school selection.
Yes-my girls started looking at the GPAs and were crossing colleges off the list. I encouraged them to submit and know that some may be reaches, some may offer calculations that up their GPAs. I’m with you-I don’t want to overthink it. The Scattergrams through Scoir help some too to show historical data from their high school and how sometimes students DO get accepted outside the expected GPA expectation. Thanks!
Thank you. Yes they saw the GA ave. GPAs and their guidance counsellor said bluntly that GA only cares about GPA and ACT/SAT and nothing else so they said well that’s off the list cause a 3.8 is too far off.
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I get it! But the upside is they know upfront they may not be a good fit and don’t waste time on an app.
I get so frustrated with schools that make the minimum expectations so opaque a student has no idea if it’s a reasonable application or not. Many applications take a significant amount of time. It should be clear to kids where they should target those efforts.
Best of luck to your student! Take advantage of the GC/CC and whatever data you can access (Naviance, Scoir, etc).
One highly selective school I am familiar with calculates the unweighted GPA and also derives an “academic index” that also takes standardized test scores into the calculation (if submitted).
Rigor is assessed separately in an “excellence of mind” category on a scale of 1 to 6. This category scores how well the student engaged with the limits of the academic offerings of their high school.
Thank you-you are so right!
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Yes this is the kind of ‘adjusting’ I assume is happening at some schools. Thank you!
Answer to the title question varies by college.
It is likely that colleges that recalculate GPAs use some form of recalculated GPAs, while colleges that take GPAs at face value use those GPAs.
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