GPA in context

ohiopop
Thu, 16 Apr 2015 02:34:04 +0000

I believe that the reason why CC prefers that folks post their UW GPA is because weighted GPA is so different from school to school. For example, most public school add +1 for AP classes, most private schools at 0.33 for AP classes, some add 0.5. Also, it is common is private schools to limit the AP classes to 2 or 3 or 4, whereas public schools generally do not. Therefore, it is tougher to interpret weighted GPAs. One has to explain the school’s grading system, mention if there are limits to how much APs they can take, etc.

With UW GPAs, everyone knows how that is calculated. Of course, when a student says, “chance me at Harvard, my UW GPA is 3.9” it is assumed that s/he is taking the most rigorous classes, or the classes are simply listed, so the reader knows exactly how rigorous it is.

I think that is the simple explanation. Now, if you are comparing grades with each other, coming from the same school, I suppose it makes more sense to mention your weighted GPA…but typically that is not preferred at CC forums because of the diversity in grading systems