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<p>Regarding the comment above from a West Point admissions rep - this is a very important concept. Grading scales are all over the place in various school districts.</p>
<p>Look at the different grading scales in the linked article (scroll 1/3 of the way down to see the table):
[Powhatan</a> Today - News: Making the Grade](<a href=“http://www.powhatantoday.com/index.php/news/article/making-the-grade/]Powhatan”>http://www.powhatantoday.com/index.php/news/article/making-the-grade/)</p>
<p>Many selective schools say a lower grade in the most challenging courses are preferred over better grades in weaker classes. In reality, that may be true to an extent, but mostly they want to see A’s in the most challenging classes. If you get a C or two, they may still admit you, but forget about that fat scholarship you might have been hoping for.</p>
<p>Scared4College- My school doesn’t actually calculate unweighted gpa’s, so I have to do it manually. Maybe I’m doing it wrong? Here’re my calculations:</p>
<p>4 possible grade points X 7 classes per semester X 6 semesters = 168 possible grade points (up until now)</p>
<p>I assume that I have those 168, then I subtract 1 for every B and 2 for every C, so I’d subtract 8 points for 8 B’s, and 2 points for 1 C, which means that I earned 158 grade points out of 168 possible grade points. </p>
<p>158/168 is about 94%, and 94% of 4.00 is about 3.76. I think that’s right?</p>
<p>By the way, thanks for all the feedback, guys. </p>
<p>If you did get C’s during high school, what schools were you rejected from/accepted to?</p>
<p>I was just at the Exploring College Excellence joint program in my town tonight, and I asked a version of the classic “Should I take a hard class in which I might get a C, or an easy class in which I’m sure to get an A?” question in the general Q and A at the session. Of course I got the expected answer, with laughter from many in the audience, “We expect to get an A in the hard class.” But then the Brown admission officer followed up by saying, “You are not on track to be admitted unless you take the hardest classes at your school.” And the U of Chicago officer also implied that it’s more important to challenge yourself intellectually than merely to be a grade-grubber. (What she specifically said is that colleges don’t look for a particular grade average, because every high school has different grading standards anyway.) So if your occasional less than perfect grade results from you challenging yourself in your high school studies, don’t die from worry, but still apply to the colleges you like and see what happens. </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>