D is a HS Jr and plans to take a Marine Science course this summer outside of her school. She has been granted permission already and will be awarded 1 full science credit (unweighted). This will be an extra Science she is taking in addition to the 4 years of science she will have upon graduation from her school in a area she is very interested in and not offered by her school (11 and 12 will both be APs). In an email this morning the counselor mentioned that since it is an unweighted credit (the Marine Science course) it will impact her GPA; school does weighted GPA only. I am now really confused. Is a higher GPA better than having taken an extra science course during the summer? Can someone point me in the direction of understanding this better? Counselor also said not taking a 4th year of Latin is better than getting a B in there? Is this true? (D got Bs both semesters of soph yr in Latin 2; all others have been As)
I guess I just feel like I am reading one thing in the forums here (and maybe misinterpreting) and then the counselor is saying something that does not line up.
If your D wants to take the class, don’t worry about the impact on GPA for not being weighed. You are likely trying to micromanage something that is irrelevant.
Unless you are 100% sure that she is not going to need 4 units of Foreign Language to graduate ( not enroll) from college, I would take the 4th year of Latin.
2nd question first.
It depends. if D is targeting colleges that require/request 4 years of a foreign language, then she should take the 4th year. Additionally, if the college has a FL requirement to graduate, she should take a 4th year unless she has a Subject Test score in Latin already that will place her out of the college requirement. Otherwise, it does not matter.
First question:
D should take what she wants in this case. The impact of a single unweighted class on a 3.5 year GPA is akin to a pimple on an elephant’s butt.
As an FYI, since there is no common weighting rubric, colleges will usually look at UW GPA or apply its own weighting parameter.
Seconding the idea that she should take Marine Science despite its unweighted designation if she truly wants to learn the material. I think it’s a shame that people shy away from taking interesting electives/courses due to the fact that they are unweighted or not AP/college-level weighted, though I do understand how people dead-set on becoming valedictorian might be predisposed to doing so.
I might be biased towards foreign languages, but I would also go for a fourth year of Latin unless
- NONE of her targeted universities recommend four years of foreign language AND
- She has no desire to further her education in Latin
I am surprised your school will count the summer class (from a non district program) in her GPA! Our school district does not count summer classes or classes earned outside of the school district in GPA, I even think DE/DC do not count in the GPA, the kids just get the credit towards the total needed for graduation.
But that aside, my own two DDs took a fourth science that were non-weighted during their senior year and both opted not to take their 4th year of weighted honors Latin. One choose Food Science and one choose Forensic Science, both as career exploration reasons. Both LOVED their classes and would absolutely choose the non-weighted classes even though “technically” their GPA took a hit. Although not much because they both got 99/100s in their classes (which equals a 90 weighted). Assuming that they would have received anything above a 90 in whatever weighted class they may have taken instead.
Our advice would be to take the class and not worry about the tiny, negligible, ding that may occur to the GPA. Of course check the admissions requirements of any of the schools your kiddo is targeting for required 4 year foreign language, 4 years science with labs etc. in our case it doesn’t seem to have hurt them in the admissions game, at all!
All of this is so helpful! I was just taken aback when the counselor mentioned the hit to the GPA in a somewhat unrelated email. D was lucky the school approved the course but she is also in a private school so they can be more flexible and know D is really interested in marine science. D has the FL requirement satisfied for her school already but she has enjoyed Latin and decided to stick it out through senior year (I think having one of her best friends in there also makes a difference).
If our school doesn’t provide unweighted GPAs would a university provide info on how they unweight?
I get the point about trying to micromanage! I think reading in these forums has made me a bit crazy, ha!
My daughter moved schools after her sophomore year. The first school was the US News #1 STEM public magnet school with a 0-100 grading system. We moved internationally for work, so the second was a German International School with an IB program that has a 0-7 grading system. We never knew what her 4.0 scale GPA was. Colleges admitted her anyway and gave her merit scholarships. The only glitch we had was our State Public U that had an automated system for scholarships based on self-reported data. An email to admissions cleared that up and she was also awarded merit.
My point is, don’t worry about it, the colleges figure it out.
Take the time in HS to explore things like Marine Science.