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Almost everyone is familiar with a GPA, even if it’s just back from your high school days. GPA is the abbreviation of grade point average, which is calculated from what grades you got in all of your various classes.
However, your GPA by itself may not tell the whole story. That’s where the idea of a weighted GPA comes into play. An unweighted GPA is calculated the same no matter what classes you took, so in terms of GPA, taking honors or AP classes grants you no benefit. However, with a weighted GPA, the difficulty of the classes you take is considered.
The majority of colleges will take both a weighted GPA – which they’ll calculate according to their own algorithm – and an unweighted GPA into account. Some schools will put more weight on one or the other, but both are considered when assessing applicants.
Key Takeaways:
| Weighted GPA | Unweighted GPA |
|---|---|
| A weighted GPA takes the difficulty of the classes you took into account. | An unweighted GPA measures every course the same, no matter the difficulty. |
| Weighted GPAs differ from school to school. Different schools will put different weights on different classes or treat honors and AP classes differently. | Weighted GPAs are the same across the board. They don’t treat different classes differently, and almost every institution uses the same scale. |
| Weighted GPAs can be difficult to calculate. You can estimate them by adding an additional point or half point for more demanding classes, but you’ll have to find how your school calculates them to get an accurate number. | While it takes a bit of elbow grease to calculate an unweighted GPA, it isn’t difficult. It just requires keeping track of your different classes and not entering any numbers into your calculator wrong. |
| It’s difficult to find a weighted GPA converter, as the circumstances differ. But you can do it by the rule of thumb. | There are many online unweighted GPA calculators on the internet. All you’ll have to do is enter the grade and the number of credits per class. |
What Is a Weighted GPA?
A weighted GPA is a grade point average that takes the difficulty of the classes you took into account. So that means that if you took a lot of honors and AP classes, then your GPA will be higher.
Unfortunately, weighting a GPA isn’t universal. The practice isn’t uncommon in terms of colleges and universities, but different institutions put different weights on different classes. The most common one is to expand the scale.
For instance, the average GPA scale goes up to 4.0. That means that if you got an A+ in every class, you’d have a 4.0 GPA. Now, a lot of schools that weigh GPAs will push that scale up to a 5.0 for higher-level classes. That means that if you got an A+ in an AP class, then you’d get a 5.0 on your scale for it.
Some will vary it depending on the class. Such as, AP classes go up to 5.0, but honors classes max out at 4.5. Seeing as AP, or advanced placement, classes are supposed to be college level, it makes sense that they would get a higher weight than honors. That being said, different schools have different scales that they use to weigh the GPA.
What Is an Unweighted GPA?
Unweighted GPAs are going to be the grade point averages that most people are familiar with. If you request a transcript from your high school, for instance, they’re going to send you an unweighted GPA.
The typical GPA scale goes up to 4.0. It ends up looking like this:
| Grade | Percentage | GPA Scale |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97 – 100 | 4.0 |
| A | 93 – 96 | 4.0 |
| A- | 90 – 92 | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87 – 89 | 3.3 |
| B | 83 – 86 | 3.0 |
| B- | 80 – 82 | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77 – 79 | 2.3 |
| C | 73 – 76 | 2.0 |
| C- | 70 – 72 | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67 – 69 | 1.3 |
| D | 65 – 66 | 1.0 |
| F | 65 and Below | 0.0 |
There is some variance depending on the school, as different ones will have slightly different assignments to the letter grades. However, this basic scale is going to be how most calculate it.
The issue with an unweighted GPA is that you get the same score no matter what classes you take. So that means that if Samantha takes AP Psychology, Honors Spanish, and AP History and gets a B-, A, and B+, respectively, that means she would end up with a 3.3 GPA.
Alternatively, if Jason takes Regular Spanish, Regular Psychology, and Regular History and gets A’s across the board, then his GPA would be 4.0.
Just from looking at their GPAs, Jason would look to be the better student. However, if you were to weigh them, then it would showcase that Samathna had taken harder courses, which is something that colleges want to encourage.
If we weigh her GPA by adding an extra point for the AP classes and an extra half point for the honors class, then her score would be 4.2, as opposed to Jason’s 4.0.
Weighted GPA vs. Unweighted GPA FAQ
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How do I calculate unweighted GPA?
The way to calculate an unweighted GPA is the same way that you calculate an average.
The first thing you do is convert your letter grades into the GPA scale. You can use the chart above if you like. To get a rough approximate value, you can add all the numbers together. Finally, divide the sum by how many classes there are, and you have your rough GPA.
However, the majority of schools take credits into account. In order to do it properly, you should include this information yourself. As above, you convert your grades. Then, you multiply each number by the number of credit hours in the class, respectively. Finally, you add up the total number of credit hours and divide the first number by that. So:
Say you take English, Statistics, and Biology. English and Statistics are each worth 3 credits, and Biology is worth 5. You get an A, C, and B, respectively.
For English, you multiply the GPA, 4.0, with the credit hours, 3. So, 12.
For Statistics, you do the same. GPA 2.0, credit hours, 3. So, 6.
For Biology, it’s a GPA of 3.0 and 5 credit hours. So, 15.
12 + 6 + 15 = 33.
3 + 3 + 5 = 11
33 ➗ 11 = 3.
Your GPA is 3.0.
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What’s a good unweighted GPA?
If you’re looking to get into a decent college, a 3.0 – 3.5 is a good GPA. However, if you’re looking to get into a top academic institution, such as an ivy league school, you’re going to want at least a 3.5 GPA.
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How can I raise my unweighted GPA?
The main way to raise your unweighted GPA is to get better grades. There are several ways to go about this, such as studying more, working with your teacher, and improving your test-taking skills. If you have a particular GPA goal, you may be able to work with your teacher in order to raise a grade in a particular class.
It’s best to focus on the classes with the highest number of credits, as they’ll affect your GPA more heavily. That’s more of a concern in college than in high school, as most high school classes have similar credits. But you can find out by asking your teacher or looking over your course list.
Author
Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.
