COLLEGE COUNSELING GUIDEBOOK - CALCULATING GPA: St. Margaret's Episcopal School

A Grade Point Average (GPA) is based on the number of grade points earned divided by the number of grades. Each grade earned is worth a certain number of points on a 0.0 to a 4.0 scale.

You may be asked to calculate a grade point average for a scholarship application.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT GPA CALCULATION: (The following information is for most private colleges and universities and does not pertain to the UCs or CSUs. Information on the UC/CSU gpa calculation is available on their websites.) Your St. Margaret’s transcript shows a weighted grade point average for classes taken at St. Margaret’s, which means that extra points are added for honors and AP classes. Most college guidebooks will provide the unweighted grade point average for the colleges.

You should be aware that most colleges and universities will recalculate your grade point to an unweighted average.

Here are the guidelines that most colleges will follow in calculating your grade point average:

Include only what they consider to be academic courses. (They will not use grades from arts, physical education, or religion courses.)
They will use a straight 4.0 scale, without considering plus or minus grades.
There will be no additional weight given for honors or AP courses.

It would be to your advantage to calculate your unweighted grade point average.

Here are two ways to calculate your unweighted grade point average. One uses +/- grades. The other does not.

Using +/- grades:

A	=	4.0
A-	=	3.7
B+	=	3.3
B	=	3.0
B-	=	2.7
C+	=	2.3
C	=	2.0
C-	=	1.7
D+	=	1.3
D	=	1.0
D-	=	.7
F	=	0

EXAMPLE:

Sophomore Year Grades In Class:

First Semester		Second Semester
English II	A	English II	B+
Geometry	B+	Geometry	A
APMEH	C+	AP MEH	B
Biology	B	Biology	B-
French III	B	French III	B+

Grade	# Earned	Point for Grade	Points Earned
A	2	4.0	8.0
A-	0	3.7	0.0
B+	3	3.3	9.9
B	3	3.0	9.0
B-	1	2.7	2.7
C+	1	2.3	2.3
C	0	2.0	0.0
C-	0	1.7	0.0
D+	0	1.3	0.0
D	0	1.0	0.0
D-	0	0.7	0.0
F	0	0	0.0
		Total	31.9
		GPA (Total/10)	3.19

*Note: Some colleges will give you an extra point for Honors and Advanced Placement courses. This is referred to as “weighting” the grade point average. In that case, add +1.0 for each Honors and AP course in the Total before dividing the number of courses.

Most colleges will calculate your GPA without using +/-. In other words, A-/A or A+ each equal 4.0; similarly, B-/B or B+ each equal 3.0:

Column A: Column B:

___ (ß number of) A grades X 4 = ___ (Example: 6 “A’s” X 4 = 24)

___ (ß number of) B grades X 3 = ___

___ (ß number of) C grades X 2 = ___

___ (ß number of) D grades X 1 = ___

___ (ß number of) F grades X 0 = ___

Total of Column A = _____ Total of Column B = _____

Total of Column B divided by Total of Column A = Unweighted GPA

If you’ve retaken a class, replace the original grade with the new grade. (The old grade does not factor into your gpa.)

"SENIORITIS"

Senioritis means: "seniors who mentally take a vacation in the second semester senior year". Your last semester of senior year is important, while not a factor in admission decisions, is still important and may be used for admission if you hope to gain admission from a college's wait list. All acceptance letters from colleges will state that you must complete your senior year in good standing in order to enroll in the following fall semester. A poor performance in the 2^nd semester senior year can result in an offer of admission being rescinded. Do not slip into senioritis! You have worked too hard to see your efforts be wiped away by one foolish mistake in the 2^nd semester.