It may seem early for this, but many 8th-graders in Central Texas already are turning in their freshman year course selections. Suddenly, students are confronted with more choices than they ever have had before. They also are introduced to the fact that their high school transcripts will carry two separate GPAs: a weighted GPA and an unweighted GPA. Why are there two, how are they calculated, and what does all of this have to do with course selection?

1. Why are there two separate GPAs on the high school transcript?
   Many high schools offer advanced-level sections of core subjects (math, English, social studies, science and foreign languages). During freshman year, advanced-level classes are usually designated as Pre-AP, Honors, or Advanced. Later in high school, they may come to include AP, IB, and OnRamps. Because those classes are generally considered more challenging than standard-level courses, extra weight is assigned to the grade a student receives in them. The weighted GPA is the one high schools typically use to calculate a student’s class rank. So, the more advanced classes students take, the higher their rank tends to be (unless, of course, they fare worse in the advanced class than they would have in the on-level version of it). That brings us to the next question.

    

2. How is each GPA calculated?
   The methodology can vary from school to school, but at many school districts in Central Texas, it looks like this:

   • The weighted GPA is based solely on the five core subject areas mentioned above; the unweighted  GPA is based on ALL classes taken in high school, with the exception of dual credit (community college courses), which are recorded as Pass/Fail on the high school transcript.

   • For the weighted GPA, standard-level core classes are graded on a 5.0 grading scale where each point counts (100 = 5.0, 99 = 4.9, etc.), whereas advanced-level courses are graded on a 6.0 scale (100=6.0, 99=5.9, etc.).

   • For the unweighted GPA, all courses (whether standard-level or advanced-level) are graded on a 4.0 scale in 10-point increments (90-100=A or 4.0, 80-89=B or 3.0, 70-79=C or 2.0, 0-69=F or 1.0).

   Now that we understand the methodology, we can answer the next question.

    

3. What does all of this have to do with course selection?
   To answer this question, let’s look at a very basic example of how a student’s weighted and unweighted GPA are impacted by their choice of courses. If a student chooses to take all standard-level core courses and receives a 100 in all of them, they will have a 5.0 weighted GPA at the end of the semester. If they had taken all advanced courses and received all 100s, they would have ended up with a 6.0. Depending on the high school, that 10-point deficit could mean the difference between being Valedictorian and ranking outside of the top quarter of the class. All the while, the student still has a 4.0 unweighted GPA, assuming they got A’s in all of their other classes, as well. This, of course, is an extreme example, but it illustrates the point.
   
   On the other hand, taking advanced courses could have a negative impact on a student’s weighted and unweighted GPA if they receive a significantly lower grade in the advanced-level course than they would have received in the standard-level course.
   
   At the end of the day, course selection is a multi-pronged decision, where the student needs to consider both the impact it will have on their GPA (both weighted and unweighted), as well as whether or not they are ready for the content and/or work load in a particular class. Most students end up taking advanced courses in their strongest subjects and choosing standard-level in their weaker ones. Those with high aptitudes across the board and aspirations of attending a highly selective university or ranking in the top 6% or 10% of their class — the prerequisites for automatic admission to UT Austin and Texas A&M, respectively — will usually take more.  Knowing your strengths. limitations and goals is the first step in making this decision. Read my Nov. 2020 blog to learn about other considerations to make when selecting courses.