At the end of high school, you will be left with your GPA, which decides which college or course you will pursue in college. However, this GPA is often categorised into two different categories: weighted and unweighted. Now, these two distinct categories are usually a cause of confusion among high school students, as they fail to understand the difference between the two.
Now, if you are also thinking about what is a weighted and unweighted GPA, then here you will get a proper understanding of the same. This article will make sure that you encounter no issues in understanding your GPA at the end of your high school graduation.
What does GPA (Grade Point Average) mean?
Before we talk about the differences between weighted and unweighted GPAs, it is important for you to understand the meaning of GPA. Grade Point Average, or as it is also known as GPA, is a universal method which is used to measure the academic performance of a student for a particular period of time. This can be either a semester or an entire academic year.
The GPA is an average of all the grades that a student earns throughout the year in all the courses that they have undertaken, which are further weighted by the total credit of every course. As we have mentioned, there are two GPAs that are commonly considered weighted and unweighted.
Weighted GPA vs Unweighted GPA
The unweighted GPA is the standard way of calculating academic GPA in the United States of America, in which your courses do not matter. If you want to know how to calculate unweighted GPA, then you need to know the grading points of unweighted GPA.
| Grade | Prcentage Range | GPA Points |
| 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 – 70 | 2.3 |
| C | 73 – 76 | 2.0 |
| C- | 70 – 72 | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67 – 69 | 1.3 |
| D | 63 – 66 | 1.0 |
| D- | 60 – 62 | 0.7 |
| F | 0 – 59 | 0.0 |
On the other hand, the answer to what does Weighted GPA mean is the GPA that is calculated after taking into account the difficulty of the courses that they have undertaken. This GPA will provide you with better grades if you have undertaken courses that are generally considered challenging, like Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), honours, or college-level classes. In this system, having more challenging courses will provide you with more points.
