You've heard both terms. Maybe your school report card shows a weighted GPA of 4.2 and an unweighted GPA of 3.8 — and you're not sure which one to put on your college application or tell your parents about. Here's the full breakdown.
Unweighted GPA: The Standard Scale
The unweighted GPA uses a 4.0 scale for all courses, regardless of difficulty. An A in AP Chemistry counts exactly the same as an A in gym class. It's the simpler of the two, and it's the baseline that most people mean when they say "GPA."
| Grade | Unweighted Points |
|---|---|
| A / A+ | 4.0 |
| A− | 3.7 |
| B+ | 3.3 |
| B | 3.0 |
| C | 2.0 |
| D | 1.0 |
| F | 0.0 |
Weighted GPA: Rewarding Rigor
A weighted GPA adds extra points for honors, AP, IB, or dual-enrollment courses. The scale usually goes up to 5.0, though some schools use 4.5 or custom scales. The idea is to reward students who take on harder coursework — a B in AP Biology "counts more" than a B in standard Biology.
| Grade | Standard | Honors | AP / IB |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| B | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| C | 2.0 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
Which One Do Colleges Look At?
Both — but in different ways. Most colleges recalculate your GPA on their own scale when evaluating applications. They want an apples-to-apples comparison across thousands of applicants from different school systems with different weighting policies. So even if your school's weighted GPA is 4.3, a college might recalculate and show you as a 3.9.
What colleges actually evaluate is:
- Your unweighted GPA as the baseline academic measure
- The rigor of your transcript — did you take the hardest available courses?
- How your GPA compares to other students from your same school
A student with a 3.7 unweighted GPA who took every AP available is often more competitive than a 4.0 student who took all standard classes.
Which GPA Should You Report?
On the Common App and most college applications, you report your school-issued GPA (whichever your transcript shows). You don't need to choose — your official transcript shows your full course history, and colleges see everything. Just make sure you know both numbers so you can accurately enter your GPA when the form asks.
Does Weighted GPA Matter for Scholarships?
It depends on the scholarship. Merit scholarships often list a minimum GPA requirement — and they typically mean unweighted unless they specify otherwise. When applying, use your official transcript GPA and check whether the scholarship defines which scale it uses.
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