Unweighted GPA
A GPA on a 4.0 scale where every A counts as 4.0 regardless of course difficulty. The simplest, most comparable GPA measure.
An unweighted GPA is calculated on the standard 4.0 scale. Every A counts as 4.0, every B as 3.0, every C as 2.0, regardless of whether the course was honors, AP, IB, or standard. Unweighted GPA is the simplest, most directly comparable measure of academic performance across schools and curricula.
Most college Common Data Sets publish admitted-student GPA distributions in unweighted form. Many holistic-review schools report admitted-student unweighted GPA medians at or near 4.0 because high-achieving students earn straight A's, even in advanced courses.
For parents, the practical guidance is to know your child's unweighted GPA accurately, because that is the number most directly comparable to admission profiles publicly reported by colleges. The weighted number tells you about course rigor; the unweighted number tells you about pure academic performance.
Related terms
View all terms- Weighted GPAA GPA that gives extra points for honors, AP, and IB courses, typically allowing the maximum to exceed 4.0 (often 4.5 or 5.0 scale).
- UC GPAThe University of California's recalculated GPA, capped at 4.4 weighted with limited honor-points credit. Used by all UC campuses and CSUs.
- Recalculated GPAThe GPA a college calculates internally from the transcript using its own formula. Often differs from the GPA on a student report card.