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Unweighted GPA treats every course the same
An A in PE and an A in AP Calculus are both 4.0 on an unweighted scale. That is useful for comparing students whose schools offer different numbers of AP classes.
Weighted GPA rewards difficulty
Honors often adds 0.5 and AP/IB adds 1.0 before averaging. A B in AP Chemistry (3.0 + 1.0 = 4.0 weighted) can match an unweighted A in a regular class. That is why counselors report both numbers.
Worked comparison
Three 1-credit courses: regular A (4.0), Honors B+ (3.3), AP A− (3.7). Unweighted average = 3.67. Weighted = (4.0 + 3.8 + 4.7) ÷ 3 = 4.17. Same transcript, two headlines.
What colleges actually use
Many US colleges recalculate using only academic courses on a 4.0 scale. Your school’s 5.2 weighted GPA may never appear on the admissions file. Still report both if the application has two boxes.
Which calculator to open
Use GPA Calculator for a plain term. Use High School GPA with the weighted checkbox and per-course type. Use Weighted GPA when you only need one list of Honors/AP/IB rows.
Core vs elective courses
Some high schools weight only academic cores. A weighted PE A should not inflate a college-prep GPA. If your school excludes electives from the weighted number, leave those rows on Regular or omit them from the weighted run.
IB and dual enrollment
IB Higher Level is often treated like AP (+1.0). Dual-enrollment college courses may stay unweighted or use the college letter as-is. When in doubt, run two versions: school-reported and college-recalculated.