How Colleges REALLY Look at Grades

We have to talk about your grades. High school grades are the number 1 qualifier most colleges consider in determining which students to accept and which to decline. But it’s important for you to understand how the colleges you’re applying to are looking at your grades.

For instance, are they looking at your weighted GPA where more academically rigorous courses like honors and AP and IB get an extra point? So, you know, an A is worth a 5 instead of a 4, and a B is worth a 4 instead of a 3. Or are they considering your unweighted GPA, where an A is an A is an A, no matter what level of class you got it in?

Also, are they only considering your core classes: your math, English, history, science, and foreign language? Or are they considering all of your classes in your GPA: so gym and woodshop and your other electives count as much as those core classes.

Also, are they weighing junior year more and freshman year less? Or are they considering all of your years equal? And are they looking at your trajectory to see how you’re improving over those years?

And most importantly, you need to understand that colleges are considering your grades in the context of the level of academic rigor you selected: the courses you picked compared to what’s available at your school. So if your school only offered two AP classes and you took them both, well that’s a hundred percent of what was available to you and that’s great. But if your school offered, let’s say, 10 AP classes and you only took 2 of them, well then you weren’t challenging yourself as much as you could have been, and not challenging yourself as much as some of the other applicants they’re receiving from your high school, because they are considering you compared to those other applicants. That’s your competition.

No college wants the entire graduating class of one high school to make up their whole freshman class next year. They want to spread the opportunity around. So whereas you may be smarter, have better essays, have better grades, even better test scores than applicants from other schools, you may be getting beaten out by the students at your own school who were challenging themselves more based on the same resources you had access to.

So reach out to the colleges you’re considering, find out how they consider your grades, hit those books, and if you have questions, call us at 732-556-8220. We are here to help.