Balancing AP/IB courses and GPA

Weighted GPA, AP, IB….what does this all mean? The role of AP grades and your child’s GPA in the admissions process.

Grades, grades, grades. Every parent, child, and teacher can tell you that this is the most important component of a child’s college application. While true, GPA grading systems vary from school to school and can create problems when a university must compare two applications. This post explains how GPA provides limited information about a child, when in fact a child’s AP course selection and test scores have a more important role in the admissions process.

The definition of GPA, and why admissions officers struggle to rely upon GPA when comparing applications.

GPA, or Grade Point Average, is a high school’s system for providing grades about a student. In a standard system, 4.0 represents an A, 3.0 a B, and so forth. Some high schools prefer to reward students who take advanced classes by bumping up their GPA. The result is a “Weighted GPA.” For example, One might make an A in an advanced course count as 4.5, whereas another high school might count it as 5.0. See the below example, and I will proceed to explain why Weighted GPA does not matter as much as it seems.

Obviously, the higher the GPA the better, right? Not necessarily–some schools do not “weight” any classes, meaning that a GPA above 4.0 would be impossible for that high school’s students. And that’s the main problem.

Only one admissions officer truly understands your high school’s GPA system

Your child’s application will be read by at least two admissions officers (one of whom is familiar with the student’s high school), yet tough decisions to admit or deny may require the involvement of 5 to 10 admissions experts. (For more about the admissions department decision-making process, click here)

That being said, only ONE of these 10 admissions officers is responsible for understanding Taiwan’s schools. (This person will receive a “School Profile” from each Taiwanese high school that explains its GPA policy—you can view a sample school profile from Taipei American School here). Because every high school has a different GPA system (weighted vs. unweighted, how much to weigh, etc.), that means that only ONE of those ten officers deeply understands the context of your child’s GPA. In other words, a 4.5 GPA at one high school could actually show weaker academic performance than a 4.0 GPA at another high school. We will show you an example below—

AP and IB scores are a universal language for every admissions department

AP exam scores show that a student is already producing college-level work, yet they also provide another important indicator for the colleges: it allows easier comparison amongst students. For example, how would you compare the following two students? (As a reminder, AP scores range from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest)

Mini Chart: AP US History
Student 1: B+, 3.33 unweighted GPA, 5 on test

Student 2: A, 5.0 weighted GPA, 3 on test

If these students had not taken an AP course, one might assume that Student 1 achieves at a higher level. However, it is clear from this example that Student 1’s high school has a tougher GPA policy, yet its students are better prepared for university academic success. Which student would you consider more high-achieving?

Don’t overwhelm yourself with AP classes, but pick the AP classes that matter most to you

Many students believe that more AP classes, the better. That’s not necessarily true, as we saw in Austin’s case. You want to have multiple AP scores to be impressive (there is no exact minimum number), but focus your AP studies based upon your future academic interests. Don’t overwhelm yourself with AP courses to the point that you can’t do well in any of them. Getting 5s on 3 tests will be much better than getting 3s on 8 tests.

Besides your AP scores, what matters equally much is WHY you picked those specific AP classes. How does your AP class selection reflect your future academic and life goals? When you combine course selection with your overall resume and application essays, universities will understand your rationale for picking these classes (i.e. did you pick these classes to impress, or did you pick these classes in order to take your learning to the next level? If you desire to work in journalism or marketing and math is not a strength, skip AP Calculus and focus on AP English Lit, English Lang, and analytical courses like US History.

ThinkSTEP can help perfect your analytical and writing abilities that are relevant to AP tests

ThinkSTEP specializes in AP classes that require high-level analytical and writing skills. In fact, such skills will set your child apart from Taiwan students’ natural strengths in math and sciences. To inquire about tutoring for these AP classes, click here for more information.