How Colleges Recalculate Applicants’ GPAs for College Admissions

There are over 23,500 high schools in the United States, each with its own grading system. While most high schools issue letter grades, some schools use a grading scale based on a point system (for example, out of 100 points). Many schools calculate a weighted grade point average (GPA), while just as many schools don’t. Some schools weight all honors and AP classes, while other schools weight only AP classes. 

In addition, many students take courses at multiple schools and colleges during high school, adding another layer of information about coursework and grades that students submit when they apply for college.

With the seemingly infinite ways high schools calculate GPAs, many colleges recalculate the GPA in the application review process to provide a standardized way to compare the academic achievement of students from different high schools. In other words, the GPA reported on your high school transcript is not necessarily what colleges use when reviewing your application.

The process by which colleges recalculate applicants’ GPAs varies from college to college.

The University of California and the California State University require applicants to self-report their grades and courses in the online application. In the application review process, these large public universities recalculate applicants’ GPAs by giving one honors point per semester to grades received in honors and AP courses and one honors point to grades received in college courses (for example, A=5 points and B=4 points).

Most colleges using the Common App require applicants to submit their academic transcripts from all schools they attended. Several Common App colleges also require applicants to complete the Courses and Grades section of the application or a separate Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR/SSAR) shortly after submitting the college application. Colleges input the courses and grades into a system to recalculate applicants’ GPAs–oftentimes giving additional weight to honors, AP, and college courses–before application files are delivered to admission officers for review. 

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Use Elite Prep’s GPA Calculator to see how the University of California will calculate your GPA when you apply for college.

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In addition, you can explore your intellectual interests and boost your GPA for college applications by taking honors and AP classes at Elite Open School, a WASC-accredited private school offering UC-approved courses.

Elite Prep offers a wide range of UC-approved for credit honors and AP courses through Elite Open School. 

Contact your local Elite Prep office to speak with one of our counselors to explore which course will best fit your needs!

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Which Common App colleges use the Courses & Grades section?

• Amherst College

• Ave Maria University

• Baker College

• California College of ASU

• Carnegie Mellon University

• College of Saint Mary

• Edinburgh Napier University

• Gardner-Webb University

• Goshen College

• Hampton University

• Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

• Life University

• Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)

• Loyola Marymount University

• Manor College

• McDaniel College

• McKendree University

• Methodist University

• Milligan University

• Montreat College

• Morehouse College

• Newberry College

• North American University

• Notre Dame of Maryland University

• Oklahoma Baptist University

• Oregon Tech

• Pitzer College

• Prescott College

• Purdue University

• Regis College

• Saint Vincent College

• Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

• St. John's College (MD)

• St. John's College (NM)

• Stanford University

• Taejae University

• Tecnológico de Monterrey

• Temple University, Japan Campus

• The American University of Rome

• The University of Arizona

• University of Alaska Fairbanks

• University of Charleston

• University of Dundee

• University of Glasgow

• University of Limerick

• University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute

• University of Minnesota Twin Cities

• University of Missouri-Kansas City

• University of Mount Saint Vincent

• University of New Mexico

• University of Oregon

• University of Roehampton, London

• University of Southern California

• University of the West of England, Bristol

• University of Washington Seattle

• University of Washington Bothell

• University of Washington Tacoma

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

• University of Wisconsin-Stout

• University of Worcester (UK)

• Western Oregon University

• Whittier College

• Willamette University

• Xavier University of Louisiana

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Which colleges accept the SSAR/SRAR?

• Baylor University

• Clemson University

• Duquesne University

• Florida A & M University

• Florida Atlantic University

• Florida Polytechnic University

• Florida State University

• Kean University

• Louisiana State University

• Montclair State University 

• New College of Florida

• New York University (NYU)

• Pennsylvania State University

• Rutgers University, Camden

• Rutgers University, Newark

• Rutgers University, New Brunswick

• Texas A&M University

• United States Air Force Academy

• University at Buffalo, State University of New York

• University of Connecticut

• University of Delaware

• University of Florida

• University of Massachusetts Amherst

• University of Minnesota Twin Cities

• University of North Florida

• University of Oregon

• University of Pittsburgh

• University of Rhode Island 

• University of South Florida

• University of Tampa

• University of Tennessee, Knoxville

• University of Texas at Arlington 

• University of Texas at San Antonio

• University of West Florida

• Virginia Tech

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Contact Elite Prep to discuss how we can help you succeed on the road to college!