You may have realized that your weighted GPA has dropped a lot. Don’t freak out, it’s just a new scale!

Starting this year, weighted and unweighted GPAs are both out of a 4.0 scale instead of the previous 8.0 and 4.0 scales. Here’s a handy chart to help you assess your achievements:

As you can see, there’s nothing to fear; this new scale may even be a huge advantage to you!  In the past, it was possible for students to miss out on scholarships or opportunities because of confusion with GPA conversion in the college application process.

“Sometimes the converted weighted GPA would end up being even lower than the unweighted GPA, which wasn’t really helping the students at all. The new scale  takes away any confusion colleges may have with the transcripts, and it makes the GPA look a lot better! Think about it, a 3.9 out of 4.0 would look a lot better than a 6.3 out of 8.0 or whatever you may have had,” Allegra Giulietti-Schmitt, college and career counselor, said.

Also, most schools in the community have been going by this scale for years. Our grade reports will look more consistent within the community, and we’ll be able to compare our progress better. The averages will be more consistent from semester to semester and will help students judge their progress better.

Many students who have familiarized themselves with the new scale have come to realize that they like it better.

“I think this change is a good one. Colleges won’t get confused and judge us incorrectly, because now we’re more up to par with other schools,” senior Molly Hampton said.

However, some students are still unsure of their feelings towards this new change. “It’s good and bad because it’s more convenient for colleges, being more compatible with their systems; but it scared me because I felt like my GPA just went down a ton. I’m used to the other scale!” said senior Julia Thummel. Don’t worry Julia, you’ll get used to the new one!