Last week I mentioned that the required GPA for the UC San Diego Medical Scholars Program was a 4.0 or higher. If you are interested in any public college in California you will note that the average accepted GPA is very high. Most of the UC’s have an average accepted GPA over 4.0.
But what if the highest GPA in your class is a 3.97 or something below a 4.0. Does that person not stand of chance of getting into a California public college? No, that is not at all what it means.
If you missed my recent post about the difference between weighted and unweighted grades, go read it now.
In California, the public colleges, including the University of California system, the UC’s, and the California State Universities, the CSU’s, use WEIGHTED GPA’s in admissions. As a result almost all California high schools use a weighted GPA on their transcripts. Many of my students from California don’t even know what their unweighted GPA is.
Most colleges in the United States, outside of California, use unweighted grades because of the problem of comparing weighted GPA’s from one school to another.
If you are interested in applying to a California public university, use your weighted GPA to see if you will competitive. I think you might be pleasantly surprised.
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