What courses are considered in my child's GPA?

While this may seem like an easy calculation, trying to determine your child's high school GPA for college admissions can be confusing. Most colleges consider only 10th and 11th grade courses in their GPA calculations. Summer courses taken before 10th, 11th, and 12th grade are usually included. Your high school will usually list the courses that colleges will accept on the high school website. Only include courses that colleges will consider in the GPA calculations. Classes like PE, health, and Introduction to Computers are usually not accepted. Your child's high school transcript will automatically calculate your child's GPA for your state. Just to be sure there are no mistakes, inquire with the guidance counselor to understand what courses were included in the GPA.

If your child took AP or IB courses and received passing scores on exams, these courses may receive weighted grades. In other words, an A will be given a 5.0 instead of a 4.0. If your child took college classes, those courses will be weighted on the same 5.0 scale. Check with the college admissions officers to make sure that they will accept all weighted classes because some colleges (like the University of California and California State University) will only accept a specific number of weighted courses for application purposes.

Mistakes happen, so meet with the guidance counselor to make sure all of your child's classes and college courses are included. If the college application requires that you enter your GPA, carefully read the guidelines to determine which classes you can include.