Step inside one of the most common conversations college coaches have with a prospective student-athlete:
Coach: “What is your GPA?" Student: "I had a 4.0 last semester." Coach: "Does that include Grades 9 and 10?" Student: "I don’t know.”
The reason I bring this up is that this is the number one question a college coach will ask you, or at least look for, on a recruiting questionnaire or rugby resume. And if you don’t know, or you inaccurately report your GPA, it could have devastating results.
The easiest thing I recommend ALL students do at the end of each academic year (even each semester) is to request a copy of their Unofficial Transcript from your high school counselor or registrar. Some school portals even let you print it from home.
Don’t print up your progress notes or your report card from each semester, as this doesn't give you the cumulative GPA, which is what matters. Some high schools list may even list multiple GPAs, including (but not limited to): Overall GPA, Cumulative Academic Weighted GPA 9-12, and Cumulative Academic Unweighted GPA 9-12. For clarification:
Cumulative Unweighted GPA 9-12 refers to the GPA you have accumulated over the course of your entire high school career (in grades 9 through 12), where an A is worth 4 points (regardless of whether it is AP or not), a B is 3 points, a C is 2 points, a D is 1 point). An Unweighted GPA is typically expressed as a “3.7 out of a 4.0 scale.”
Cumulative Weighted GPA 9-12 refers to the GPA you have accumulated over the course of your entire high school career (in grades 9 through 12), which includes an added point to your GPA for taking an AP course. For example, an A in AP World History would give you 5 points, a B 4 points, and so on. Weighted GPAs are typically expressed as a “4.3 out of a 5-point scale.”
In most cases, what we are looking for is your Cumulative Academic GPA from Grades 9-12, and college admissions officers and coaches will consider both the Weighted and Unweighted GPAs. Ideally, we don’t have a huge discrepancy between an Unweighted and a Weighted GPA.
The reason I encourage you to see your transcript is two-fold: 1) it is the student’s responsibility to be aware of their GPA. Nothing is worse than telling a college coach you have a 3.5 GPA only to find out later that your Cumulative Academic GPA is a 3.0. and 2) to catch any mistakes. Grades are still entered manually by a teacher, then transferred to your school’s grading system. It is not uncommon to see a wrong grade entered, which affects your overall GPA and your prospects for recruitment. Double-check your report cards with your transcripts to avoid any mishaps later on.
Did you know? The higher your test scores are, the more money you may be awarded and the more college options you will have! Contact our preferred provider, Arbor Bridge to get you on the right track!
Email Morris@ArborBridge.com to get set up with a free consultation and diagnostic test today!
