UW: "Weighted GPA"??

[amakhosidlo]

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I've decided to take a shot at getting into my state school, and am in the process of gathering letters of rec/thinking about my P.S for next year.
The other day, however, I came across this little gem on the UW website that stopped me in my tracks:

"The undergraduate GPA is weighted to give credit to applicants whose records show improvement as they progress through their undergraduate studies. Only the first three years are included in this calculation as most applicants have just begun their senior year. The weighted GPA is calculated on a standard 4-point scale with 4.00 representing an “A” average"

Now, I've been busting my a$$ for the past two years to raise my GPA and have one more to go (I'll be a 5th year and graduate with a B.S and a B.A).
Am I to understand that the majority of this work will be for not, seeing as they only consider up to junior year???

 

[parhumn]

I've decided to take a shot at getting into my state school, and am in the process of gathering letters of rec/thinking about my P.S for next year.
The other day, however, I came across this little gem on the UW website that stopped me in my tracks:

"The undergraduate GPA is weighted to give credit to applicants whose records show improvement as they progress through their undergraduate studies. Only the first three years are included in this calculation as most applicants have just begun their senior year. The weighted GPA is calculated on a standard 4-point scale with 4.00 representing an “A” average"

Now, I've been busting my a$$ for the past two years to raise my GPA and have one more to go (I'll be a 5th year and graduate with a B.S and a B.A).
Am I to understand that the majority of this work will be for not, seeing as they only consider up to junior year???

Don't worry. I have spoken with the admissions officer many times and despite them counting your 1-3 yrs only as your "actual GPA", they are not blind to your 4th and 5th years. Those will of course be taken into consideration, especially if you have an upward trend.

 

[silverhorse84]

It sounds like the reason they don't include the fourth year is because most students are just starting it. Since you've completed your fourth year I would guess they would include it, but I could be wrong. Your best bet would be to contact UW, as they will be your best source of information; you're probably not the first to be in this situation.

edit: never mind, parhumn beat me to it 🙂

 

[JDOC13]

I've decided to take a shot at getting into my state school, and am in the process of gathering letters of rec/thinking about my P.S for next year.
The other day, however, I came across this little gem on the UW website that stopped me in my tracks:

"The undergraduate GPA is weighted to give credit to applicants whose records show improvement as they progress through their undergraduate studies. Only the first three years are included in this calculation as most applicants have just begun their senior year. The weighted GPA is calculated on a standard 4-point scale with 4.00 representing an “A” average"

Now, I've been busting my a$$ for the past two years to raise my GPA and have one more to go (I'll be a 5th year and graduate with a B.S and a B.A).
Am I to understand that the majority of this work will be for not, seeing as they only consider up to junior year???

The statement seems to be conflicting with itself. Maybe they meant they will take into account the 3 most recent years?
Or maybe it's not conflicting...whatever years they take into consideration, the most recent counts for more than the others, etc.
In any case, it seems that if they want to look at trends, they will look at the 3 most recent years, which is typically freshmen-junior years for most applicants.

 

[brucecanbeatyou]

I'm in the same boat. And to make matters worse, my GPA was great freshman year, then Sophomore year I tanked, and Junior year was mediocre. That's when I was a teaching major and after getting into the major's classes, I realized that teaching wasn't for me. Also, I just didn't care about grades.

Then I decided to do medicine, cleaned up my act, and did really well the last two years of school (I was on the 5 year plan,) but it looks like none of that may show with the way they weight grades. I hope that somehow my hard work gets taken into consideration.

 

[brucecanbeatyou]

Wow I am a slow typist. When I started the above post, there were no replies, haha.

 

[Crick3t]

It's amazing there's not more out there about this subject. It seems like a HUGE deal to WWAMI residents. I received a 3.0 my freshman year, a 3.38 my sophomore, and a 3.82 my junior year. I think this method is the only thing that is going to save me in this process, so I for one am thankful for it. I've maintained a ~3.75 average my senior year with all upper division science courses, so I'm hoping they take those into account too. I am taking O-Chem this year (my senior year) as well, which has been a real b(*#$ to ace with all the competition.

So, thank you for doing this, I was going to call them but decided to check here first. If I hear more about senior year I'll post it up.