When Your GPA Still Doesn't Equal Your GPA
In August of last year, our blog titled “When your GPA doesn't equal your GPA” discussed the varying ways in which colleges look at students’ grades – and the strength of the schedules that produced those grades – in making admissions decisions.
In that blog, we noted that “When it comes to your GPA, the one that’s on your transcript is not necessarily the one that colleges will use!” That’s every bit as true now as it was then, and it’s also true, in spades, for the Florida State University System (SUS) schools that will be the focus of this blog.
But first… what is a core GPA? We’re talking about the score comprised of the grade point associated with your core classes in high school. This is the score you will submit with your college applications.
However, this is not necessarily the score your college admissions team will use.
Here’s a summary of what three SUS schools will and won’t include in GPA recalculations this year, and their policies differ:
FSU & UF
All AP, IB, AICE courses, including AICE Tourism and Travel, will be included in GPA re-calculations, as will the approved Dual Enrollment courses that are listed in the Florida Counseling for Future Education Handbook (FCFEH).
Before you thank FSU and UF for providing apparently clear procedures, there’s this proviso: FSU and UF will calculate a separate Dual Enrollment GPA using ALL Dual Enrollment courses, approved or not, as part of their holistic review process, because research shows that performance in dual enrollment courses is a good predictor of success in college.
At most Florida colleges, grades of “C” or better in dull enrollment courses are weighted and receive one point in the recalculation process.
Fortunately, you can now use an FSU GPA calculator or a UF GPA calculator to get a better understanding of how each school will calculate your GPA score during the admissions process. Both the FSU GPA calculator and the UF GPA calculator will walk you through the process of inputting your credit hours and grades, then re-calculating the score based on the school’s standards.
UCF
The only courses counted as academic “cores” will be those listed on pages 63-69 of the FCFEH, and the Bright Futures Course Table will also show if a course (including DE) is considered academic core by the SUS. Although UCF will not consider some DE courses in the academic core GPA it recalculates, UCF will calculate a college GPA for all DE work attempted because students need a minimum 2.0 GPA in their total DE work for admission.
As an example of the above, AP Art History and AP Drawing are in the FCFEH under Fine/Performing Arts, so those two will be counted as core courses even though they’re on the BF list as electives. AICE Travel & Tourism isn’t so listed, so UCF won’t count it. The FCFEH is the #1 source that UCF uses in GPA matters.
To use the UCF GPA calculator, college applicants will need to follow these steps:
Access the UCF GPA calculator: You’ll find the UCF GPA calculator on the UCF website or through a search engine.
Enter the number of credits: Enter the number of credits into the corresponding field for each course.
Enter the letter grade: Enter the letter grade you received (e.g., A, B+, C-) into the corresponding field for each course.
Calculate your GPA: Once you have entered all of your courses and grades, click the "Calculate GPA" button to see your GPA.
Doing so should help you understand how your GPA will be processed if you apply to the University of Central Florida.
Need Help Calculating Your GPA for FSU, UF, or UCF?
To learn more about how Florida schools calculate GPAs for admission, check out this blog post. If you have further questions (like “what is a core GPA?”) don’t hesitate to reach out to the Score At The Top team for guidance.
Furthermore, we’re here to help you understand what your GPA will look like when applying to Florida state schools. You can recalculate your GPA with our calculator or reach out to a Score at the Top location near you.
As a Florida-based organization, we’re always keeping up with the latest state college admission trends – including how to use the UF GPA calculator, as well as the calculators for UCF and FSU.
Need help understanding how to calculate your GPA for FSU, UF or UCF? You can recalculate your GPA with our calculator or reach out to a Score at the Top location near you.
