By Isabelle Chiu
Staff Writer
Mira Costa’s current grade point average calculation system punishes hard-working students in Advanced Placement courses as it does not allow their hard work to distinguish them from other students.
Students who take more rigorous course loads should not be judged on the same scale as those who decide to take less demanding classes. Many students, such as Mehana Borostyan, feel that this lack of weighting gives students a disadvantage when applying for scholarships, such as a potential $24,000 scholarship to the University of Oregon. This system should be changed to accurately reflect students’ academic achievements and aid them during consideration for scholarships and colleges.
Because College Board considers AP classes equivalent to a college-level course and major universities accept AP classes for credit, they are much more rigorous and should be acknowledged as such. According to Spanish teacher Anita Rossell, a “B” in an AP class is often harder to obtain than an “A” in a CP class; nevertheless, an A in the CP class is worth more on an unweighted scale.
Schools including Redondo Union base their GPA on a five-point scale, and Costa should alter its policy to ensure that admissions officers view students on a level playing field. This is especially pertinent considering that academics at Costa are on par with, if not more difficult than, academics at neighboring schools.
Colleges such as University of Wisconsin do not recalculate GPAs because it would take time and manpower that schools with large applicant pools may not have. Even if a student applies to a college that will recalculate his or her GPA, Costa should take this additional step to ensure that these students are recognized appropriately and eliminate the potential human error by having students check their weighted GPA on their transcript before sending it to colleges.
A valedictorian should be the top student overall; however, the title is currently given to a group of students with an unweighted 4.0 GPA. Currently, the title of valedictorian at Costa could be unfairly awarded to students who take easier classes, while driven AP students have a more difficult time being recognized for their course load in the relatively large pool of students at Costa without GPA weighting.
Even though Mira Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale expressed concern that weighting GPAs will increase pressure on students to take more difficult classes, there is no data to support that weighted GPAs will create a more competitive learning environment. Currently, students are still enrolling in challenging curriculums without this reward and recognition. This existing level of academic zeal should be rewarded, especially considering there are no negative repercussions for those who do not take APs.
Simply adding the weighted GPA onto the transcript would relieve students’ stress overall based on the concerns raised at the Board meeting. The Board should act quickly to change the policy to ensure that the class of 2015 receives the merit-based aid it deserves, and future classes will be viewed on a level playing field.
Additionally, the Powerschool grading system has the potential to calculate weighted GPAs for each student, meaning that a shift to both weighted and unweighted GPAs would be neither detrimental nor burdensome for all parties involved.
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