By Tommy Kelleher
Contributing Writer
Showing weighted grade point averages has never been a Costa policy in the past, and the school has some of the highest college acceptance rates in the state. Mira Costa should not begin to show weighted GPAs now, because they put an unneeded focus on Advanced Placement classes without increasing a student’s chances of being admitted to a college.
According to College and Career Counselor Judy Park, of the many admissions officers who have visited Mira Costa, all of them have stated that Mira Costa’s weighting policy does not affect admissions. Omitting a weighted GPA from a transcript does not lower a student’s chances of getting admitted to a college.
There is not a standard GPA measurement system; however, of the accepted grading practices, unweighted GPAs are very prevalent. Senior Mehana Borostyan spoke at the MBUSD Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 21 to support a shift to weighted grading. However, Borostyan’s concern that Costa students are at an “immense disadvantage” from the unweighted GPA policy would only be valid if unweighted GPAs were an anomaly.
In addition, according to Park, many colleges only look at unweighted GPAs. They will even unweight a weighted GPA if that is given to them. Colleges have a variety of different methods of calculating GPAs, and Mira Costa should not be responsible to cater to each system.
Though the weighting of GPAs does not have any real effect in admissions, it may have psychological repercussions on the student population. Mira Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale has expressed concerns regarding an increase in pressure for students to take difficult classes if GPAs become weighted in the future.
Dale brought up the point that weighted GPAs do not give any additional credit for elective courses, and these courses, more than AP and honors classes, are Costa’s greatest attribute. Dale also said that weighting GPAs would move focus away from electives, causing students to leave their previous commitments in favor of AP classes. Costa should maintain its focus on providing a multi-faceted education for students with the current policy.
According to Park, the only real disadvantage of refusing to weight GPAs is that this would render merit aid applications more difficult for students. This being said, only a handful of colleges would judge merit aid based on a five-point scale if Costa sends an unweighted GPA. Mira Costa should not adjust its policy for the very few universities that judge students’ academic achievement in this way.
Weighted GPAs contribute to the misconception that a candidate’s value can be determined by a set of numbers, where in reality the most attractive candidates are passionate, well-rounded students. Mira Costa has created immensely qualified candidates for years, and showing weighted GPAs would possibly disrupt this beneficial trend and cause students to focus more on AP classes rather than their electives.
This effect could potentially result in the qualification of students originating from Costa to decrease, creating less attractive collegiate candidates overall. GPA weighting may seem like an inconsequential matter, but in actuality, the negative effects should be considered for what they could be: the end of a prosperous academic atmosphere at Costa.
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