BHS implements new weighted grades system

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Recently at BHS, a new system was adopted under which some classes will have weighted grades.

“Students approached the administrators last year wanting weighted grades,” BHS counselor Autumn Weiss said. “They felt that weighted grades would be beneficial for receiving scholarships.”

Weiss said that there are some types of scholarships which weighted grades can help considerably in earning.

“We have found that some scholarships, particularly the freshmen renewable ones, will use a weighted grade system,” she said, “which can make you eligible for more money.”

Although the weighted grades system can be helpful, there are disadvantages.

“A lot of universities and scholarships organizations do not consider weighted grades,” Weiss said. “If you submit a weighted grade they will often ask you to recalculate and send an unweighted GPA.”

In addition, some students believe that the system is inequitable.

“It is unfair to sophomores who took honors classes freshman year,” sophomore Jacob Hofman said. “If it were implemented differently, then my GPA would have risen higher than 4.0.”

There are other students who see both advantages and disadvantages in the weighted grades system.

“I think it will help the underclassmen,” senior Tristian Paxton said, “but for juniors—and seniors, especially—it’s not very helpful for college applications.”

The system’s adoption had been discussed for about a year.

“A committee discussed weighted grades throughout the 2017-2018 school year,” Weiss said. “The school board approved having weighted grades in June 2018.”

The classes that have weighted grades are Honors Algebra II, Honors Geometry, Calculus, AP Literature, Composition I, Composition II, AP Art, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP US History, AP Government and Honors World History.