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Weighted GPA and NHS Qualifications

Mar 24, 2020

High School Question

One of your colleagues asked two questions for Maine High Schools:

1.  Does your school use a weight or unweighted GPA system? and

2.  What is the baseline qualifying GPA for consideration into NHS?

Casco Bay High School, Portland

Please click here to see a copy of their NHS procedures.

Central High School, Corinth

  1. Weighted
  2. 88

Deering High School, Portland

  1. Unweighted
  2. 93% firm as a minimum

Dexter Regional High School, Dexter

  1. Weighted
  2. 3.0

Dirigo High School, Dixfield

  1. Yes, but only for the cumulative GPA.
  2. 93 cumulative GPA

East Grand School, Danforth

  1. Our school uses an unweighted GPA, but we don’t have AP or honors courses.
  2. The baseline qualifying GPA for NHS is 85, but it’s too low.  We are considering changing to 90.

Edward Little High School, Auburn

  1. Class Rank is weighted. GPA – unweighted
  2. NHS-  3.5 on a 4 point scale or 90 on a 100 point scale

Gardner Area High School, Gardner

  1. We use a weighted grading system at GAHS.  We add three points to our honors classes and third year language classes and add six points to our AP and fourth year language classes.
  2. Our baseline GPA to qualify for NHS is an 85 average

Houlton Jr/Sr High School, Houlton

  1. We do weight some classes, but not all.
  2. We use 90 as the cutoff for NHS, but that is because NHS mandates you notify all kids who have a 90 or above.  We are considering raising our requirement to 92 or 93, but it stinks that NHS requires us to “notify” those kids who are 90 or above, but if we want a higher standard we can have that.

Kennebunk High School, Kennebunk

Kennebunk High School bases NHS on a weighted GPA of 90 or above.

Lawrence High School, Fairfield

  1. Lawrence High School has a weighted system with two variables…Honors/Advance is one value and AP/Dual Enrollment is another.
  2. We us 85, which I believe is the established base by the nationally.

Leavitt Area High School, Turner

  1. We have a district policy that outlines the weights for advanced placement and honors classes.  After seven semesters the weights are utilized to determine the top 10 GPA’s in the graduating class.  The policy is also very clear, these weighted GPA’s are not reported to anyone or used for any purpose other than determining the top 10.   Students are provided with an unweighted GPA and class rank based on this GPA at the very start of their senior year.
  2. The baseline for NHS is based on an unweighted GPA.  We currently are working under a dual system as we transition from a 0-100 system to a standards based 1-4 system.  For upperclassmen baseline has been a GPA of 88 for quite some time.  As we move to a 1-4 system, the baseline will be an overall GPA of 3.2.

Lisbon High School, Lisbon

  1. Unweighted
  2. 88 under our traditional system, 3.2 under our standards referenced system.  The later is up for review given our incremental increase in passing grade from 2.0 to 3.0 (going from 2.5 to 2.8 from this year to next).

Madawaska Middle/High School, Madawaska

  1. We have a weighted system in that we count classes with labs as 1.5 credits.  We also count AP classes as 1.5 credits (with or without a lab).
  2. NHS requires a minimum of 3.5 GPA to qualify for application (GPA alone is not the single entrance qualifier.  

Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, Hinkley

  1. Our school (The Maine Academy of Natural Sciences) is based on standards, so we don’t have a traditional GPA system.  Therefore, if we need to figure out GPA for a high school transcript, it would not be weighted. 
  2. As for NHS, we don’t have that at our school, so I have no baseline for you. 

Maranacook Community High School, Readfield

  1. Unweighted
  2. 3.2 for both semesters the year before

Massabesic High School, Waterboro

  1. Going to unweighted except for AP and college courses.
  2. 88.

Mattanawcook Academy, Lincoln

  1. Mattanawcook Academy presently uses a weighted grading system.
  2. 93 is the minimum GPA. This will ultimately change as we move towards PBL.

Medomak Valley High School, Waldoboro

  1. Honors, AP, College and Dual enrollment courses are all weighted.
  2. Minimum GPA for NHS is 3.0 but that score only allows students to apply. Student applications are reviewed by NHS committee (made up of the advisor and three teachers). At a full staff meeting every teacher reviews every application and scores applicants in several categories (all done by computer). Scores are tabulated and those applicants who score above the cut off are admitted to NHS. The way it works out is the vast majority of students who are admitted to NHS have a GPA above 3.33. We usually have this process twice a year with both a fall and spring induction ceremony.

Monmouth Academy, Monmouth and Hall-Dale Middle/High School, Farmingdale

  1. AP and dual enrollment courses are weighted at a factor of 1.25
  2. It was 3.0 on a 4 point proficiency based scale.  This year it was bumped up to a 3.33

Morse High School, Bath

  1. We do not weight grades at Morse High School.
  2. Students have to be in the upper 20% of the class with a minimum “B-” cumulative average.

            Top 5% of class = 4 points

            Top 10% of class = 3 points

            Top 15% of class = 2 points

            Top 20% of class = 1 point

(We also use a 0-4 point scale for Character, Leadership, and Service)

Mount Desert Island High School, Bar Harbor

  1. Unweighted
  2. 3.5

Mt. Valley High School, Rumford

  1. We use a weighted grading system that rewards students by weighting Honors classes 1.05 and AP or college course 1.1
  2. We require our students to have a 95 average or higher for NHS.  We have a self-designed conversion scale to change our grades from 0-4 into a 0-100.

Piscataquis Community Secondary School, Guilford

  1. We use a weighted GPA.
  2. We do not use a minimum GPA for NHS.

Sacopee Valley High School, Hiram

  1. Weighted
  2. 85

Scarborough High School, Scarborough

  1. Yes, we use a weighted grading system.  We have 5 levels of courses:  Level 1 – Special Education Designed, Level 2 – General Courses, Level 3 – College Prep, Level 4 – Honors, Level 5 – AP Courses

At the end of six semesters, a weighted GPA will be calculated which awards weighted points for grades in Level 5 (1.15), Level 4 (1.10), and Level 3 (1.05) courses.  This weighted GPA will be recalculated at the end of seven semesters.  SHS will report students rank by decile.  Rank in Class (RIC) information is available after the completion of six semesters.

Both the weighted and non-weighted GPA will be reported on the student transcript,

Honor Roll, Athletic/Activities eligibility, and senior privilege eligibility will be determined based on unweighted grades in each class.

Students taking Advanced Placement course by means of independent instruction through agencies outside of SHS must take the AP Exam in order to have the class weighted by the 1.15 factor.  Failure to take the exam will result in the class being weighted by the 1.10 factor.

Top Ten Percent recognition is based on the weighted GPA.  The valedictorian and salutatorian will be determined using weighted GPA also and is calculated at the end of seven semesters.

      2.  FOR NHS – to receive the initial application packet, students must have EITHER a weighted GPA of 96 or and unweighted GPA of 92.

Wells High School, Wells

  1. Our grade point average is unweighted. Our rank is weighted.
  2. We have no baseline to qualify into NHS

Winthrop High School, Winthrop

  1. WHS has a weighted GPA system, giving honors courses an additional 5% and AP courses an additional 10% weight.
  2. Our NHS requirement is 3.6

Woodland Jr-Sr High School, Baileyville

  1. We use both weighted and unweighted, weighted is only used for class rank
  2. NHS cut off is 85%.
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