High school GPA is like a key to unlock the door of university application, its weight and value directly determines whether we can successfully step into the ideal university.
Canadian Students Raise GPA to 4.95
Dream of Top Universities in Canada and the U.S is realized
Student H originally studied in a Canadian high school that did not offer AP credit courses, but St. Mary’s Online offers a wide range of AP credit courses, which fully meets student H’s needs to take additional AP credits and improve the GPA.
Through St. Mary’s Online, student H took 5 AP courses (AP Calculus AB, AP Macroeconomics, AP Language and Composition, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science) and 2 U.S. high school courses (Financial Math, TOEFL) in Grade 12, and earned the corresponding credits, and raised the GPA from 3.8 to 4.95!
With US high school AP credits and Grade 12 US high school transcripts, student H successfully applied to the dream schools, a top 5 university in Canada, as well as New York University, a top 30 school in the US.
01 What is GPA?
GPA stands for Grade Point Average, which is what we know as the usual grade or grade in school. It is a numerical measure that assesses a student’s academic performance. In a semester or academic year, each student’s performance in each course is assigned a grade or score, which is known as a Grade Point (GPA). The GPA of all courses is weighted and averaged according to the credit weights of each course to create a grade point average (GPA).
The GPA is a number between 0.0 (worst) and 4.0 (best), but of course students can also take honors or AP courses and taking these higher-level courses can weigh the GPA to increase it to 5.0, which is why more students choose to take higher level courses to increase their GPA.
02 The Importance of High School GPA on College Applications
According to the statistics of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) on more than 200 U.S. colleges and universities over the past 11 years, of all the factors that truly affect college admissions, the top three key elements that play a decisive role in influencing college admissions have consistently been for 11 years:
College preparatory courses taken in high school (77%)
High school GPA in all subjects (74%)
Intensity of high school program (64%)
Especially after the epidemic, the United States and the world’s universities widely test-optional, test-free policy, SAT/ACT and other standardized scores have long since ceased to be the only decisive factor affecting the admission of university admissions, the importance and influence dropped sharply, from 56% has fallen to 5%!
Second, GPA is directly related to your eligibility for scholarships. When applying for various types of scholarships, GPA is usually one of the screening criteria, and students with high GPAs are more likely to receive scholarships. Most academic scholarships have a minimum GPA requirement.
Third, GPA may influence your choice of major. When you apply to a school’s popular majors, students with high GPAs are able to make you stand out from the crowd.
Overall, maintaining a high GPA favors admission to top colleges and boosts the competitiveness of your application. If you are not doing well in one of your high school courses and are not satisfied with your GPA score, you can also take online U.S. high school credit courses at home to earn credits, transcripts, letters of recommendation from foreign teachers, and even a U.S. high school diploma that are recognized by U.S. and world universities.
03 Online US High School Courses, How to Boost High School GPA?
In the U.S. high school education system, schools match or recommend Online School Courses, a practice designed to help students raise their GPA, meet the credits required for graduation, and offer courses that are not offered by the school but that students need to take. With a history dating back nearly 50 years, it has gained widespread acceptance as a popular form of educational learning in the United States today. The diploma, GPA, and transcripts of an accredited online U.S. high school are the same as those of an offline brick-and-mortar high school and are recognized when applying to U.S. and world universities and are accepted worldwide. Students with good grades will also receive letters of recommendation from their teachers.
For students in domestic general high schools, public international departments, international schools and overseas high schools, the online credit courses and diploma programs offered by St. Mary’s School, which is ranked among the top 100 boarding high schools in the U.S. by Niche, is a reliable and excellent choice to improve GPA, and it can assist applicants in all aspects of the road to applying for prestigious colleges and universities:
First, the online U.S. high school program originates from online U.S. high school programs from Niche’s top 100 boarding U.S. high schools, providing authentic U.S. high school credit courses, AP credit courses, and U.S. high school diploma courses, with a high value. Students can enjoy pure US high school personalized education without leaving their home, via real-time live + video broadcast in Asian time zone.
Secondly, the online US high school program is accredited by Cogina, which has a history of more than 100 years and is now one of the world’s largest non-profit international school accrediting organizations. Our credits, transcripts and diplomas are highly recognized by universities in the United States and around the world.
Thirdly, the foreign teachers of our online U.S. high school program are all selected by local schools in the U.S. and are chosen from among the best. 85% of them hold a master’s degree or doctoral degree, with an average of 5+ years of teaching experience, have rich online teaching experience, understand the learning characteristics and habits of Asian students, and also have many years of experience in helping students to learn effectively online, making the classroom lively and engaging. The online US high school program also provides professional bilingual learning coaches and after-school Q&A to solve the problems of students who do not understand what they are learning in class and cannot do their homework. Parents can also learn about their students’ progress from the bilingual coaches and keep an eye on their students’ growth.
Fourthly, more than 500 students who have obtained the diploma of online U.S. high school program have been successfully admitted to U.S. and world universities, such as: Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, Boston University, UCLA, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, University College London, University of Warwick, University of Sydney, and so on. Meanwhile, art colleges include London College of Art, Parsons New School for Design, and so on. These excellent student cases have helped us gain a high reputation and widespread praise.
Fifthly, the online U.S. high school program adopts the U.S. high school standard formative grading system. Not only do we focus on students’ test scores, but we also emphasize students’ learning process and engagement. Through the diversified assessment methods of regular assignments (40%), unit module tests (30%), quizzes (15%), collaborative project workshops (10%) and classroom participation (5%), the program ensures the fairness of grades and focuses on students’ comprehension, application and creativity, with an emphasis on the outcome-oriented nature of education to help students maximize their academic performance.
Sixthly, online U.S. high school is more flexible in course selection and offers a wider variety of courses. It includes a full range of U.S. high school credit courses, as well as more than 30 AP credit courses. Courses that are not offered at the student’s home school can be taken online without the restrictions of course selection, time and space.
Seventh, online U.S. high school courses have a regular GPA of up to 4.33 out of 5, which is higher than the common 4.0 out of 5. AP courses have a GPA of up to 5.0 out of 5. Whether a student needs to retake a regular course, make up a course, or take an AP course, the program can help raise their GPA.
Eighth, the online U.S. high school program has its own mainland AP test center, so students enrolled in our AP credit courses can take the exams directly at our mainland test center, without having to travel to Hong Kong or abroad.
Ninth, the online U.S. high school program uses a professional Schoology and Team learning platform to ensure learning results. It contains live class playback, online textbooks, online learning resources, online homework reminders, online class reminders, interactive widgets and so on. The Jupiter school registration system can do three-dimensional transcripts that can be checked at any time, and contains grade warning, keeping traces of the learning process. It is guaranteed that the transcripts can be transmitted to the university officials.
Tenth, the cost of online U.S. high school program is lower than studying abroad, students can save tuition, accommodation, living costs and other expenses. At the same time, all the risks of studying abroad can be avoided. There is no need to worry about culture shock, adaptation to life, or safety issues.
SMOA U.S. High School Online Credit Program 2024Small Group Classes for 3-6 Students is now open for enrollment:
AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Computer Science A, AP Psychology, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Statistics, AP English Literature and Composition, Linear Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Earth and Space Science, Fashion Design, Interior Design, and more!