The WI Guarantee: Weighted v. Unweighted GPAs

For all of our Wisconsin based students and families, the recent announcement and implementation of the state’s Wisconsin Guarantee has brought a mix of excitement and confusion towards what it holds for the state’s scholars. For students interested in applying to any school in the University of Wisconsin system, especially the University of Wisconsin Madison, navigating the eligibility guidelines of the guarantee while also navigating the academic landscape of their high schools is a task that requires a great deal of planning. At Galin Education, we work with a large number of students in the state and want to make sure that both students and families feel supported as they navigate the new landscape of higher education in Wisconsin.

Understanding the WI Guarantee

First, we need to make sure that everyone has a clear understanding of what the Wisconsin Guarantee means for their college preparation for any school in the system. Since its introduction, the Wisconsin Guarantee is a policy that creates a more streamlined system and academic parameters for acceptance into the array of schools in the University of Wisconsin System for all students studying in the state.

Academically, all students who graduate in the top 10% of their respective high school class are guaranteed acceptance into all of the University of Wisconsin schools with the exception of the Madison campus, which requires a student to graduate in the top 5% of the graduating class.

For homeschool students, they will need to truly focus on standardized testing as their route to acceptance hinges on receiving an ACT or SAT test score that places them in either the 90th or 98th percentile of the country (for top 10% (everywhere except Madison) or top 5% (Madison) guarantee, respectively).

Students must have their rank/percentage noted on their transcript at the time of application and may be advised to use a particular application platform, like the University of Wisconsin application vs the Common App. That information would come from your school counselor.. It is also worth noting that the Wisconsin Guarantee does not apply/grant automatic admission to any direct admit programs, such as the University of Wisconsin Madison’s Business or Engineering Colleges.

Weighted v. Unweighted GPAs

With this in mind, a student’s academic record becomes even more important to make sure that they are ensuring a place in the incoming class at many of the notable schools within the system. Of course, a lot of what goes into a student’s class ranking is the rigor of courses they are taking and the balance of grades they are earning. Which brings us to the age old question of which is more important: your weighted vs unweighted GPA.

Many of the high schools across the state of Wisconsin differ in not only their academic curriculum but also whether they operate on a weighted vs unweight GPA system. Regardless of the system your school uses, students should always strive to take the most challenging courses available while balancing out the percentage of good grades on their transcript.

Whether AP, IB, or college prep, students should also aim to start their high school careers with a good GPA and then progressively take more and more challenging courses each year. Of course, not all students will be able to exhaust the AP, IB, or Honors selection at their school, and not all students should aim for this goal. In general, students should take the most challenging courses they can,  while still feeling confident they can earn a strong grade. 

In order to reach this goal, we encourage students and families to leverage their high school counselors for previous data on the courses taken, and GPAs earned of students who previously landed in the top 5% and 10% of their senior classes. And because we at Galin know that challenging courses are, by definition, not supposed to be easy, we also encourage everyone to get the support they need (like a subject area tutor or an academic coach!) while also enlisting the services of our college counseling team to get guidance on what courses you should be taking over your high school career.

Reach out to info@galined.com to learn more about how we can support your student!

Photo by Phil Roeder