Let's Diminish This Weighting

Here at Sutton High School, and most schools they have something called weighting. While taking classes ranging from CP-AP the amount of courses you take and the grades you get affect your GPA. While taking AP Classes your grade can be boosted up to around 10 (1.1%) points which positively impact your GPA. While taking Honors Classes your grade can be boosted up to around 5 (1.05%) points. CP classes are weighted nothing in schools today. Nothing? How is that fair, why does this happen, I continue to ask myself day by day. Students are "punished" for taking a class they feel comfortable in and usually, the class they will be most successful in. Students are forcing themselves to take those GPA boost classes-most of the time an unrealistic goal, just to get the AP or Honors weighting. Just this year I was advised to take rigorous courses that were AP and Honors over this class, innovations. To drop the class that interests me the most, for classes that I am not interested in, for classes that are just too challenging for me, for classes that I am doing nothing with in my future career. Yes, I know challenging yourself is good, but there is a difference between a realistic goal and an unrealistic goal. Me, struggling in math, big time- is very unrealistic to enroll in an honors pre calc class- which I actually was advised to take- almost forced one would say. Taking a class just so my GPA will be boosted is the wrong mindset anyone should go into a school year or while creating your future schedule for classes. Instead, I decided to embrace my creativity and take a challenge, and I am happy to say I am extremely happy I took this route. When I hear students say, "I do not want to take that because its weighted CP- A feeling of disgust takes over me. Choosing a class because of the grade booster and not because your actually interested? This is wrong. Dropping the weighting will provide students the opportunity to pick classes they are ACTUALLY interested in- even though you still have the opportunity today, this year, at Sutton High School the stereotype shuts this opinion down. The stereotype that taking anything but Honors or AP is terrible. That colleges will not accept you if you take an elective that does not have weighting- even if it is something pertaining to your major. I am very sad to think that with the place I go to school, embracing your creativity and interests is getting more rare as the years go on, and this is no ones fault but the students and the standards that we have created. On the website https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2017/12/04/competitive-high-school-asks-are-weighted-gpas-doing-any-good it is stated that if you ask a high school student who is applying to competitive colleges about their grades, and you'll hear about a grade point average well above 4.0 --even approaching a 5.0. A 4.0, prized in a previous generation, is seen as a slacker's GPA. You are considered a slacker if you get a 4.0 even though that is above average. How does it make the students feel who range in the 2's for their GPA? The reason is the weighting of GPAs by high schools, which if we did not have, the issues would be solved. High schools weight in all different ways, and the higher GPAs are seen as a way to flag for colleges just how outstanding various students are. The issue is, when everyone from a given high school applying to colleges has close to a 5.0 GPA, but some have a 3.0 GPA there is a clear divide and disadvantage. Some colleges make clear in their own reporting that they immediately remove the weights, which is vital. This source gave me more information to help support my source and gain more knowledge on a topic I am so passionate about.