“What is a 4.1 GPA?”
Essentially, that is called the “weighted GPA’ vs a non-weighted GPA. In short, a high school kid can get “extra” if he or she takes an honors course or an Advanced Placement course. Thus, the time/energy/studying in an advanced class is more than the “regular” class (which is true in most cases). I think they do this simply to allow students the freedom to take a more difficult class, put in the effort etc... or everyone would be taking the on level classes (who wants to risk their GPA for Honors chemistry, for example, if they could slam dunk an A in regular chemistry). That being said, most colleges I know ask for BOTH GPA’s and I have known some kids to have a 5.0 weighted GPA. One can make the argument that a student should WANT to advance their education and challenge themselves by taking the more difficult classes but if they are applying to a private college/state college... the competition can be fierce. Unlike when I applied (my college applications simply asked for GPA and SAT results), today’s admissions ask for GPA/SAT/or ACT/clubs/awards/volunteer activities etc... Hope this helps :)
Some AP Classes are an easy A and the hs students know which ones they are. My daughter took AP human ecology to get the weighted grade. EASY A. The colleges can look at a class schedule and know that kid is a slider.