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Beyond the Decimal: Why Education Should Inspire, Not Inflate
We just had course signups for the next academic year. Students came to me asking about taking AP Micro versus Micro, AP Macro versus regular Macro. Which is better for them? Which looks stronger? Which boosts their GPA more? My answer is always the same - take what you think you want to take, and take what you can handle.
I can say that calmly, and students actually listen. Here at Brookfield Academy, a student’s GPA depends on their performance in the class and the grade they earn at the end of the year. They aren’t getting extra points simply for signing up for an AP course. There’s no automatic numerical bonus for rigor. If you take AP, you take it because you’re ready for the challenge, and not because the system guarantees a GPA bump just for trying.
But is that the case everywhere?
Walk into almost any high school, and you’ll hear students comparing numbers like they’re tracking the stock market: 4.3, 4.7, 5.0. GPAs have stretched far beyond the traditional 4.0, thanks to weighted systems that give extra points for AP and Honors courses. On paper, this seems great. Schools are rewarding effort and rigor. In reality, it can turn students into human calculators. Instead of asking what they want to learn, they start asking - what will maximize my numerical return?
From an economic perspective, this makes perfect sense. People think at the margin. They weigh marginal costs and marginal benefits. In a weighted GPA system, choosing a class becomes a spreadsheet exercise. What’s the probability of earning an A? How much will it bump my GPA? Is the extra workload worth the 0.5 boost? Students behave exactly as incentives predict. They chase the numbers like they’re playing a video game where every decimal counts.
Weighted GPAs were built on a reasonable premise. Harder classes require more effort, so they deserve more reward. In theory, this aligns incentives with challenge. In practice, though, every course choice becomes a cost–benefit analysis. A student weighs the stress of AP Chemistry against the GPA bump it provides, or compares a beloved art elective with another Honors science course and asks - which one will maximize my transcript value? Education starts to resemble portfolio management, with the added bonus of mild existential dread and the occasional emotional meltdown.
An unweighted 4.0 GPA flips the script. Without bonus multipliers, the marginal benefit of a class shifts from numerical gain to intellectual growth. Students can still take the most demanding courses, but now the motivation comes from curiosity, mastery, and preparation - not chasing decimals. Rigor is reflected in the transcript itself and in the story a student tells about their choices, not baked into an inflated number.
At Brookfield Academy, that’s intentional. Because there’s no extra GPA weight for simply enrolling in AP, students have to think differently. They know their grade will reflect how well they actually perform. That clarity makes conversations simpler and more honest. “Take what you can handle” isn’t code for “avoid challenge.” It’s an invitation to know yourself - your workload, your resilience, your interests - and choose accordingly.
And the result? Students still take hard classes. They still stretch themselves. But they do so for the right reasons.
In the end, incentives shape behavior. If the system rewards decimals, students will chase decimals. If it rewards mastery, exploration, and integrity, students will pursue those instead. By sticking with an unweighted 4.0 scale, we send a clear message - your education is not a spreadsheet. It’s a journey of growth, discovery, and the occasional “aha” moment - without turning every course selection into a high-stakes math problem.
