<p>S took Spanish 2 at his first HS and received an A and an A. He transfered and took Spanish 2 a second time as he found that he was not prepared for Spanish 2 at this new school. He recieved and A- and an A.
So, if a student has 40 credits (as he can’t count this class twice-so 6 semesters of 7 credits each minus 2 for repeat=40 credits) what would the difference be if the current school accepted the A rather than the A- in his GPA which is 3.769. I will take this up at the school if it will raise it to a 3.8 (helps with merit) but would like to know what I am talking about first. Anyone? or where would you post this?</p>
<p>Without speaking to your chances of accomplishing your goal -</p>
<p>assuming an A- is a 3.7, then the resulting GPA will be 3.7765 resulting in a change of + .0075.</p>
<p>Ok-Thanks-originally I had forgotten that the credits were 40, not 42 and came up with a difference in .031. Can you tell me the formula? I have one but thought I was making a mistake somehow. Thank you again.</p>
<p>What an ingenue I am…who would have thought that a change of 7 and 1/2 ten thousands of a grade point would make a difference…</p>
<p>And to think that our school system only uses letters without +'s or -'s, and no grade weighting. Don’t even want to think if it would have helped or hurt son…</p>
<p>hmm… I am seeing this as not really making a difference in the GPA as it is still basically a 3.7 -are any of you seeing this as a difference worth persuing?</p>
<p>Doesn’t sound worth the nitpicking to me. Both gpa’s could be rounded up to be a 3.8. If a 3.8 + decimal points is required it is a moot point.</p>
<p>Sure it’s worth it. It gets the student over that well known 3.775 screening cut-off the elite schools all have. ;)</p>
<p>Curmudgeon-really? I did not know that-had just seen some college merit calculators that, as I remember it, had a different award for 3.8 vs 3.7.
Is there a formula that you can share?</p>
<p>curmud, you slay me!!</p>
<p>OP - The only formula ever to be found in my posts is :</p>
<p>When you see the wink-y
stop and think-y. ;)</p>
<p>Sorry. I spend way too much time amusing myself and confusing others. My bad.</p>
<p>Hey-don’t care about the joke -but is that the new GPA and what is the formula?</p>
<p>Unless this is the tiebreaker determining who is the valedictorian of the class, I can’t imagine any scenario where the different matters. At all. Certainly not worth making an issue at school over. Since most/many high schools don’t use the +/- at all in grading, colleges may recalculate based on their own GPA formulas. I don’t think that the miniscule difference would make any difference in determining merit aid, either.</p>
<p>Yes, OP. That is the correct GPA and the correct GPA difference assuming a 3.7 value for an A- (a common value). </p>
<p>It’s just hours (credits) X quality points (4.0 etc). In many instances a 4.0 is an A, 3.7 A-, 3.3 B+ and so on. In your example we know the hours don’t change, so we just substitute 1 credit of 3.7 for 1 credit of 4.0 . IOW we add 0.3 to the previous total of quality points (present GPA X 40) and then divide by 40 again to get the re-calculated GPA. </p>
<p>Gee. I made that sound complicated. It’s not. And if you ask me how I know this stuff, my D is a Texan and was in a super-tight Val race from the 7th grade on when her high school courses started counting against GPA. At the closest she and her incredibly talented number 2 were separated by .003. </p>
<p>In Texas the Val race can be a bloodsport with cheerleaders. ;)</p>
<p>curmudgeon- I need to learn to make that smiley face. Clearly my attempt at irony (#4 post) fell flat. At nearly every college fair I have attended the reps have made clear that, once a student is near top of the class, whether or not the student achieves valedictorian/salutatorian is not dispositive in admissions decisions. I get it, however, that, just like mileage, culture may vary and that in each locale the honor may have implications other than college admission.</p>
<p>Caleno- we got your irony and appreciated it, Curm, you are just your usual bad boy self; sad to think that the culture at some schools and the race for Val can make a parent question an A v A-…I don’t think, even if it were a big deal, that there is anything worth talking to the school about. They are not going to change the grade, no how no way, so why ask? Second time through the same course, I would think an admin would take the most recent grade.</p>
<p>Definitely not a battle worth choosing</p>
<p>Let it go! Step back and let your kid discuss this issue with his guidance counselor if he feels so inclined to. The truth is, the slight difference is not going to be the deciding factor as to whether or not he gets accepted into a specific college or whether he gets merit aid. If getting an A- in a language class is this traumatic for your son or you, he is going to have a difficult time of it in college trying to maintain his “perfect A” academic ambitions. </p>
<p>What is important is that your son challenge himself while attempting a rigorous AP level curriculum rather than choose classes based on whether or not he can achieve an “A” in class. Try to encourage and reinforce a love of learning, a curiosity to question , and the confidence to take on challenges.</p>
<p>Hey-no-nysmile-the actual grade was never the issue. We spoke with the Dean last summer before grades were out and it was agreed that if it made a difference, assuming the second grade was higher, he could have the higher grade. I only asked here because I wanted to know the formula. IF it made the difference of raising the GPA to a clean 3.8 it seemed worth the conversation. Many schools base their merit on the GPA and SAT/ACT. Even if it meant just a small increase it seemed worth looking into. As for the difference in an A or A-, that was never ever the issue.
As we already had to deal with a schedule change this year, I was not going into this unless it mattered and I knew what I was talking about. This seemed a good place to get the formula-thanks Cur for that</p>
<p>I’m a bit confused. If he took Spanish 2 at a previous high school, then wouldn’t it be part of his official transcript from that school? After taking Spanish 2 at his new high school, wouldn’t that final grade be on the official transcript of his current school? In other words, won’t your son have to submit an official transcript from his previous high school as well as his current high school? Also, how can one high school remove a grade from the official transcript of another school?</p>
<p>No-both transcripts go and the grade would not be removed. It was just the question of which year of credit would be figured in the GPA. No grade would be removed. One dean thought the highest would be the GPA and another thought the lastest grade would be the GPA. The highest was the first school. The latest is currently the GPA. So, all is well-thanks for the answer everyone.</p>