<p>My daughter recently told me that her college calculates GPAs without using + or - grades. In other words, an A/4.0 is awarded for any numerical grade between 90 and 100. A B/3.0 is awarded for anything between an 80-89, and so forth. So what would ordinarily be an A- at many colleges is averaged into the cumulative GPA as a 4.0, not a 3.7. But a B+, which would ordinarily be a 3.3 at many colleges, is averaged into the cumulative GPA as a 3.0. I checked the registrar’s office on the college’s website to make sure that this is the case, and it’s correct. I’m trying to figure out whether this system is good, bad, or – over the course of the 126 or so semester hours needed for a degree – produces about the same result as a “traditional” +/- grading system would. I think I need a statistics major!</p>
<p>It probably makes students who would have a 3.5 average (B+/A-) on a traditional system work harder to get the A- type grade since it would factor in as an A; on the other hand it would make students who would have a 3.0-3.3 average (higher Bs) on a traditional system slack off since they can get away with a B- type grade for the same GPA.</p>
<p>I personally ended up with a lower GPA in college under the plus/minus system. The reason being that I NEVER got an A PLUS to counter my many A MINUSes. (Matter of fact, I’m not even sure there is such a thing as an A “plus” in college!) Basically you can figure it out- if you have more minuses than pluses, you’re screwed. I ended up on the minus side. :(</p>
<p>When I was an undergrad – that is, when dinosaurs roamed the earth – we only received grades of A, B, C, D or F. No pluses and minuses at all. It was frustrating as hell – you’d work your buns off to get an 89 and wind up with the same grade as someone who got an 80.</p>
<p>VeryHappy,</p>
<p>What you describe is exactly what I’m talking about here – same deal.</p>
<p>My daughter goes to Brown and they also do not have plusses or minusses. They actually do not get a GPA either. They get As, Bs, or Cs (or can opt to take a class P/NP). However, a GPA can be calculated for graduate school. I think it would be rough to earn an 89 average and get a B just the same as if it were an 81. She doesn’t seem to mind and while she is a high achiever and strives for high grades (was a straight A student in high school and achieves similarly in college), she says that learning in college is not about the grades. I think the students there are fine with the system. I think there was some talk of adding plusses and minusses but it did not pass (I hope I have this straight as this was a conversation a long while back). I know when she applied to study abroad through another college that wanted a GPA, one had to be calculated by her school. She is applying to graduate school as well. It seems like the students at her college go onto good grad schools and so the lack of +s and -s doesn’t seem to have a negative effect. It would take me some getting used to but I am not the one who goes to college.</p>
<p>If you are a grade groupie, part of the strategy is to know going into the final weeks of class where you stand and what you need to do to maintain or increase your grade. Sad but true part of being a grade grubbing student (tongue in cheek). </p>
<p>If you do not get plus’s or minus’s, and you have a solid B in a class with no hope of getting an A, it is in your best interest to perhaps turn your attention elsewhere during finals week (where you CAN effect a higher grade), and do what it takes on that particular final to keep your B. That may mean that you study less, take a C on the final, and end up with an 80 in the class. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, you may have used that extra study time to really give another course a heroic last final effort, and maybe pull THAT grade up from a B to an A. That may very well be what these kids that make the 80 B’s are doing…which is actually a very smart thing to do.</p>
<p>I went to a school with “+” and “-” grades and for the vast majority of my friends having the “+” and “-” had a very negligible affect on our GPAs … for most kids after 4 years they had nearly the same number of "+"s and "-"s. A few, including me, managed to sneak over the “+/-” line a lot and have more "-"s than "+"s which means the scale actually hurt me a little bit.</p>
<p>But, IMO, a straight A, B, C, D, E grading scale is much more like how work is graded in the workplace and would be a preferred grading system. As doubleplay described determing how to prioritize time across multiple objectives is a prime skill for the workplace … and to me the A, B, C, D, E grade scale teaches this … without the false sense of precision adding "+"s and "-"s to a grading scale promotes.</p>
<p>I think its helped me, because I have an uncanny ability to just barely get over the hump to the next letter grade. Last year I got a 3.6 taking 30 hours, and every single one of my As was a 90 or a 91.</p>
<p>Also, some schools do just +s and not -s. I hope that for job and grad school purposes, people are aware of the difference between scales.</p>
<p>For all you parents of Texas pre-meds out there , the Texas bunch that does their common application (TMSDAS or TMDAS or whatever) doesn’t use + or - either. A- is an A. B+ is a B. So far that helps my D, but who knows in the end?</p>
<p>My son is at UMCP, where + and - grades were introduced a few years ago but where there has been a several-year delay before they started to be incorporated into the calculation of GPAs.</p>
<p>My son’s class is in the middle of this transformation. Their + and - grades show on their transcripts, but their GPAs are calculated without taking them into account. Thus, a B, B+, and B- are all 3.0 (although this will not be true for future classes).</p>
<p>In his case, the calculation of GPA without + and - grades has helped him. I think this is because A+ grades are very rare, but all the other possibilities are not. He has received far more A- grades than A+ grades, so it has been to his advantage that all were considered 4.0 (rather than 3.7 and 4.3, respectively). </p>
<p>Your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies so far. Anyone else have an opinion?</p>
<p>My college did 4,3,2,1,0 up until my senior year, at which time they changed to 4,3.5,3,2.5,2,1.5,1,.5,0 which didn’t really corrolate with +/-'s either.</p>
<p>I would say the no +'s hurt me a few times, but the no -'s helped me a few times. It probably came out about even. Once we changed to the .5 system, it helped me a few and hurt me a few as well. i think it all works itself out, for the most part.</p>
<p>I was actually debating this with my ex-boyfriend’s little brother a little bit ago. At my high school we have a straight A, B, C, D, E scale. At his, they give pluses and minuses.</p>
<p>Good things about my school scale: less paranoid about grades, more interested in learning the material.
Bad things about my school scale: same grade if you have a 99% or a 90.0000%. Harder to differentiate between students in rankings.</p>
<p>UF gives out only pluses, no minuses - if only Amherst did that!</p>
<p>i go to a college where they use a +/- system which was a little offputting at first because my highschool only had A,B,C,D,F. But I’ve calculated my GPA for my first year and realized that my GPA is exactly the same when calculated under both systems (i got an assortment of 4 B’s and 5 A’s).</p>
<p>UF is switching over to the plus/minus system.</p>