GPA Calculation With No + or - Grades: Good or Bad?

Marian
Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:20:26 +0000

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.

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).

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).

Your mileage may vary.