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

gbesq
Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:04:32 +0000

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!