<p>My DDs’ hs assigns a 4 for As regardless of weather they are an A- or an A+. For APs which get an extra grade point, it’s the same thing. An A- or an A+ is still a 5. My nephew attends a school where an A- is a 3.75 and an A+ 4.25. </p>
<p>I have always assumed that a college would look at grades on a 4 point scale like my DDs hs does and take into account the more difficult pointing system that my nephew’s school employs when looking at their admissions profile. Then I got to thinking…will some colleges take my girls’ GPAs and convert them? Will the A- she busted her butt to get in Algebra II count as a 3.75 with some colleges? If so, can you tell me if any of the following do that:</p>
<p>UC system
Cal Poly
Scripps
Colorado College
Willamette
Trininty U (San Antonio)</p>
<p>In a 4.0 system, an A- is usually a 3.7…that’s all I can offer. I don’t know whether those colleges have that kind of information readily available.</p>
<p>At my HS, we use the same system your D’s does: A+=A=A-, B+=B=B- etc. The thing is though, on the transcript all that shows up is the letter, sans +/-. So for us, a college couldn’t rescale the GPA if they wanted to. I would guess its the same way at your school, but I would ask the guidance department, or ask your D to do so.</p>
<p>I think most colleges convert GPAs onto their on scale. I believe these are often unweighted since colleges also take into account how much students have challenged themselves in their schools. It doesn’t seem equitable to use weighted GPAs since some high schools don’t offer AP courses or don’t offer as many–these students would be at a disadvantage to begin with, it seems. </p>
<p>Anyway, it’s not really something to worry about. I always pretty much ignore GPAs when I read them on CC. All schools grade differently and calculate GPAs differently, so GPA comparisons across schools are pretty worthless, in my opinion. Colleges also get reports from the school about course difficulty and grading methods. That will help put grades from your daughter’s particular school into perspective. If your daughter’s grades are good, colleges will recognize that, no matter what particular GPA system they use. (I have to say, though, shouldn’t the kid who busted their butt in Algebra II but got an A instead of an A- get more credit?)</p>
<p>Anyway, at my high school A- was 3.66, A was 4.0, and there were no A+s. My high school didn’t really weight grades all that much. At my college, an A- is a 3.7, A is 4.0, and there are no A+s. I believe that is the most standard system.</p>
<p>cooarranged…I do get your point re the A and the A-. Its’ just that in figuring the GPA and class rank that was the only thing we knew. It’s only been recently that we realized that not every school did it the same and that what looks impressive here may become less so when looked at through another set of criteria.</p>
<p>Narcissa, yes but is there some where to find out how they convert them?</p>
<p>The schools usually send out a profile that describes the High Schools grading system. Colleges are very familiar with the differences in how each HS weights their grades. They will convert them all to THEIR scale. It’s a good idea to ask for a copy of your schools profile to see if it’s accurate. I’ve found some errors on ours, like a class that was listed as an AP class that was no longer offered. They tend to use the same one year after year and not update it.</p>
<p>The more selective the school, the less of a tendency that the GPA is unweighted because there is already an expectation that students should be taking the most rigerous classes their school offers.</p>
<p>NACAC’s 2006 Annual State of College Admission Report provides analysis of the combined results from the Admission Trends Survey and the Counseling Trends Survey. Based on surveys of school counselors and colleges and universities nationwide, NACAC provides this report to highlight issues of concern to college-bound students, their parents, and the educators who serve them. </p>
<p>Even if you don’t read the whole report, you should definitely read Chapter 4 Factors in the Admissions Process</p>
<p>(Basically more selective schools where if admitted the student is more likely to enroll will recalculate your GPA to a 4 point scale)</p>
<p>Schools will look at major courses : English, Math, Social studies, Sciences, Foreign language, etc. They will back out of the GPA: Band, Gym, Peer Leadership, Yearbook, etc.</p>
<p>My kids hs uses one of those astronomical scales where a 4.0 is truly mediocre. I know colleges want to advertise that their students have amazing gpas, so do they submit to USNWR the average weighted grades?</p>
<p>bluebayou…thanks for the csu/uc info. That is good to know!</p>
<p>Muffy…a 4.0 is mediocore??? Even with weighted grades, a 4.0 is a wonderful achievement for a student! Yikes! What kind of atrocious pressure does that school put on its kids?</p>
<p>I think an A in a Regents-level class (that’s a standard New York State course) is a 5 and an A in an AP course is a 6. I figured this out when I saw that no one under a 4.8 had gotten into one of the state schools and had a massive heart attack…</p>
<p>Muffy only the weighted GPA, but many colleges recalculate the scores. If your school doesn’t ever give an A+ by all rights an A ought to be a 4.0 not a 3.75 in an unweighted GPA. Our high school uses a 1-100 score (and reports a weighted GPA), the highest weighted GPA in the history of the school is 106.something. I have no idea how colleges calculate them - from A for Admissions it looked like many schools actually prefer to look at rank more than GPAs.</p>
<p>historymom: I should have specified that high school plusses and minuses do not count for UC admissions. UC college classes may award plusses and minuses which count on the college trasnscript; for example, an A- = 3.7, a B+ =3.3.</p>