<p>I am sure the answer to this is somewhere on this wonderful thread, but could someone tell me if most colleges recalculate GPA where a 92 is actually an A- or 3.7 versus a B or 3.0, cause that changes the game on a few honors and scholarship apps. I called one of our schools and they said they recalculate, but I couldnt pin her down now. She said just check the honors program box on the app. They release ranges for their honors program, but i have no way of knowing if thats based on the high school reported GPA or their recalculation. Why is it such a big secret anyway?</p>
<p>Amazhon-every college has their own system and I think every one of them does recalculate. Part of that process is to get you school report from the GC though so that might be why she couldn’t give you specifics, maybe? One school DS is applying to has their metric right on their website–lovely! They convert every A (A+, A, A-) to a 4.0, every B to a 3.0, etc. and calculate that way. Their method brings DS’s GPA up to a 3.99 which gives him an extra $5000/year in merit money–love that method :D. I am also guessing that their honor’s classification differs from year to year as they see what their averages are for applicants, etc.</p>
<p>Ok, so for the school you referenced, is the cutoff for an A- 90? My Ds school uses numerical grades on the transcript and anything below a 93 is calculated as a 3.0 in the GPA, but I’m seeing in a few places that a 90 and above is actually anywhere from a 3.7 to a 4.0 which would help her. Thanks.</p>
<p>Subbing today. Sitting here in study hall discussing the college search with a random senior. This kid has two sisters at the big flagship. Is considering that and another in-state U. Has not done a formal campus tour at any school yet. Has not started the app process. Has not written an essay and did not know they she would need to write one. </p>
<p>I’m guessing this is more the norm than us whack job parents here on CC. Feel better now?</p>
<p>Numerical grades are not on their transcripts at all so if they show an A- on the transcript, they get that converted to a 4.0 on that school’s scale. The only thing that shows up on the transcript is the A- (or whatever). The bottom of an A (A-) at our school is 94 so a B+ is 93 but that isn’t part of the calculation at that one school-just that it is some kind of an A or B, etc. It’s a great system if your child got a lot of A-'s, not so good if they got a lot of B+'s.</p>
<p>Walker1194–very much the norm. We’ve been talking with our kids’ friends’ parents about college stuff lately and none of them have submitted any applications yet. Most have a general idea of schools they like, some have done visits, some have not. Most only have 2 schools they are considering unless they have older children :D. There still is a lot of time left even for EA/ED kids for most schools though. For how our school is set up to process these things, we are too far ahead of the game, but we have to be for DD.</p>
<p>S had his first interview today at Ursinus. He thinks it went ok. I told him that he’d know if he had a bad interview 
I think this school is the one exception to his preference of attending an oos school.</p>
<p>Congrats reeinaz. My D is so nervous about interviewing. Luckily their optional or not offered at most of her schools, though I wish she’d consider doing it at a couple.</p>
<p>SteveMa-thanks for the info. Since her school uses numerical grades I guess we’d have to figure out what the college considers an A or a B. She has a few low 90s, which I’m wondering are actually A-s at a few schools.</p>
<p>Amazhon-so on their transcripts it shows a 90 vs A? That is confusing. Do they have a grading scale that translates those percentages for you on the school website maybe? You wonder why the ad comms have such a hard time figuring out who the ‘best’ candidates are for their schools :D.</p>
<p>Correct. They do show a grading scale, but a 90 is a B. An A starts at 93, but I see conversions online where a 90 is an A.</p>
<p>Every school has a different grading scale and even teachers within a school have different scales. Our band program the bottom for an A is 90% but for academic classes that is 94%. Then you add in the schools that weight grades, those that don’t, etc., etc. Can you ask the GC what they send over to the schools?</p>
<p>@reeinaz - Congrats on getting the 1st interview done! And you know I am cheering that it was at Ursinus!</p>
<p>Son thinks I’m crazy b/c I’m trying to arrange to take 2 of his friends to Ursinus’ Homecoming.</p>
<p>@Walker - Son’s school sends 100% to 4 yr college and most of the kids haven’t even thought about essays, visits, etc. At least 25% are planning to apply ED somewhere. No parent I spoke with was aware of the Net Price Calculators. All are just hoping for some money.</p>
<p>It is field trip week at our school. Both my boys are doing overnight trips. My D has day trips. My head is spinning because all have different departure and arrival times. Hoping they all have good weather.</p>
<p>Yeah I’ve seen what they send over and it’s numerical grades for each class (unweighted), a weighted GPA, and the grading scale. But I wasnt clear if colleges then convert the numerical grade to what they consider an A, so a 92 would convert from a B at the high school to an A at the college.</p>
<p>Hello all! I just wanted to pop in and say I can sympathize with those of you who have kids who are worried about low admit rates/chances at certain universities and what it would mean to them if they were not offered a spot in the class at their dream school. My D is not interested in Ivies, but really, really wants our state flagship. She is a numbers gal and very pragmatic, so I listened with a little bit of sadness as she related to me a conversation she had with a friend about said flagship. She told her friend that it was all becoming real now, that she had worked her entire life for this. Now she already has an acceptance in hand and knows she could be very happy there and a number of other places, but my heart jumped into my throat when she spoke those words. The thought that she might think all her hard work was for naught if she didn’t get a yes from the flagship was a departure from other conversations we have had. She later told me she would be fine no matter what, but I think those words are still going to haunt me.</p>
<p>Amazhon, I don’t know too much about the recalcuation of gpas because almost all the schools that my D is interested in use the weighted version the high school provides them and views it along with the school profile to accurately assess the student’s performance. However, I did run across one school who recalulates the gpa using only letter grades from core classes with no plusses or minuses. However, this school does not reassign a grade that has been issued on the transcript and identified by the school profile as an A, B, etc. For example if the school profile states that a 92 is a B, then that is the grade that is calculated in their gpa. Of course this is just one school…</p>
<p>Our HS provides only letter grades on the transcript, without any plus’s or minus’s. A=4, B=3 etc. I think this works out to my DD’s advantage, since she rarely makes a B, but some of her A’s might be 91-93 range.</p>
<p>They only use weighted GPAs to figure out class rank at the end of the year, to see who gets to give the speech. The top 3% of the class are recognized as Val’s. Does this mean they ALL qualify for the $1500 Val scholarship at our state flagship? I have no idea…</p>
<p>About grades and conversions, I think it does depend on the college. One school that I looked at today used the same scale as Amazhon’s hs - 93 and up is an A (4.)… below a B…
etc.</p>
<p>Ivies- DD’13 is definitely interrested in applying to a few Ivies but her reasoning is because they are tops in her major- Astrophysics. Of course it is a bonus that everyone knows the name of the school. She knows it is a lottery shot but you can’t win if you don’t play. </p>
<p>DD got her flight info for the Dartmouth Symposium. Wonder if she will come home in love with Dartmouth? All the professors speaking are from well know schools or Ivies.</p>
<p>Grades- kids’ high school does letter grades with plus and minus on transcript. GPAs are only given as weighted. I had to figure the unweighted myself. The kids have grades (HS credit) from middle school factored into their GPA. </p>
<p>Do you all think most colleges ignore the grades of classes taken in middle school? Only make a small difference for DD’13.</p>
<p>DS just got home and ripped the computer out of my hands. He can’t wait to check college websites to see if he’s been admitted. Nothing yet 
but I tell him he needs to be patient…that his #1 choice doesn’t even release the firs batch of acceptances until Jan. 7…but he still checks for #2 and #3 which are both rolling admissions. Maybe this week…I’m getting tied of giving up the computer (as a secret that I’d never tell him…I check every day too :)))</p>
<p>----still waiting for GC to send transcripts…</p>
<p>They have gotten several postcards and letters that the schools have received their applications though.:D</p>