<p>Due to the inherent flaws of our educational system in general and the overall inconsistencies and incorrigible differences between classes…</p>
<p>Does the number of A+'s REALLY matter?</p>
<p>Currently, I have 2 A+'s out of the 6 classes (or P.E. if you count it, which colleges do not), while the rest are A’s. Two other classes would have been A+‘s (two 98%), but because of the teachers’ choices, it wasn’t.</p>
<p>Besides the fact that this is clearly unfair for every teacher to individually decide on their grade scale, does this matter?</p>
<p>People in my grade have 3 or more A+'s, simply because they had an easier teacher that not only had a more lax grading scale, but also because the curriculum and workload is substantially reduced there. Life is never fair.</p>
<p>So moving to the question: do the number of A+'s matter? </p>
<p>ME: 2 A+'s , 4 A’s
THEM: 3 A+'s , 3 A’s </p>
<p>Sorry if I come off as a desperate querulous overly-obsessive machine. I try not to.</p>
<p>Colleges do not care about A+'s from a GPA standpoint. However it does indicate a strong possibility that the applicant is somewhat socially awkward and has trouble playing with others. And how is it not fair for each teacher to independently decide their grading scale??? As long as they are consistent with grading among their students, there is nothing unfair about it. It’s kind of like college and the real world.</p>
<p>Oh, so it has it now stumbled upon personal disparaging?</p>
<p>How does, in any logical or empirical fashion, an A+ (which keep in mind, a few other have as well) indicate “social awkwardness and trouble playing with others?”</p>
<p>I pride myself in my independence, time-management, lack-of-stress, productive allocation of time, and how I do not “shut myself from the world”. In fact, those in my school with better grades generally are happier and socially healthier than those who struggle and strive to reach that desired A-, through hours of laborious work.</p>
<p>Moving on to your second statement, it’s INHERENTLY unjust. Transcripts do not conspicuously state that this student had a different teacher than this student. Therefore, colleges would naturally assume equality of education. However, it’s clear that teachers have different grading scales and difficulty levels… Obviously, that’s a paradigm of life, but at least that discrepancy could be shown on the transcript.</p>
<p>There should be SOME indication of the difficulty of one teacher versus another. The procedural methods of how to enact this “indication”: I have no clue.</p>
<p>^are you legitimately asking something or just ranting? every school has some teachers who are harder than others; that’s just how things work. i understand just wanting to complain about this, but it’s not really going to change. sure it’s unfair but (sorry to use the cliche) life is unfair. deal with it.</p>
No, they don’t. Presumably they indicate superior performance, but the colleges have no way of knowing if that’s relative to your peers on a curve or a high absolute standard. That’s why the recs are there; presumably you’re going to ask the teachers in who’s class you stood out to write recs, and in those recs they can explain far more about why you’re a special student than any single letter on a transcript can.</p>
<p>I believe adcoms take it for granted that the most intelligent students avoid unfair teachers, who are easily identifiable in any HS, and that failure to do so implies (take your pick) ignorance, indifference, arrogance, ineffective system manipulation, or stupidity.</p>
<p>P.S. Your transcript review at every college will be different. Some will note a difference between an A+ and an A-, others will not.</p>
<p>Sure, the student who gets an A+, perhaps from an easier teacher, will get a higher unweighted GPA in the short run – but it’s not usually possible to take a “most rigorous” class schedule AND avoid getting sandbagged by a tough teacher somewhere over the course of 3-3.5 years; eventually, scheduling conflicts leave you with no other choice. So, the race is not yet over!</p>
<p>Does your school award bonus points for honors and AP classes? If so, go for the extra points! My son doesn’t have all straight A’s, but he’s ranked #1 (determined by one’s weighted GPA) by a wide margin because he stuck his neck out and skipped a number of required prerequisites (with special permission) for more advanced and tougher classes.</p>
<p>All of you with inflated grades and A+'s. All I get in my school is a big middle finger, no inflation from AP courses, and the highest GPA is 4.0… with all AP classes or no AP classes.
Luckily colleges know my High School is very high in academics.</p>
<p>No, they don’t. Presumably they indicate superior performance, but the colleges have no way of knowing if that’s relative to your peers on a curve or a high absolute standard</p>
<p>In most cases, adcoms know the rigor of your school and plenty more, to let them judge your performance. They look at the transcript, not just gpa. (For most hs, adcoms know what constitutes an A+ versus A or A-. This info shows either on the transript or in the school profile the GC sends.) </p>
<p>They will see if your A’s are in challenging classes. Some of this is a no-brainer: the kid who shows A in honors bio or AP chem is going to look far better than the kid whose gpa is padded with A’s in lesser classes. </p>
<p>Adcoms don’t have time to worry whether you got an A or A+ because you’re the teacher’s pet or there was some huge curve. If many kids from your hs apply, yes, they will have an idea of who the strongest candidates are. But, at the close competition you describe, your essays, short answers and ECs will be the make or break. And, LoRs.</p>
<p>“I believe adcoms take it for granted that the most intelligent students avoid unfair teachers, who are easily identifiable in any HS, and that failure to do so implies (take your pick) ignorance, indifference, arrogance, ineffective system manipulation, or stupidity.”</p>
<p>Um, that doesn’t really make any sense. At many/most schools, students have no control over what teacher they get. At my school the only way you can avoid a teacher is if you’ve already had them, and once you have a bad teacher there’s no way to get out except for switching levels, which isn’t the optimal solution. Obviously if students had control over their teachers, then choosing to get the fair teachers would be the smarter choice. However, that is rarely ever the case.</p>
<p>Oh, c’mon, tell me you’re not serious? You do realize that colleges also put out transcripts of their own that play a major role in determining which students get into the graduate and professional schools of their choice, which get the most coveted internships and fellowships and job interviews, and on and on? And that colleges don’t put a little asterisk next to a grade indicating “this professor is an easy grader” or “this professor rarely gives any grade higher than a B plus”? And that every admissions officer at every college has had the exact same experience as you have with “unfair” grading both in high school and in college and in some cases graduate school, and got through it—in most cases without whining? Please. Just suck it up. There will always be some easy graders and some hard graders. Some students will tend to gravitate toward the former and avoid the latter—though not everyone, because sometimes (but not always) the most demanding teachers will also be the best teachers, and some students will be drawn by their love of learning more than vain pursuit of grades. Get used to it. It will be just the same in college.</p>
<p>I’ve read comments by adcoms that say they consider A+'s A’s when recalculating GPA. Of course, being the sort of student that goes above and behind A-level work isn’t ever going to be a bad thing, especially if it boosts your GPA for ranking purposes. Compared to SATs, ECs, essays, and letters of rec, though, I imagine the value of an A+ versus an A is negligible.</p>