<p>Okay, I need some help with GPA calculation, I have a couple of questions that I can't figure out. I asked our college counselor and her answer made sense at the time, but now that I think more about it, I am still confused. My son, who is a junior this year attends a high school that does not rank. Except for math, which is tracked a little differently according to ability, all our freshman and sophomore students take Pre AP classes, then at junior and senior level they take AP or College level classes, so we have no honors classes as such. AP students have 3 points added to their final grade (which in theory can change a B to an A, but usually the letter grade remains the same). So I understand to calculate the unweighted GPA I would subtract the 3 points, that part I get. On the student's transcript the GPA is reported as a number grade, in my son's case 95.6. Next is a chart that shows 70 -79 2.0, 80 - 89 3.0, 90-99 4.0, so I would expect my son's GPA to be a 4.0 right? But it's not, it's more like a 3.79,which is also show on the transcript, so it shows both 95.6 and 3.79. When I questioned the counselor, she told me that classes with a final grade of 90-99 were 4.0 and classes with a final grade of 80-89 were a 3.0. So add all the 3's and 4's together, divide by the total number of classes and you get the 3.79. Okay, made sense at the time, went home and explained it to my son he brought up this point.
His best friend at school takes the same classes he does (they're in the higher AP track) has a numerical grade of 91.2, but because he only made final grades in the 90's (low 90,91,92) his GPA is showing as a 4.0. In the meantime my son with the 95.6 has a higher numerical grade but a lower GPA of 3.79. My son actually makes higher grades in all other classes, but has 2 88's and 1 89, from French and freshman English, so if I'm understanding right even if all the rest of his high school classes are 97, 98 and 99, thus raising the 95.6 even higher, he'll never have a 4.0, whereas if his friend continues with the 90 and 91, his number will stay the same and he'll keep his 4.0.
So is the boy with the 91.2 but with the 4.0 viewed by a college as a better student than my son with the 95.6, but the 3.79? And if I'm entering his GPA into any automatic merit aid calculators, do I enter the 3.79 or do i enter the 95.6 converted to a 4.0? Both numbers will be listed on his final transcript.
At least one school I've looked out, their calculator stated if you didn't have a GPA from you school, you could enter your numerical grade and they would convert it in the calculator. And if I'm filling out interest forms which GPA do I put?
I did adjust the number taking away the 3 points for AP English and AP history that both boys took this year. Their only other AP choice for junior year was AP Biology, but they both chose Pre-AP Physics as they both will take AP Physics next year and had to have the precursor.
So what does the college look at if both numbers are reported on the transcript? Am I looking at this correctly? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>
This is true.
While the other student may have a small bump from the 4.0, most schools don’t look down on a couple of Bs. To get a good answer out of the calculator you would have to enter the grades for each class which should come out to the 3.79.</p>
<p>I nominate Erin’s Dad for CC Saint of the Day for actually reading that gigantic block of text and then posting a helpful reply.</p>
<p>Thanks for doing that so nobody else had to.</p>
<p>Hello,
My apologies for the long post, I thought maybe if I typed it all out, I would see something that would help me understand it better. It still doesn’t seem correct to me that a higher grade on the 100 pt. scale can translate into a lower grade on the 4 pt. scale, but at least I know I was figuring correctly. </p>
<p>This is the type of information I wish they had told us freshman year, because French was a real struggle for him, and I told him not to worry about a high B as his high A’s in other classes would balance it out, because I was looking at it the wrong way. I should have checked it out more.</p>
<p>I am curious though, our school doesn’t rank, the official position is that our class numbers are so small and the courses so rigorous that students not in the top ten percent probably would have been there in a different school and are still highly competitive. So I have no idea how ranking works, but if the school did rank, would it be done on the 3.79 or the 95.6 grade? Do all schools report both grade scales on their transcripts, is this how it works most other places? I know some schools use a 5.0 scale, and I have no clue how that works, but I wonder if perhaps we (the school, I mean) should consider changing this in the future. I know we do change things from time to time, a few years ago, we didn’t add any points for AP classes, but we started losing students to other schools due to that. Other schools in our area add more points, so it’s still a point of discussion. </p>
<p>And on that same line, if colleges strip out the AP points, why do high schools even add them at all? Anyone know.</p>
<p>Thanks again and hopefully I did a better job of breaking up my text.</p>
<p>
Schools can rank anyway they like. We don’t use %ages but our school places W and UW GPA on the report.</p>
<p>
Some HS want to give a specific incentive to students to take AP classes so they give a bump for them. In some cases this may play into selection of Val/Sal. Interestingly, our HS weights for ranking but not for Val/Sal. You could be a Val with a 4.0 and not be in the top 1% of the class.</p>
<p>Scrib–</p>
<p>One thing the colleges know is which h.s. are which. The AOs at the schools to which your high school’s student apply know that your school does not rank, why they don’t, that the courses are uncommonly rigorous and any other distinguishing characteristics. The school sends out a profile that explains all this stuff. </p>
<p>They also will see the entire transcript and realize those Bs are in 9th grade, and see the high grades in other courses. Let him concentrate on developing himself and don’t fret about something you can’t change.</p>