<p>My school does not supply a formal GPA to the colleges a student selects, it only sends a transcript, grades 9-12.</p>
<p>I heard if this is the case, colleges will use an odd system to calculate a GPA.</p>
<p>Its somthing like all A+,A,A- get translated into a straight A
all B+,B,B- get translated into a straight B, and so on....</p>
<p>Can someone clarify if this is true?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I assume you mean your school at least provides a grade (A, A-, B+ etc.) in each course.</p>
<p>There is no one way that colleges use to calculate your GPA. However, large numbers of colleges, even when your high school provides a GPA, actually ignore the calculated GPA. First, they rely only on college prep courses -- language, lab science, social studies, math and English -- and throw out everything else (that A you got in health, PE, or vocational studies, means nothing). Second, they then use the GPA calculated from the college prep courses. In doing so, some ignore + and - (that B+ is a B and that is regardless of whether your school calculates GPA), although majority use + and -. Many add weight (one often determined by them not your high school) for AP and honors courses), some don't but instead add a separate factor for your difficulty of courses taken. Some colleges actually don't care about GPA or grades but instead rely on class rank. In other words, there is no set method and the fact that your high school does not calculate GPA will not really mean anything adverse in the admission process.</p>
<p>Actually - I've heard it really depends on what school you're talking about. So if you're talking about a place like Swarthmore or a touchy-feely (not meant to be derrogatory) LAC, then your arts grades may mean something. However, at big state schools and probably/maybe the ivies (not sure about the ivies though), your arts grades aren't so meaningful.</p>
<p>yea the art grades not counting is accually a relief, i recieved a b last quarter in "sculpture class"</p>
<p>would that count as a class that is not considered by colleges</p>
<p>
[quote]
In doing so, some ignore + and - (that B+ is a B and that is regardless of whether your school calculates GPA), although majority use + and -.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's interesting. I was always under the impression that the majority drop the + and -. Probably because I'm from California, and the UC's drop the plusses and minuses - hence most high schools don't assign +'s and -'s.</p>