<p>I have heard of the term "covered" grades for 1st semester freshmen.</p>
<p>Can anyone explain this term?</p>
<p>letter grades are masked on your transcript by either an S (satisfactory) or U unsatisfactory for the first semester of freshman year</p>
<p>According to my book Choosing the Right College:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hopkins tries to alleviate at least a bit of student stress by making students take the courses in their first semester as freshmen on a pass/fail basis.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Does this apply to all freshmen? Or is this an option that a freshman can choose? How do they calculate GPA's?</p>
<p>it applies categorically to all freshman.</p>
<p>Freshmen finish the first semester without a gpa</p>
<p>All your classes from your semester only show up as a S or U (satisfactory or unsatisfactory) on your transcript and don't count towards your GPA at all. Normally, S/U classes can't count towards your major, but that doesnt apply for first semester classes.</p>
<p>I heard that JHU might be abandoning the covered grade policy for the 08-09 year...anyone know whether this is true?</p>
<p>It is in debate, but no decision has been made. Doubtful any change will occur this year.</p>
<p>Here's a thread from the Hopkins Interactive Message Boards about covered grades. It has a lot of good info. Check it out...
Hopkins</a> Forums -> Covered Grades - First Semester</p>