<p>At my high school plus and minus grades aren't part of one's GPA, unlike college, but they do show up on students' transcripts. Do adcoms still take them into consideration when viewing someone's application? </p>
<p>For example:
Two kids take similarly hard classes. One gets a mix of A's and A+'s. The other has all A-'s. </p>
<p>I know this isn't part of the GPA calculation, but does the student with A-'s look worse when his application is viewed holistically?</p>
<p>All else equal, it’s hard to imagine that an admissions officer would not look more favorably upon the student with better grades.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>At schools that recalculate, it may well be part of the GPA.</p></li>
<li><p>Looking at those two transcripts, basically everyone is going to think the one with As and A+s has a superior academic record.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>They take the whole transcript into consideration, so the better your grades, the better off you are.</p>