<p>Well all D’s grades are in and she was lucky enough to get a few A+ in her report. She’s very happy. Question though, in the GPA it still says 4.0 even though it looks like it applied a higher factor to something called “quality points” How are the “pluses” taken into account when she’s expecting to see something higher than 4.0? </p>
<p>I hope everyone is enjoying the precious time home and has a wonderful holiday season!</p>
<p>Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Son’s explanation was that A+ was counted as 4.3 only to bring up to 4.0 max. There is no GPA listed higher than a 4.0. That looks to be the case looking over the GPA calculator in Degree Works.</p>
<p>^ As is understand it, UA will not report a GPA higher than 4.0. Because A+ give a higher quality point total, they can serve to offset lower grades throughout the undergrad years to help maintain an high GPA.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Right…the max on the transcript is a 4.0…which I think is the standard in colleges. Actually, many colleges don’t even have an A+</p>
<p>It’s even worse when you apply to med school and AMCAS recalculates everyone’s GPA…you don’t get the bonus for any A+…So, if you have even ONE A-, you’ll never have a 4.0 according to AMCAS.</p>
<p>Thanks all. Now I can tell her that those quality points may help her next semester. Her classes are much more demanding next term and she’s actually starting her first upper division MIS course work. Love those AP credits!</p>
<p>Oy! DS got all As and A minuses for first semester (and we were thrilled, because his mid-term grades were Bs and B-pluses). So are y’all saying that he can never get a 4.0 GPA because of those few A-minuses first semester? Or is that only how med schools see it? (He is planning on law school.)</p>
<p>With two advanced classes in inflected languages (Latin 301 and Greek 201), he had a rigorous load. But that’s just the thing: He will always be taking Latin and Greek, since Classics is his second major, so he will always have a pretty rigorous load. I expect that he will occasionally get an A- in the future. I hope that doesn’t hurt him in the long run.</p>
<p>(Now I sound like Tiger Mother, fretting about A-minuses. LOL.)</p>
<p>if he makes the same amount of hours of a+ then he can have a 4.0 at some point.</p>
<p>i don’t think it is very realistic to expect to have a 4.0 in college, maybe for a few, but not a whole lot of people.</p>
<p>* So are y’all saying that he can never get a 4.0 GPA because of those few A-minuses first semester? Or is that only how med schools see it? (He is planning on law school.)</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Yes, your son can have a 4.0 by balancing his A-'s with A+'s.</p>
<p>However, not for med school apps. AMCAS recalculates all med school applicants’ GPAs and since there are no bonuses for A+, there’s no way to balance the A-. Very few people apply to med school with a 4.0 because typically a person will have at least one A-…unless their school doesn’t give + or -.</p>
<p>*i don’t think it is very realistic to expect to have a 4.0 in college, maybe for a few, but not a whole lot of people. *</p>
<p>True…not a whole lot of people. At son’s graduation, those with a 4.0 had red hats. I remember my younger son counted them…can’t remember the number, but it wasn’t a low percentaage. Hard to tell the accuracy since graduation was delayed because of the tornado and not everyone returned to walk.</p>
<p>Apart from getting to wear a red hat at graduation* (a tradition that began during the 2010-2011 school year) and having one’s transcript say GPA: 4.00, UA doesn’t transcript any honors higher than *summa cum laude *, which is given to graduating students who have a 3.9+ GPA for UA courses at the time of graduation.</p>
<p>*I have not heard if the 4.0 GPA requirement is for undergraduate UA courses or cumulative undergraduate GPA. Going with UA policy for other honors designations, it should be the former. Such a policy would also also have the benefit of not penalizing students for taking courses at institutions that don’t award A+ or other 4.0+ grades.</p>
<p>Just a silly note: DH got all As at Holy Cross back in the day. Then he took a job on Cape Cod loading beer trucks. He and a bunch of his college buds rented a big old house in Falmouth. They all worked together loading beer trucks. They did this for TWO years!!!</p>
<p>When he graduated from Holy Cross (at the top of his class), the student newspaper ran an article about him, entitled: “Perfect 4.0, He’ll Load Beer Trucks.” His parents were mortified, but they kept the article. :D</p>
<p>MERRY CHRISTMAS. Y’ALL!!!</p>
<p>When I graduated from UA in 1985 there were six perfect 4.0s among all the undergrad colleges combined.</p>