High school class ranking system/GPA

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>so at my hs, class rank/GPA are determined as follows:
-out of a 5.0 scale
-an "A" in a regular level class is a 5, a "B" is a 4, and so on...
-an "A" in an AP or Honors class is weighted into the GPA as a 6, with a B being a 5, etc.</p>

<p>While this system does a good job of preventing students from taking easy classes just to boost their GPA, (there's no way to be in the top bunch if you solely take regular classes, as the highest you would have is a 5.0 compared with the 5.8 the val has) it does have negative side effects. At our school there are specific AP classes and honors classes that one is allowed to take each year (for example, APUSH is only offered junior year, AP euro is only offered senior year, etc.) and after filling your schedule with the offered AP's and honors classes, you are left with empty spaces. With regular classes being lower-weighted, filling your free period with a regular class like say, engineering tech actually hurts your GPA compared with someone who chooses to take a study hall or a gym class (which don't count towards GPA).</p>

<p>Basically, I'm wondering if anyone else's school has a similarly botched system for determining GPA, and what you would do to fix the flawed system if you were in charge.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading that, I realize it was quite verbose. :)</p>

2

<p>My school is 4.0=90-100. I know many overachievers here would be envious of this, but it is seriously making me mad. To add to this, my math teacher grades by percent, meaning each grade is treated out of 100, not the original amount. It’s so stupid that an 89% is a 3.0.</p>

<p>/rant</p>

3

<p>^ what are you talking about, isn’t that how everyone does it? How can a 89% not be a 3.0?</p>

<p>Also, yea, you usually get punished for taking regular classes.</p>

4

<p>okay, here’s an idea that I came up with and I’m looking for some opinions. What if the only grades that counted towards class rank were in the 20-something required courses. that would give an advantage to those students who succeed in higher level (AP and honors) classes without penalizing students who choose to take regular-level electives over study halls, audits, or the like.</p>

<p>any thoughts? (positive or negative, I’m just looking for some honest opinions!)</p>