As a general rule… What is a B+ a 3.3 or a 3? What about a A-, 3,7 or 4?
Really depends on the school. Some schools don’t consider the +/- so the A- would be a 4.0 but the B+ would be a 3.0
As a general rule, though this is the most common grading scale that I’ve seen:
A 4.0
A- 3.7
B+ 3.3
B 3.0
B- 2.7
C+ 2.3
C 2.0
etc…
Thanks!
There are lots of different ways high schools compute GPA. I would say…there is NO “general rule”.
Old timers here will remember my second kid’s GPA saga. The short story is her school was computing incorrectly…and her weighted GPA was lower than her unweighted despite having taken AP and honors courses.
I sent my kid’s transcript to at least a handful of guidance folks at different high schools. All I wanted to know was if the weighted should be higher (they all agreed it should have been)…but I also got their GPA calculations and they were quite varied. I think two were the same, but the others were really quite different.
If you want to know how your kid’s HS calculates GPA, ask them.
It can be all over the map. Some high schools weight GPA and others don’t, some high schools have +/- and others don’t, some high schools use a numerical scale and others use a 4.0 scale etc, some high schools have written evaluations instead of grades etc… The good news is that along with every transcript sent to college the HS will attach a school profile that, among other things, describes the school’s grading system, the levels of classes offered etc. This way each transcript will be viewed in the proper context.
If you want to understand exactly how your HS calculates GPA the best person to speak to would be your child’s guidance counselor. The information may also be available online if your school/district has a website.
If schools have + and -.
Our school, and most around us, are just A=4, B=3, C=2, etc. with A=90+, B=80-90, etc.
With + and -, A+ is sometimes 4.3, sometimes 4.0.
I’ve seen a couple schools with A+, A, A- all 4.0, but .3 and .7 for others. Schools fear a lower GPA due to A-‘s would disadvantage students. (That puts a lot of weight on the A-/B+ border)
Her high school does straight A is 4, B is 3, but figure the colleges might do it a different way.
I agree that +/- systems tend to hurt the kids overall because there is usually no A+. So some Bs become B+ and some become B- and they generally even out, and same with Cs. But some As become A- and there is no A+ to even them out.
The other place it can hurt is with merit aid because some schools have a separate tier for 4.0. So if you have straight As but some are A-, then your GPA is only 3.95, putting you on a lower tier.
Some colleges (e.g. California publics) recalculate HS GPA their own way, but not all do.
Our guidance counselor explained how our district calculates GPA and then noted that many colleges recalculate GPA using their own methodology. If you have access to Naviance, you can get an idea of what GPA is needed from your high school to get into particular schools.
My daughter goes to a small school so there isn’t a lot of data on Naviance. I have a meeting this month with her counselor so will ask more questions. I can definitely see her GPA calc according to the school.
My daughter went to one high school for 9-10th grades with a 0-100 grading scale. Then she went to another and did an IB Diploma for 11-12 grades which is 1-7. Never knew what her 4.0 scale GPA was…colleges figure it out. The only time there was an issue was for our State Flagship which auto-awards scholarships based on GPAs , but a quick email sorted that out. So send your transcript and the college will figure it out.