How GPA is calculated?
For example, if A=4, what is the value of A+? A-?
Any ideas?
For my school A+=4 A=4 A-=3.67
Thanks! That is fascinating! Why 3.67?!
I think most colleges recalculate GPA. Formula is unknown. Probably.
There are million ways to calculate GPA.
My kids school shows:
A+=4.67
A=4.33
A-=4.0
+1 for honors, +2 for AP
At our school there is no A+.
A=4.0, A-=3.7. Every school is different.
@californiaaa They just go down 1/3 every sign change so a B+ is a 3.3 and a B is a 3.0.
I wish schools averaged your percentages instead of gpa because a 92.5 is not the same as a 98. Thats the only problem i have with our gpa system.
At our HS, all A’s are 4.0.
Edited to clarify: Minus’s and plusses don’t matter for GPA. AP classes are weighted by adding 1 (i.e. an A is worth 5.0)
What makes everyone think “most” colleges have time to recalculate? The question of formula is one thing; your hs will use the formula it has in place. You can ask them what it is. But holistic adcoms are going to look at the transcript, the rigor and the grades.
And not all hs are on a 4-point scale.
My daughter’s high school (Polytechnic in Long Beach, CA) uses whole numbers with a 1 point boost for UC approved honors or AP classes with C or better
Regular classes:
F=0
D=1
C=2
B=3
A=4
Honors or AP:
F=0
D=1
C=3
B=4
A=5
Most colleges do not recalculate. So… ask your child’s high school.
@JimQPublic
Congrats to your D! (Polytechnic in Long Beach is a great school!
Schools are all over the board with this. In one local HS, there are no + or - grades, just A, B, C, D, F.
At D17’s school, there are no A+ grades, just A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc. with the following numeric equivalencies: 4.0, 3.67, 3.33, 3.0, 2.67, etc. Honors and AP classes add one full point. I know another school in the area that does have A+ grades that equate to an unweighted 4.33.
Don’t get me started on calculating overall GPAs - some schools only use 10th and 11th, others use all grades; some factor in PE, others don’t. It’s a jungle out there! (And at the end of the day, most colleges recalculate with their own criteria anyway, so it’s a total waste of time.)
If, according to your post, colleges don’t have time to recalculate GPAs how do they have time to look at the transcript, the rigor and the grades? Recalculation is simple (computer program automatically runs a formula). Holistic approach takes lots of time.
Either / or, but not both!
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Awesome.
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Just wonder … when will HS move to 5-scale to inflate the chances of their students? Higher scale = higher GPA.
It is different at each HS. Talk to your guidance counselor.
" how do they have time to look at the transcript, the rigor and the grades?"
C’mon, the actual grades and the level of rigor are far more important than just gpa. They leave the reporting of official hs gpa to the GC, per school or district policies.
You really don’t think looking at the actual courses and where a kid got A and B grades beats just eyeballing some composite number?
Talk to the GC. This isn’t rocket science.
(Yes, some schemes are complicated, but they are what they are. Get the formula, plug in the numbers.)
ps. this question has come up several times recently. As frustrating as it is to many parents, you think the colleges should recalc this for 20 or 30k kids?
@romanigypsyeyes and @lookingforward - The truth lies somewhere in between. From what I understand, many colleges will look at the transcript holistically, looking for course rigor and trends, and they look at students’ transcripts in the context of the high school (e.g., how many APs are offered, if the student has pushed him/herself in relation to his/her peers).
Schools that are more stats-based and/or that award merit based on GPA would either use unweighted GPA or would necessarily have to re-calculate in order to level the playing field. At some schools, the maximum weighted GPA might be a 4.0, while at others it might be a 5.0 or a 6.0.
In CA, for instance, the UCs have their own formula for calculating GPA and it has little bearing on how a high school may or may not calculate it.
Colleges are vested in GPA calculations. Higher GPA = higher COLLEGE RANKING .
Thus, I would never believe that colleges are not calculating GPAs themselves. In the end, they have to submit this data to ranking agencies.