<p>Do schools use all 4 quarter grades, plus midterm and final exam grades (equaling 6 grades per class x 7 classes per year = 42 grades x 4 years = 168 grades)?</p>
<p>Or do they simply calculate using your "final" grades each year, from each class (7 grades x 4 years = 28 grades)?</p>
<p>Does this depend on the school you are applying to? </p>
<p>Which schools calculate weighted GPA, and which discount the extra AP credit?</p>
<p>Let me add two additional questions. </p>
<p>A B corresponds to a 3, a B+ to a 3.3, an A- to a 3.7, and an A to a 4. Correct? Does an A+ get a 4.3?</p>
<p>How exactly is credit given for AP and Honors classes?</p>
<p>" How exactly is credit given for AP and Honors classes?
shawbridge is online now "</p>
<p>I've heard that some schools weigh AP classes 10% and honors 5%, but I'm sure this varies at each high school (especially since some don't weigh at all)</p>
<p>There's actually no one, consistent way that's used everywhere. Colleges are all over the map with regard to weighted, unweighted, what gets weighted, how much, etc. Many colleges will recalculate your GPA according to their own standards. Some don't. (See previous thread: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=366338%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=366338</a> )
But a few things are fairly consistent:
1. Semester grades are used. So for a full year's class, there will be two semester grades; for a one semester class, one. If you take 7 classes per year, you'll have 14 grades per year.
2. Many high school GPA's aren't calculated (or recalculated by colleges) with +'s or -'s (but not all - some schools do use the fudge factors.)
3. A+ counts the same as an A, usually.
4. For AP, IB, and sometimes honors and college classes, an A = 5 points, B = 4, C = 3. D's and F's don't get an extra point. (Except when they don't; see above.)</p>
<p>Thanks, kluge, that is very helpful. My son is partially homeschooled. So the school can compute a GPA and class rank for the courses he's taken in school (and the courses he's done independently or elsewhere that they give him credit for). However, I will have to create a full transcript for him including both in-school and independent/external courses. He has a number of A+'s, but I guess that won't count in the GPA (but would likely in the recommendations).</p>
<p>kluge, final grades, not semester grades, are used. most high schools only give final grades on their transcripts anyway, so recalculating semester grades would be impossible. also, plusses and minuses certainly do matter if they are shown. obviously an a+ is not the same as an a-. finally, when some colleges recalculate gpa, they discount electives and classes such as gym and health.</p>
<p>Gxing: Like I said, schools (high schools and colleges) are all over the map with how they calculate GPA. But most high schools have some classes which are only one semester long (half a year) so most schools calculate GPA on a per-semester basis. I can certainly see that if a school has only year-long courses they would calculate GPA based on end-of-year grades. As to pluses and minuses: if the high school uses them, the high school generally will use them in the high school's calculation of the student's GPA. As far as I can tell, however, most colleges which recalculate the GPA according to their own standards seem to use only basic letter grades (no + or -) And even systems which use + and - seem to consider an A+ to have the same numerical weight as a straight A. (special case)</p>
<p>Again - my point is that there are no consistent "rules," like I pointed out in the earlier thread. Different schools use different systems. I agree that it's frustrating; varying levels of grade inflation make school-to-school comparison of GPA's of limited value to begin with; throwing in the fact that different high schools use different standards in calculating that ultimate number just adds to the confusion.</p>
<p>This is where your school profile comes into play as it will state how your school calculates GPA (which will be what the admissions committed is most interested in knowing).</p>
<p>GPA calculation varies by school. Some schools recalculate and some don't. They assign various weightings to honors and AP courses. Where I work, we use final grades only, and A = 4.0. Plus grades add .3 and minus grades subtract .3 from the letter grade. We computer GPA on the basis of academic solids only, plus one activity course (ex: art), unless the additional activity courses relate to the student's major. Honors courses add .5 to the letter grade; AP, higher level IB, and college course grades add 1.0 to the letter grade.</p>
<p>As for how we count homeschool grades, we don't. A grade assigned to a student by his or her parent is not considered objective. Because of this, we encourage homeschooled students to take courses at a local college or community college along with their homeschooling, and their SAT scores become even more important than for a non-homeschooled student.</p>
<p>Thanks, admisscouns. I have never understood parents assigning grades. We haven't done that. While the majority of my son's courses have been at the high school, some of his courses have been at external institutions -- a course at Harvard Summer School or Harvard Extension School. My transcript would combine grades he's gotten at the high school and grades he's received at outside places.</p>
<p>But I do have a question for you about about non-institutionally based instruction. There are a couple of cases where we've hired or will hire tutor to work with him. A Harvard grad student is working with him on math courses because the school's courses are too slow. He does the year course in the first half of the year and then does other topics. The math department has been willing to give him credit if he proves he knows the material by taking the final exam. A writer is working with him on creative writing and will work with him on essay writing. They would be willing to give grades for this work. Does it make sense to ask these instructors for grades or will these grades just be ignored? Should we just describe in detail what he has done in these outside non-institutionally based courses? Should we ask these instructors for evaluation letters?</p>
<p>If we don't assign grades, will schools hold it against him that he has not taken as many graded courses? In his case, the majority of his courses are at the high school, but the proportion is decreasing as he gets more advanced. Fortunately, his record at the high school is strong: He has one A-, a bunch of A's and a number of A+'s from his high school but he would clearly show fewer courses with grades than his peers. The outside courses are typically chosen because they are more challenging or meet his needs better than those the high school offers.</p>
<p>There is a lot of variety in how colleges review homeschooled records. However, and this is important, credibility is based not just on who assigns the grades but also on who prepares the transcript. For example, if you prepare a transcript listing grades earned at the high school and colleges, that will probably not be considered objective by many schools. Any transcripts or documentation which can be directly provided by the high school or college, rather than from you, would make the presentation of your son's achievements more credible.</p>
<p>Thanks, that sounds sensible as well. There should be no reason having each school provide an official transcript. I would have expected to do that and to have his high school supply a class rank and all of the information that a guidance counselor writes for him. But, I thought it might also make sense to create a transcript that shows all courses taken by semester so that the schools can see what he did. This would also probably require me to explain why he took the program he did.</p>