My state (North Carolina) is switching to a ten point grading scale starting in the fall. As a current junior, Im curious as to how this will affect me applying to colleges.
Here is a quote from the news article describing the change.
"Starting with the 2015-16 school year, all high school students, instead of just freshmen, will be on a 10-point grading scale in which scores between 90 and 100 earn an A. It will replace the seven-point grading scale in which scores between 93 and 100 earn an A.
The change will not be applied retroactively to grades from this school year or to prior years. But state officials say they want future transcripts to list both numerical scores and letter grades and also to note that the seven-point grading scale was used through the 2014-15 school year."
What, if any, affect will this have on me apply to schools? Will it help? Will it hurt?
Thanks!
My school actually made this switch the beginning of my junior year, so I’m interested to know the effect as well…
I’m from NC & I’m wondering what this will do as well.
It shouldn’t have any effect on your application. First other students in NC will have the same issues (same scale). And colleges across the country already have to evaluate different grading scales by state and school system.
The only thing is that on my transcript freshman year I have Bs that would have been As on the new scale and the percentage is next to the letter grade, will they just look at the percentage?
No. Your transcript will say those are Bs. Your class rank wouldn’t have changed and that is the important thing here. They look at your grades in context of your HS (class rank).
A B is a B regardless of grading scale. Your B doesn’t change to an A because the grading scale changes (especially since these changes are not retroactive). If you had taken the class under a 10-point system, your B would just have had a different point value.
Schools submit profiles to colleges along with your transcript. The profile should explain the differing grading systems used in different years. So they’ll see the numeric score you got, but also know whether that number was assigned while under a 7 point scale or a 10 point scale.
That was the issue I had with the switch, they said that a B would be a B no matter the scale because grades were assigned based on letter grade and the standards for A work didn’t change with the scale. That’s the most ridiculous thing because grades are largely (70% in most classes) quizzes and test grades. The quizzes and tests weren’t rebuffed and teachers didn’t change anything about their classes. So essentially we shouldn’t have been on the 7 point to begin with and they should have a applied it retroactively or just stuck with the current scale. High schools are dumb.