What do colleges think of an A-?

<p>I know many view anything as the A-range as a 4.0 (and any type of B as a 3.0, any type of C as a 2.0, etc.), but is an A- actually viewed? Is it viewed in a much more negative light than an A? Thanks!</p>

<p>…they think it’s better than a “B”</p>

<p>That’s not very helpful</p>

<p>A- is essentially flunking out of school when colleges view it.</p>

<p>Seriously, A- is between an A and B as csdad mentioned. They can see your actual grade in the class (88, 94 or whatever) and so unless your transcript provides a letter grade (I have seen my kid’s and other than stating what number level pertains to A or B or C, it did nt point to a letter grade and only displayed numeric values). You should request a transcript and see what your school sends to a college to understand what a college receives. If your school does nt provide a letter grade, no one is going to try to convert your number to a letter to see what grade you actually got in your class.</p>

<p>Nope, transcripts from my school ONLY have the letter grade (not the percentage). I have a 92 in one class, so that’s an A-. I’m wondering if this will be detrimental for me.</p>

<p>Do they provide a GPA and a class rank?</p>

<p>Have you seen a letter from your counselor about how to interpret the class levels and grades?</p>

<p>Are there A+s in your school?</p>

<p>A- is in between A and A+. Sorry it’s not helpful but what do you really want to hear? For some schools, UC schools, it counts A-, A, A+ the same.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>This is not the case at many schools (mine included). </p>

<p>As for the original question: honestly, it’s far from the end of the world. Yes, it’s worse than an A. That’s obvious. But will it kill your chances at top schools? No–unless your rank was dropped significantly (in which case your schools needs some serious work on grade inflation).</p>

<p>DrGoogle…are you serious? Like wth…I don’t even understand how someone…wow…</p>

<p>Anyway…personally I think an A- is a solid grade. I finished all A minuses last year, and that’s nothing bad. When calculating UW GPA, an A- is traditionally a 4, so I don’t see what you’re worried about. </p>

<p>Also, I’m not sure what kind of grading your school practices that you’re worried about an A minus. At my school, not many people finish any AP or even Honors classes with higher than an A minus.</p>

<p>^ in college an A- is a 3.7</p>

<p>…
why are we discussing an A-??? out of everything on the application I’m pretty sure adcoms aren’t going to make that much of a big deal between an A and an A-. obviously, the A is better, but no one is going to shoot you down for an A-. there are people who don’t have 4.0’s and get into top colleges. don’t worry about it.</p>

<p>I was just stating the facts. At D2’s high school, A- is grade from 89.5-93%, A is grade from 93-98%, A+ is from 98% and above. Some teachers don’t give A+ even if you are in the 98% and above.</p>

<p>^</p>

<p>Fail.</p>

<p>DrGoogle, you should really go back and read the first line of your previous post…</p>

<p>I also don’t understand your question. Of course a higher GPA is better than a lower one. But if you are fretting over an A-, you are wasting your time and energy. Colleges will look at your entire application. And yes, if someone has an application otherwise IDENTICAL to yours–same stats, EC’s, home state, family background, ethnicity–I suppose the applicant with an A instead of an A- would prevail. But no one will have an application identical to yours, so the whole inquiry is silly.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Typo. This is what happened when I typed early in the morning, half asleep. I think I meant A is between A- and A+.</p>

<p>You will be fine. CHILL, relax, it’s SUMMER</p>

<p>Well, there go’s your shot at the ivies.
Umiami ftw</p>

<p>^ craig, are you being facetious…?</p>

<p>my school doesn’t rank. it does include GPA though. i’m simply asking because i would’ve liked to have ended this trimester with a perfect 4.0 unweighted in all honors/AP classes, but I think one grade will end up being an A-. I do know that many colleges view an A and an A- as a 4.0 on the number scale. And no, my school doesn’t give A+s.</p>

<p>@liv4physicz BREATH. you are taking this way out of proportion. if you get rejected, I promise you it won’t be because of one A-.</p>

<p>In my school, an A- is a 3.8, A is 4.0/4.2, and A+ is 4.4/4.6, as we have IB Grades (and there is technically no weighting, it’s just possible to get higher than 4.0 normally, because getting a 7 is supposedly “difficult”) where a 7/7+ is an A+, 7-/6+ is an A, 6 is an A-, etc. Seems kind of low standard from an external perspective but the fact is IB is pretty hard compared to the traditional US system. Either way, the fact that you’re asking if an A- is viewed negatively? I highly doubt it, at one point a GPA is essentially just a number. 4.0, 4.8, 8.9, whatever your GPA might be, at a certain point you are considered “academically qualified” by the adcoms. I can say with some confidence that an A- is definitely an academic qualification. After you get to this point however, it is what makes you different that marks you out and catches the eye of the person reading your app. Really everyone says this.
Just work hard and continue to do well. If you can get a solid A or an A+, go for it man! Otherwise, don’t sweat it.</p>