<p>I know that some colleges give +/- grades, and some only give flat letter grades. Does anyone have an opinion on which system is better? Been wondering about this for a while now.</p>
<p>Lack of +/- means that being on one side or another of a grading threshold is a bigger deal in cases where the threshold is between letters (the difference between an A and a B is bigger than the difference between an A- and B+, but the difference between an A and an A- disappears when there are no +/- grades). In practical terms, if you get more + than -, you want to have +/-, but if you get more - than +, you would prefer that +/- not be shown. But you cannot know that before enrolling.</p>
<p>If you are pre-law, note that law schools count an A+ grade as higher than an A grade when calculating your law school admissions GPA (which may be different from how your undergraduate college calculates your GPA).</p>
<p>As a prof, I like the +/- option because it lets me make more subtle differentiations. My school doesn’t permit A+ grades for some reason, which I think is nuts. Clearly, to my mind, someone who has a 98% average is doing higher level work than someone with a 94% average (even though both are excellent).</p>
<p>My school doesn’t give anything higher than a 4.0 for an A+. Which is a bit unfair, as the A-, B-, C-, etc. that lower your GPA will outnumber the A+, B+, C+, etc that actually raise your GPA. I would have liked it better if the A+ actually did something for my GPA. </p>
<p>I have gotten more - than +, so my GPA would be a bit higher if my university only used letter grades. I shudder to think of how many As on my community college transcript would drop to A- if they were subject to +/- like the university. (Several times, a final exam or assignment just barely pushed my grade over 90% at the end of the term.)</p>
<p>I like my high school’s system, which does not use +/-. I stress enough about grades as it is, without worrying about having an A- instead of an A…</p>