<p>My county is on a 6 point grading scale. The other counties around us are on a 10 point grading scale. My Spanish teacher said that, to be fair, the colleges will be converting all the grades to a universal 10 point scale which will really increase my chances of getting into my first choice school. I want to call to make sure I did everything correctly and to check on this conversion and see if it's true and how it'll work, etc. Would that be out of line? It's just really important to me and I want to make sure everything turns out right. Also is there a special place I should go to find the number of the admissions office?There's a number at the bottom of the homepage along with the address but it doesn't specifically say if it is to the admissions office or not.</p>
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<p>Why would conversion ‘really increase’ your chances? A 6 may change to a 10 and a 3 to a 5, but your grades still have the same relative value.</p>
<p>Colleges have been dealing with a wide range of grading systems for years, they know how to sort it all out. And, when your transcripts are sent, so is your HS profile. Along with providing other information, this explains the grading system so that colleges can convert your grades and compare you equally with other applicants.</p>
<p>So you don’t think I need to check up and make sure everything is correct?</p>
<p>Check up on what? To make sure the Adcoms did their job correctly? I honestly don’t think you want to go there.</p>
<p>You supplied the college with your HS transcript, that’s your only concern as the applicant. One would assume that the HS transcript is correct, but if you really want something to do, check your transcript and the HS profile that accompanies it. People do find mistakes and the profile is sometimes out-of-date (eg. shows courses that are no longer offered)</p>
<p>Colleges will convert it to their grading scale using whatever formulae they use and I agree that they will have the same relative value.</p>
<p>You know what? Your teachers all know that your county uses a 6-point grading scale. They take that into account when they write their tests, when they grade tests, papers and projects, and when they allot partial credit. I’ll wager the distribution of grades in your county isn’t all that different from the distribution of grades in other counties.</p>
<p>Moreover, every college and university that you apply to will know that your county uses a 6-point scale, because that information will be in the school profile that they send with your transcript.</p>
<p>As for your Spanish teacher, I think either he or she is misinformed, or you have misunderstood. Some colleges and universities do recalculate students’ GPAs on a standardized scale, but as far as I know, they do that by standardizing the points awarded for different grades (e.g., A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, etc.), and not by changing some B+'s to A-‘s. Really, how could they do that? Some schools report numerical course grades, but many don’t. Unless it had access to teachers’ online grade records, how could a college look at a student’s transcript and say, “This B is a 91, so we’ll call it an A, but that B is an 88, so we’ll leave it a B?” And even if they could do it, would they use their time that way? They’re working very hard already, poring over the information they have so that they can make their admissions decisions on time.</p>
<p>Yes, that telephone number at the bottom of the admissions web page is the telephone number for the admissions office–and if it weren’t, it would be a university operator who could transfer your call–but no, you should not call them about this. I know you’re anxious about this because you haven’t applied to college before this year, but the people working in admissions have done this year after year. They know how they want to do the job that they need to do. They don’t need your help with this.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to offer my “help”. I’m trying to make sure that if a kid of one county over has a 90 A and I have a 90 B plus, or worse, that kid has a 70 C and I have a 70 D that I don’t get screwed over.</p>
<p>I just wanted to ask. Not tell. Still a bad idea?</p>
<p>If it worries you (which it sounds like it does), call. Just don’t give your name. It’s very easy, the person on the phone won’t ask your identity unless you need them to look up something in your file or something.</p>
<p>I’m going to take a wild guess and say you’re a Va resident and applying to some Va schools. Please trust me when I say that the Va admissions offices have been dealing with the 6pt, 7pt, 10pt, etc grading scales in Va, DC, and MD for years. They know these counties and high schools. They know which ones have changed their grading scale and the grades retroactively, the ones that changed the scale and sent transcripts with two grading scales noting the academic year which scale was used (figure that out, 2yrs 7pt, 2yrs 10pt). </p>
<p>They get it. They really, really do. Some recalculate grades, but the vast majority look at the grades within the context of the profile which tells them what that A really means.</p>
<p>Someone else touched on there not being a difference in getting an A in a 10pt vs a 7pt. I’m going to agree. Teachers adjust. Our kids went through a grading scale change midway through high school. What they noticed wasn’t easier As. They noticed less extra credit opportunities, no 1/2 credit for a multiple step question on a test where you got 3/4 of it right. There was less grace, no test corrections. The same kids that were getting As with the 7pt system were getting As with the 10pt system. </p>
<p>So call the admissions offices if you are loosing sleep over this, but I promise you they are really aware of the myriad of grading scales, specialty programs, who gives what weighting, and what restrictions there are on taking advanced classes. They know how to evaluate everyone on an individual basis. </p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Hahahaha my teachers definetely do not help us out since we’re on a smaller scale. Thanks, I’ll figure it out.</p>
<p>If you haven’t gone through a change in scale you wouldn’t notice. What we’re saying is if your school went to a 10pt scale your teachers would adjust. It would be no easier on that 10pt scale to get an A.</p>
<p>Really, do yourself a favor and don’t call about this. Believe blueiguana (post #10): “Please trust me when I say that the Va admissions offices have been dealing with the 6pt, 7pt, 10pt, etc grading scales in Va, DC, and MD for years. They know these counties and high schools… They get it. They really, really do.”</p>