Calculating grades and GPA?

[SW in IL]

We're finally done with my friend's son's transcript for the most part. All we need to do now is put in grades and then come up with his GPA.

Should we be giving more "weight" to honors and AP level courses than to regular courses? If so, is there a "standard" or "accepted" weight for those classes?

And, should we be using straight letter grades (A, B, C) or should we be using chromatic variants (+ and -) when applicable to his work? And if we use the variants, what do we do when calculating that? I read somewhere that a B is 3.0, a B+ is 3.3 and a B- is 2.7, but then would an A+ be 4.3? How can you have a 4.3 on a 4.0 scale?

Or am I just reading more into this than there is?

Thanks,
Sue

[Jane in NC]

Weighted scales vary tremendously which is why every college application asks for the weights. If they are complicated, you might lose the reader, so I would create a simple system.

Further, it is my understanding that many admissions offices toss the weights anyway. (Which makes me wonder if those 5.0 or 6.0 systems were created just to make parents and students feel better!)

Personally, I use a basic 4.0 system--no pluses or minuses. It is simple and everyone grasps it.

My two cents.
Jane

[transientChris]

We don't use plus and minus. We weight .5 for honors and 1 point for AP or college classes. This is what the school district was doing in the area we started high school for this child.

[Bev in B'ville]

Personally, I use a basic 4.0 system--no pluses or minuses. It is simple and everyone grasps it.

My two cents.
Jane


:iagree: I don't give extra weight to honor's classes, but I do give an extra half point for an AP class (e.g. 4.5). As we're in the visiting colleges and talking to admissions officers point, I can tell you that everyone we've talked to thus far throws out extra points given for honors classes (because "honors" is too subjective). AP points vary from college to college.

[K-FL]

On dd#1's transcript I didn't weigh any classes. Her last 3 yrs were completely at the cc (she finished her AA degree at 18yo), but I just calculated their A,B, etc as a 4, 3 etc. You have to have a transcript sent from any outside schools anyway & I figured the admissions folks could weigh them to their scale if they wanted.