My school didn't give out greater than a 4.0 for A+'s, an I know a lot of others in the area didn't either when I was in school.
Valedictorian/Salutatorian
- Thread starter rahtotheames
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My school didn't give out greater than a 4.0 for A+'s, an I know a lot of others in the area didn't either when I was in school.
there is something depressing about a former valedictorian spending his time day after day/all hours of the day arguing on the internet.
no wonder our country has issues!
No...my thought process is completely logical. Not every HS awards A+'s. Thus students who happen to achieve those grades from HS's that do, will have a competitive advantage in the GPA arena. There should be a set standard so everyone is competing against the same scale.
Ours didn't either. I'm glad they didn't. On a 4.0 scale, it shouldn't be possible to get higher than a 4.0. I could've boosted the hell out of my GPA with 6 semesters of web pages alone :yes:
The thought process is logical. "Should be" isn't up to the student. It's a school board decision, and based on a 4.0 scale. Some schools have a 4.33 scale and some have a 11-point scale.
By the way, there's no = or - for "F" but it's part of the scale, too.
When I attended ISU as an undergrad, we were on a 4.0 scale. No plus or minus for any letter grade on the transcript.
Look at my previous post...this is just not the case...admission offices look at each school's (HS) profile so they can come to some sort of equivalency with respect to the various grade scales used throughout the country.
I understand...but it is illogical to give + and - for Bs, Cs, and Ds...but only - for As...illogical in my opinion.
I was bottom 10% of my high school class, now I am in a doctoral program that ranks top 2 in the nation. I believe my class VN became a farm housewife.
I believe high school is worth the work if you don't want to pay for college. Nothing about my high school experience has ever held me back in this world.
I believe high school is worth the work if you don't want to pay for college. Nothing about my high school experience has ever held me back in this world.
Not sure the relevance of the school board issue in your post but it is entirely logical that if with Bs, Cs, and Ds you can get a + or a - that you should be able to get a + or - with As. Also, it is logical that there is no + or - with an F (because it is a 0...there is no + or - with zero involved).
Just curious, but what grade point number do you think should be assigned to an A+ -- 4 or 4.33? Assuming a 4 point scale.
I think the titles are nice, but I also think, as others have noted, that class rank is due to many factors and you could take hard classes and have a lower GPA. I think some people put too much weight on them and it shouldn't be such a pressure situation.
One thing that bothered me is that there were co-valedictorians in my class, but then they still gave out a salutatorian for 3rd place. That doesn't seem right to me.
One thing that bothered me is that there were co-valedictorians in my class, but then they still gave out a salutatorian for 3rd place. That doesn't seem right to me.
So...in a 4.33 scale, where A + is tops, you're telling me that a 4.25 doesn't look better than a 3.96 in a 4.0 scale.
4.25 makes it seem like this guy gets at least all A's, and sometimes rates high enough to get an A+. In a 4.0 scale, if you get a 3.96 it means you get at least 1 A-. Also..in a 4.0 scale you can NOT make up for an A- where in a 4.33 scale you can.
Your logic is flawed, as is the 4.33 scale.
Really kind of irrelevant...I just think you should either get the +/- in all grade levels (except F which = 0) or no grade levels...it is illogical to me to have +/- apply to B, C, and D...but not A.
I would probably go from D- at 0.33 to A+ at 4.00 (A=3.67, B=2.67, C=1.67) if I was trying to use a 4 point scale. But again, all I am saying is that the +/- should apply to all the grade levels where you are actually getting points...regardless of the scale being used or you should not apply the +/- at all.
It is irrelevant if everyone uses the same scale. When they don't, it can have some effects when comparing students coming from different scales if the scale information isn't asked for.
BTW ... here at A&M, there is no +/- ... only A, B, C, D, and F.
All I know is that this question was asked of the admission people in almost every session we attended during the campus tours we took and they all talked about using this profile that every HS completes...again they use this to level the playing field.
The bottom line is that they told us that they were looking for students that had challenged themselves (taken the advanced courses and not just the bare minimum), had success (got good grades...As and Bs), and were "involved" in some form or fashion.
Another interesting thing is that most of the schools downplayed the standardized tests (ACT and SAT). In fact, some schools no longer require them (Wake Forest for example...it is optional to submit a standardized test score). I think these schools are starting to realize that kids are taking all kinds of courses to learn "how to take the test" and are taking the standardized tests multiple times (5, 6, 7, 8 times) in order to try to catch lightning in a bottle one Saturday morning...ultimately they are finding these tests are becoming a less accurate predictor of success at college.
I'm beginning to think Iowa State doesn't care if you're going to succeed or not. They just want your $$$$.
Hope that didn't take too long for you to figure out :wink:
I was the Valedictorian of my class, however my high school didn't use +/- when considering your GPA, thus you had 2.0/3.0/4.0 and I had my fair share of A- in classes.
High School in general is a joke and I have no problem with college level/AP courses being weighted in order to encourage students to actually try to challenge themselves
Edit: I was also the Salutatorian and Senior Class President and pretty much the ****
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