So many unweighted 4.0s.

[Anonymous]

It's crazy to me how many kids there are on here with unweighted 4.0s. I feel like even last year it was rare. This year 10 replies out of 15 each time the results from another school come up are ALL unweighted 4.0s.
Many are MCPS--it makes sense with their wacky grading scale: you can get 69.5 (C) quarter 1, 79.5 (B) quarter 2, 79.5 (quarter 3) and 89.5 (quarter 4) and end up with an A or 4.0 for the year for the class.
THAT IS INSANE. Many districts are similar. You are a hair what is traditionally failing for a solid quarter (a 69.5) and you still get an A for the year.
And they don't have A minus grades. So an A is a 4.0

Plus retakes (in many classes), no penalty for late work, etc.

Does anyone who does the work, not end up with a 4.0? It really seems like you have to try to do poorly.

Has a 4.0 ceased (even unweighted) ceased to mean ANYTHING? It seems like this is really hurting the kids who are actually super smart. They are lost in the shuffle of so many kids getting "perfect" grades
for doing very average work.

[Anonymous]

How does that add up to an A for the year? I am unfamiliar with that grading system. My son has a 4.0 UW GPA but has worked his tail off for it. His school 90 = A and all numerical grades are averaged - the final number determines the final grade. No re-takes and loses 20% for each day an assignment is late. Assignments are graded not for completion but for accuracy. His A's have been very hard earned. He has only had one class where he could do "test corrections" and if he got the answer right he could earn 25% of that point back.

[Anonymous]

My senior is in MCPS and I wholeheartedly agree with you, OP.
I'm French, and in France, perfect grades are extremely rare. You are supposed to never have a perfect grade, because you can always grow and do better (even math tests have one or two nearly impossible questions so that the brightest students are forced to struggle).

So here my senior has a 4.67 weighted gpa, and I have to say he's had nearly straight As during his 4 years of high school. But what do those As mean? Are the questions really hard? I don't know, the curriculum is so different from the heavily writing-based one in France. I used to spend my Saturday morning school hours writing long dissertations in preparation for the Baccalaureat. Here even his AP history or literature courses only have short answers. At least it trains them to be succinct, I guess?

I wish MCPS could separate the A students like my son from the truly exceptional A++ students that I am sure exist. It's not fair that gifted students are not easily identified. We need more clarity at the top of the scale, and we need colleges to reward the very top academic students. None of that athletic/extra-curricular nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Maps has standards based grading . An A just means you met the standard. It is in no way outstanding.m

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maps has standards based grading . An A just means you met the standard. It is in no way outstanding.m

NP. If anyone knows, I'd like to hear how colleges evaluate students from this type of grading system. Seems like standards based grading might make applicants even more difficult to evaluate?

My junior's school just changed to standards based grading (but had regular grading for the first two years). Still has regular, non-standards based grading for AP classes. Kid has unweighted 4.0, high test score, and likely NMSF. It just seems like there is so much uncertainty these days. Hard to know how high to reach, especially for ED.

[Anonymous]

In MoCo Public Schools, one can get a B in one semester with a 79.5 average and an A in the other semester with an 89.5 average and get an A (4.0) for the year (with an 84.5 average).

[Anonymous]

We are in New England and our school does a straight 0-100 percentage. A 91 is a 91 and a 73 is a 73. Honors classes get a bump of some sort but it’s still a percentage and, really, most colleges just want unweighted. I can’t believe our kids have to compete for the same college spots as these kids who just get As, no matter the percentage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In MoCo Public Schools, one can get a B in one semester with a 79.5 average and an A in the other semester with an 89.5 average and get an A (4.0) for the year (with an 84.5 average).

This is not true - grades are on at the semester level, not averaged for the year.

[Anonymous]

I agree MCPS is a whacko but it’s not quite as bad as you are saying. You get an official grade per semester not year, so the lowest you could get for an A is 79.5 one quarter then 89.5 the second quarter - a B and an A averaging to an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's crazy to me how many kids there are on here with unweighted 4.0s. I feel like even last year it was rare. This year 10 replies out of 15 each time the results from another school come up are ALL unweighted 4.0s.
Many are MCPS--it makes sense with their wacky grading scale: you can get 69.5 (C) quarter 1, 79.5 (B) quarter 2, 79.5 (quarter 3) and 89.5 (quarter 4) and end up with an A or 4.0 for the year for the class.
THAT IS INSANE. Many districts are similar. You are a hair what is traditionally failing for a solid quarter (a 69.5) and you still get an A for the year.
And they don't have A minus grades. So an A is a 4.0

Plus retakes (in many classes), no penalty for late work, etc.

Does anyone who does the work, not end up with a 4.0? It really seems like you have to try to do poorly.

Has a 4.0 ceased (even unweighted) ceased to mean ANYTHING? It seems like this is really hurting the kids who are actually super smart. They are lost in the shuffle of so many kids getting "perfect" grades
for doing very average work.

This also occurs because there are three levels—gen ed, honors and AP. A gen ed (unweighted)4.0 is why courses (course rigor) is examined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree MCPS is a whacko but it’s not quite as bad as you are saying. You get an official grade per semester not year, so the lowest you could get for an A is 79.5 one quarter then 89.5 the second quarter - a B and an A averaging to an A.

How does that average to an A? At the very least an A should be 90%. Those two numbers do not average 90%. It’s mid-B (84.5%) Only in crazy DMV land is 84.5% an A!

[Anonymous]

Between MCPS absolutely ridiculous grading scale and the fact that they are not allowed to administer final exams, it’s a wonder those kids are prepared for college. And it’s absurd that MCPS students are compared to students from schools that have strict grading scales, no test retakes, homework graded for accuracy and no weighting for honors/AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Many are MCPS--it makes sense with their wacky grading scale: you can get 69.5 (C) quarter 1, 79.5 (B) quarter 2, 79.5 (quarter 3) and 89.5 (quarter 4) and end up with an A or 4.0 for the year for the class.

In MoCo Public Schools, one can get a B in one semester with a 79.5 average and an A in the other semester with an 89.5 average and get an A (4.0) for the year (with an 84.5 average).

Good grief how does any of this come out as an A for the year?? This would be solid B year end grades where we live.
Our school district doesn't even give you a full bump in an AP class if you do not get an A or A-. Even then is adds only .0488 to your GPA per AP class with an A

[Anonymous]

There is no grade for the year in mcps. All classes are1 semester long. Everyone always mentions 79.5 and 89.5...but never the fact that 89.4 is a straight B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree MCPS is a whacko but it’s not quite as bad as you are saying. You get an official grade per semester not year, so the lowest you could get for an A is 79.5 one quarter then 89.5 the second quarter - a B and an A averaging to an A.

How does that average to an A? At the very least an A should be 90%. Those two numbers do not average 90%. It’s mid-B (84.5%) Only in crazy DMV land is 84.5% an A!

I'm so jealous. We're in CT (Fairfield County) and an A is a 93. An A-minus is 90-92.

Also, throughout my kid's 2.5 years of high school, no teacher has ever offered retakes. You get what you get.