I hate FCPS A minuses.

[Anonymous]

The fact that there is no way to get an A plus but you can get punished with an A minus in your GPA is some kind of cruel punishment for kids.

Seriously hate it.

Either get rid of the plus and minus or add an A+ to the GPA calculation. FCPS is screwing kids over for college apps with this.

It’s complete BS.

[Anonymous]

Well it used to be just A (no plus or minus) and then B+. So there's that.

[Anonymous]

Stop obsessing over your child's GPA. Please!

[Anonymous]

Growing up we had A+ but for GPA calc it was still worth 4.0, same as an A, which I think is typical. Sounds like OP wants bonus points for the plus, which may exist in some places, but seems odd and would only ratchet up the stress on kids (now an “A” wouldn’t be “good enough” for those who worry about these things and their kids’ GPA relative to peers at the school). No thanls.

[Anonymous]

Get a life, OP.

[Anonymous]

I’d consider it a bonus that the A- didn’t go into SIS as a B (3) which has been the case in some of DCs classes when they were using a 4.0 scale and teachers wouldn’t “round up”.

Kids have enough to worry about. Extra points for an A+ is unnecessary pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d consider it a bonus that the A- didn’t go into SIS as a B (3) which has been the case in some of DCs classes when they were using a 4.0 scale and teachers wouldn’t “round up”.

Kids have enough to worry about. Extra points for an A+ is unnecessary pressure.

OP here.

An A- in Fairfax County is 90-93%. And it is counted as 3.7 instead of a 4.0. So even if your kid gets legit As, they only get a 3.7 if they are at 92%.

It should be counted as a 4.0. I am not obsessing about the GPA- I don’t I think it’s unfair that a legitimate A (say 92%) gets punished, whileas all of the other grades get pluses.

Get rid of it completely. It’s unfair. Your kid has no idea that their GPA is not a 4.0 even though they are getting a solid 92% in all of their grades. That should be an A. The whole plus and minus thing is BS. Colleges don’t adjust because everywhere else there are A plusses. So we end up having kids with grade deflation.

Either give the option to get an A+ or get rid of the minuses and the pluses. Or use a % number instead.

And yes: you would be obsessed if your straight A student has a 3.7 GPA. It’s bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d consider it a bonus that the A- didn’t go into SIS as a B (3) which has been the case in some of DCs classes when they were using a 4.0 scale and teachers wouldn’t “round up”.

Kids have enough to worry about. Extra points for an A+ is unnecessary pressure.

OP here.

An A- in Fairfax County is 90-93%. And it is counted as 3.7 instead of a 4.0. So even if your kid gets legit As, they only get a 3.7 if they are at 92%.

It should be counted as a 4.0. I am not obsessing about the GPA- I don’t I think it’s unfair that a legitimate A (say 92%) gets punished, whileas all of the other grades get pluses.

Get rid of it completely. It’s unfair. Your kid has no idea that their GPA is not a 4.0 even though they are getting a solid 92% in all of their grades. That should be an A. The whole plus and minus thing is BS. Colleges don’t adjust because everywhere else there are A plusses. So we end up having kids with grade deflation.

Either give the option to get an A+ or get rid of the minuses and the pluses. Or use a % number instead.

And yes: you would be obsessed if your straight A student has a 3.7 GPA. It’s bs.

A 92% was a B+ when I graduated from my FCPS high school. Should they just go back to that to make you feel better? Or if you just tell yourself an A- means your kid is no longer a straight A student?

I mean this is like saying calling a grade below D an "E" so that it's not "F" for failure matters. You're arguing with the school system about semantics! A 92% isn't a 4.0. That's how it's been for a long, long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d consider it a bonus that the A- didn’t go into SIS as a B (3) which has been the case in some of DCs classes when they were using a 4.0 scale and teachers wouldn’t “round up”.

Kids have enough to worry about. Extra points for an A+ is unnecessary pressure.

OP here.

An A- in Fairfax County is 90-93%. And it is counted as 3.7 instead of a 4.0. So even if your kid gets legit As, they only get a 3.7 if they are at 92%.

It should be counted as a 4.0. I am not obsessing about the GPA- I don’t I think it’s unfair that a legitimate A (say 92%) gets punished, whileas all of the other grades get pluses.

Get rid of it completely. It’s unfair. Your kid has no idea that their GPA is not a 4.0 even though they are getting a solid 92% in all of their grades. That should be an A. The whole plus and minus thing is BS. Colleges don’t adjust because everywhere else there are A plusses. So we end up having kids with grade deflation.

Either give the option to get an A+ or get rid of the minuses and the pluses. Or use a % number instead.

And yes: you would be obsessed if your straight A student has a 3.7 GPA. It’s bs.

Yes you are obsessed. If it's that important, your kid should do better lol.

[Anonymous]

I guarantee that all of the colleges you are considering know and understand the FCPS GPA scale. So this is not a big deal at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well it used to be just A (no plus or minus) and then B+. So there's that.

This is what it should be.

[Anonymous]

Should get rid of pluses and minuses. Just make it simple:

90-100 is an A
80-89 is a B
70-79 is a C
60-69 is a D
<60 is an F

[Anonymous]

I'd rather just report numbers. Kid got an 89.4

If we did that, I wouldn't have 14 emails asking me to "please just bump up the grade a little" or "can I please have some extra credit?" at the end of every year.

But at the end of the day, colleges all recalculate anyway. If it's that important, the year isn't over yet, work towards getting it up to a 92.5 so it rounds up to an A.

[Anonymous]

My kids' school does the same not in FCPS. When I was growing up (NYC burbs), 3.5 was A- (90-94), 4.0 was A (95-100). It is a lot harder to get a 95+ than a 90 and shows mastery. At my kids' HS, A- is 90-93 (and it's considered a 3.7, not a 3.5); they have made it even easier nowadays. According to the school profile, 14 kids have a 4.0. 142 have a 3.67-3.99. Obviously those 14 kids are real superstars- the grades properly reflect that.

Anyway, colleges do not look at GPAs equally across schools. Any school can make up any grade structure they want. But colleges will evaluate the grades within the context of the school and recalculate them.

[Anonymous]

Colleges have A- themselves.