Transcript question: what to do with a plus?

[Belacqua]

I don't use plus grades (eg B+) on the transcript. An outside class the kid is taking does, however, and he earned a grade ending in plus. If I include it as-is, it looks like he could have achieved a plus in his other classes and didn't. But if I don't include the plus, I'm reporting the grade inaccurately (and to his detriment, especially if the reader is familiar with this class and knows plus grades are issued).

 

Is this a situation calling for an asterisk? If so, can anybody suggest a concise way of explaining it?

 

How did you transcript veterans keep from bashing your brains out halfway though this process? And why do I have no M&Ms?

[regentrude]

If you feel you must report the grade as is, I would list it with the plus - I would make a note that this is an outside class taken with xyz provider anyway.

Then, in the calculuation of the GPA, I'd simply ignore the plus.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I made note of differences in grading requirements in the school profile. I explained my grading criteria and explained those of outside providers.

[Ellie]

I don't use plus grades (eg B+) on the transcript. An outside class the kid is taking does, however, and he earned a grade ending in plus. If I include it as-is, it looks like he could have achieved a plus in his other classes and didn't. But if I don't include the plus, I'm reporting the grade inaccurately (and to his detriment, especially if the reader is familiar with this class and knows plus grades are issued).

 

Is this a situation calling for an asterisk? If so, can anybody suggest a concise way of explaining it?

 

How did you transcript veterans keep from bashing your brains out halfway though this process? And why do I have no M&Ms?

I don't use plus/minus, either. It's still my transcript, even if the grade is earned/assigned some place other than my kitchen table.

 

For outside classes, I included a "T" with the grade, and a legend on the bottom of the transcript stating something like "Indicates tranfer credit, high school level or above." But I still wouldn't include a plus/minus.

[Belacqua]

I don't use plus/minus, either. It's still my transcript, even if the grade is earned/assigned some place other than my kitchen table.

 

For outside classes, I included a "T" with the grade, and a legend on the bottom of the transcript stating something like "Indicates tranfer credit, high school level or above." But I still wouldn't include a plus/minus.

 

So I could report the grade without the plus, and I'd mention in the legend that it's an outside class. Would I point out in the legend that the grade from the class was Grade +, or just not mention that at all? That's how I'd like to do it...just let the plus fall away. The GPA is the same either way.

 

Thanks for all your help with this, everybody.

[jhschool]

Some places use A+ equal to 4.3

and A equal to 4.

So your GPA would be different if you did that.

[Musicmom]

What I did was to report on the transcript exactly the grade that was given in the outside class (in our case A+) and put an asterisk by both the class title and the grade with a footnote that read, "*Outside course taken through XYZ. A+ grade(>97%)given by XYZ instructor." That way it matched the outside transcript/grade report from the course provider (which you send to colleges along with the transcript.)

 

I also had my grading scale on the transcript which clearly showed that I did not do plus/minus grades for my home courses (A is 90-100%.) So, I felt like the A+ from an outside class gave the other A's on my transcript more credibility. I would think the same would hold true for the B+. In other words, it seems to me that someone looking at your transcript and seeing that your child earned a high B from an outside instructor, would tend to think the other B's may have been high ones as well.

 

By the way, I did not do anything special for the A+ in figuring GPA. I used 4.0 for A and A+ (also shown on my grading scale.)