4.0+ college GPA

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I was in a discussion this weekend about graduation from college with honors - cum laude, honors, etc. and was told that the best students graduate with a 4.0+ GPA. I have never heard of someone graduating with more than a 4.0 from college. I know it is common to graduate from high school with a greater than 4.0 GPA and that was not part of the discussion. Do you know of any colleges or universities who offer a weighted GPA? Evidently some schools weight an A+ as 4.3 but when I google it, I cannot find specific schools.

[maize]

I've never heard of such a thing.

[Beth S]

Our son graduated from University of Alabama (Roll Tide) last year with a 4.0.  The visible honor is a red mortarboard, so you can see that it is rare.

He was in the Honors College, and he could earn beyond a 4.0 if he had a 99% (or 100%) class average, which earned an A+.

They gave A+ (and A-), which received specific points.

They used the traditional grading scale of A=4 pts,  B=3pts, etc.

 

Our other sons attend University of Kentucky satellite campus, which only gives straight letter grades (A or B, etc), so I don't think it's possible to have above a 4.0.

But one of their classmates does have a cumulative GPA of 4.0, the first in their 20 year history.

 

Quote from:  http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1627861-graduation-regalia.html

UA gives the red mortarboards to undergraduates with a 4.0 GPA in UA courses.

 

Obviously, I've been editing this as I learn about it.

https://catalog.ua.edu/archive/2015-16/introduction/academicpolicies/gradesandgradepoints/

A+ gets 4.33 points.  I think it was for a 100% class average.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Beth S

[Guest]

Never heard of it except at schools that have a 9 point gpa scale like my husband's alma mater. A 4.3 would be a very achievable gpa on such a scale :D

[Guest]

Could this be what they are referring to?

http://www.rackham.umich.edu/current-students/policies/gpa

 

My husband came from UMich and that's the first I had heard of a nine point scale.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[38carrots]

When I was in university 4.3 = A+, 4=A, 3.7=A-.

 

 

[MercyA]

.

Edited May 15, 2017 by MercyA

[KungFuPanda]

Eventually, they'll need a letter above A to accommodate the creeping scale.

[Raifta]

Having worked in graduate admissions for 10+ years, I can safely say that during that time more and more universities, particularly in Canada, started to use a scale when an A+ was a 4.5 (sometimes a 4.3).  In fact, we started to assign everyone with an A+ a 4.5 when we were calculating admissions for graduate school regardless of the scale their home institution used.

 

I think if I were to look at my undergrad transcript I managed to squeak in over 4.0 despite the fact that the policy change from an A+ being worth 4.5 came halfway through my undergrad degree and the the A+s from before the change weren't converted to the new scale (some slight bitterness remains).

[snowbeltmom]

Some schools are on a 5 point scale

[Ravin]

My uni had a +/- system, but an A+ was IIRC a 4.0.

[Hilltopmom]

I dunno, but my teen was annoyed that getting 100% or above 100 in a college course "only" gets a 4.0

 

He's had all 3 of his DE courses with above 100 averages (100 on all tests, assignments, & projects, plus the Xtra credit questions on a few tests), but just an A shows on transcript.

I agree- kinda a bummer

[EKS]

As a graduate student at Arizona State University, I got an A+ in a course (which totally surprised me because the syllabus didn't say it was possible).  It made my GPA for that quarter higher than a 4.0, but ASU has a policy that the cumulative GPA can't go above a 4.0.  I'm not sure if it's different for undergraduate courses/GPAs.

[gardenmom5]

my daughter's uni offers a weighted gpa.

that said -

there are three levels of honors. 

 

cum laude 

magna cum laude

and

summa cum laude.

 

the most distinguished graduate summa cum laude AND phi beta kappa.

in 1dd's graduating class - there were seven.

 

eta: .

Edited May 15, 2017 by gardenmom5

[Crimson Wife]

My 1st alma mater had it but it was VERY difficult to get an A+ in a class because it was only given for a perfect 100%. I did have one A+ on my transcript because I was 1 of 3 students out of ~200 to receive a perfect score. DH loves to tease me about it because the class was "Human Sexuality" and I was a virgin when I took it. :lol: :lol: :lol: 

 

It was weighted as a 4.3 in GPA calculations but I never heard of anyone graduating with >4.0 because it was so hard to earn an A+.

[abacus2]

My college had differences for + and - except with A+, A+ and A were worth 4.0, but an A- was a 3.7. I was concerned about my grade in one class my freshman year, but the professor assured me that I had an A. When I got my grade report, it was an A-, not the same thing!

[poppy]

OK so now I know to not take a 4.0 seriously anymore, for college (it's already the case for high school).

 

Good to know.

Edited May 16, 2017 by poppy

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Thank you for all of the replies. I'm not sure what to think about A+ being weighted as 4.3.  A student who achieves 100% should be recognized but that student, if the achievement is repeated in multiple classes, would be a summa graduate and isn't that enough?

 

 

 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I just looked at my DS's college and discovered that his school used to weight A+ as 4.33 but discontinued the practice in 2009. At present, an A+ and an A are both 4.0.

[luuknam]

Never heard of it except at schools that have a 9 point gpa scale like my husband's alma mater. A 4.3 would be a very achievable gpa on such a scale :D

 

 

In NL grades go from 1 to 10, but actually *graduating* with a 4.3 would be tough to do, as that's definitely a failing GPA. I'm pretty sure you need *at least* a 5.5 GPA to graduate, maybe a 6.0 - not entirely sure what the policy is on that.

 

And when I went to UTD, they gave B+ and A- and A, but no A+, which did annoy me. 

[Crimson Wife]

Thank you for all of the replies. I'm not sure what to think about A+ being weighted as 4.3.  A student who achieves 100% should be recognized but that student, if the achievement is repeated in multiple classes, would be a summa graduate and isn't that enough?

 

My 1st alma mater did not do Latin honoraries based on GPA. There was an "honors" notation but it was based on getting accepted to a departmental honors program and successfully completing an honors thesis. There might have been a GPA pre-requisite for applying to my department's honors program but I'm not sure because I was running out of cash and needed to graduate in 3 years.