Would it be weird to have one "Pass" grade on a transcript?

[RootAnn]

I'm pondering whether I give a Pass/No Pass grade for DD's "Health & Fitness" class. It would be the only pass/no pass grade on the entire transcript, so I wonder if it would be considered strange. There is one other class I could possibly list as Pass/No Pass (Fine Arts Appreciation). Everything else has multiple papers or tests to help with a grade.

I could give a grade for it, but personally feel more comfortable with pass/no pass for Health & Fitness. Will it make the transcript look weird to have grades except for one (or two) classes?

[regentrude]

Nope. I have given "P" for participation in PE, health, and arts appreciation. I explained that in the notes.

[SebastianCat]

The only hesitation that I'd have is that some colleges translate a grade of "Pass" to a C when they calculate GPA.   Some colleges, on the other hand, will recalculate a student's GPA based only on core classes.....so I would base your decision on how potential colleges or universities will handle that class.   

[teachermom2834]

Honestly, I would just give your student a grade. Even if you don't have graded work to back it up. If your student is an A student I would not hesitate to plunk an A on there for Health and Fitness. 

The reason is that if there is any chance an admissions office is going to calculate that as a C, I wouldn't take that chance. Some schools just put all the numbers into a formula and generate admissions or scholarships or honors admissions based on numbers and do not dig into the finer details of the transcript. I would just hate to have it count against a student in any way when her peers likely all have As in that class and haven't done an extensive graded work either. If it makes you feel more comfortable with it, I am sure your dd will get zero unfair advantage from that grade, whereas it is possible she could have a negative result if you just give pass/fail. 

[EKS]

I had two Ps on my son's transcript that came from PE classes he took at a b&m high school.  Since the b&m school graded their PE courses pass/fail, I graded mind that way (except for health).

I plan to give my current high schooler grades for his homeschool PE classes.  I figure that the local public school he attends part time does that, and colleges can just ignore those grades if they want to.

[yvonne]

46 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

Honestly, I would just give your student a grade. Even if you don't have graded work to back it up. If your student is an A student I would not hesitate to plunk an A on there for Health and Fitness.

 

I did this, too. Started out w/ "Pass" for PE (only even included it bec. it's req'd for CA schools) and a "Pass" for a quarter credit Public Speaking class, but switched from "Pass" to "A" because I didn't know if it could possibly affect any gpa recalculation at any of the colleges/universities to which my students applied.  Whatever.

 

[RootAnn]

Thanks, all. This answers my question. I'll put a grade.

Just curious:  Would it change any of your answers if the grade deserved for the class (due to lack of effort or not completing 100% of the tasks) would lower the student's overall GPA? Say, a B for an A student? Or a C for a B student?

[teachermom2834]

11 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

Thanks, all. This answers my question. I'll put a grade.

Just curious:  Would it change any of your answers if the grade deserved for the class (due to lack of effort or not completing 100% of the tasks) would lower the student's overall GPA? Say, a B for an A student? Or a C for a B student?

In that case I would provide an extra opportunity to raise the grade. My kids have not had perfect GPAs. Mine got some Bs. But I would not, personally, let a class like that hurt a GPA. Obviously you know the situation but I would be unlikely to let a wellness grade hurt my kid. 

I started my high school homeschool teacher career as a very strict grader so I do understand having grading integrity. My opinion is colored by taking two kids through the process now. 

[yvonne]

I would not let a non-academic class impact the student's gpa, but I wouldn't record it as an A if it really wasn't.  If a student got less than an A in a PE/wellness or other EC sort of class, and s/he had to have that class on the transcript for some reason, I would go with "Pass" instead of a letter grade.

Or, like teachermom, I'd give them a chance to bring the grade up to an A.

Or, if the student did not need the class on the transcript & didn't want to put time into raising the grade, I'd probably just drop it completely from the transcript & maybe put it in the EC list where a grade wouldn't be needed.

 

[MerryAtHope]

7 hours ago, RootAnn said:

Thanks, all. This answers my question. I'll put a grade.

Just curious:  Would it change any of your answers if the grade deserved for the class (due to lack of effort or not completing 100% of the tasks) would lower the student's overall GPA? Say, a B for an A student? Or a C for a B student?

 

No, because the impact is minimal. Let's say your student has 24 credits. If 23 credits are A's and 1 credit is a B, your student has a 3.958 average. One grade is not going to make or break a student's GPA. If the grade earned really was a B, or a C--I'd say let it stand. Especially if the student just didn't put the work in. They made a choice. It's okay for them to see the result. Better now than later!