GPA for plusses (+)?

Question

My friend claims to have a 4.25 GPA, but straight "A"s are supposed to be 4.0, so is she pulling my leg? Can teachers give more than an A? I remember getting an A+ in American Government, but still was not more than 4.0 as I recall.

Answer 1

Not that I favor the GPA system that allows more than a 4.0 for having straight "A" grades, but there are some schools who consider "honors" classes as being more than a simple class equivalent to any normal class. Because of this fact, there is the capability of earning more than a 4.0, so your friend is likely telling you the truth about her GPA being 4.25 overall. She is likely in honors class(es). Ask her if this is the case.

Answer 2

There are two ways this could have happened (both alluded to above):

1) Her school could give extra grade points for a "+" grade. A school that does this will add on .3 for a "+" grade and subtract .3 for a "-" grade. Thus a B would be worth 3.0 points, a B+ would be worth 3.3 points, and a B- would only be worth 2.7. Some schools, however, do this with all grades except A+'s: an A and an A+ would both be worth 4.0.

2) Some schools give an extra grade point for an honors or AP class. An A would be worth 5.0 points instead of 4.0, a B would be worth 4.0 instead of 3.0, and so on. The justification for this is that the school does not want to "punish" a student who takes an honors class and gets a B instead of staying in a regular class and being assured an A. Also, the school does not want to discourage students from taking honors classes in fear that it might lower their GPA and make them ineligible to be valedictorian.

I think scenario 2 is the more likely one here, especially if you and your friend went to the same school and you know you only get 4.0 for an A+.

Answer 3

some schools incorporate A+, A-,B+,B-,C+,C-,D+ into their GPA calculations.


I think overall it favors the real good student and is a hindrance to poor students because good students will often just barely miss getting an A or a B and will benefit from the plus...while poor students who would have skated by with a C or a D may get the minuses dragging down their GPA even lower.