What Do Grades Really Mean? Here’s A look at High School Transcripts.
When you are preparing to send off your high school transcript, it’s important to understand what your grades mean to the college(s) in which you are applying. Obviously, an ’A’ is always better than a ‘B’. However, did you know that a ‘B’ in a college level course is actually better than an ‘A’ in a regular level class? It is important to look beyond your letter grades when you examine your transcript.
Your high school record is the most important element for getting into your chosen college. This record describes the classes you took, and shows how well you did in each of them. Colleges not only look at your overall grade point average, but they also consider things such as whether you took challenging courses, seeing improvement in your grades during your high school career, and whether or not you allowed your grades to slip during your senior year.
What Is Important On A High School Transcript?
Generally, if an admissions officer has to choose between two applicants’ transcripts with similar GPAs, they will look at the difficulty of the courses that each chose to take. The student who chose the more rigorous classes will win out, because they have demonstrated that they are willing to accept challenges and work hard. In addition, those classes will have better prepared them for college-level work.
In addition, while every college has their own specific policies, admissions officers agree that they would prefer to see grades that improve from freshman year to senior year, rather than grades that fall at the end of the senior year! Showing improvement in your grades proves that you have worked hard to succeed, learned the value of putting effort into school, and that you take your academics seriously. Grades that drop show inconsistency at best. A student who is willing to let things slide is not generally considered to be desirable to any college.
Obviously, your overall grade point average is important because it represents the average number of grade points you earned for each high school class that you took. Grade points are the points assigned to a passing grade, to indicate a numerical value for that grade. Classes, for which you don’t receive a grade, including pass/fail or audited classes, do not count toward your GPA.
The Four Point Scale
Credit and grade information is reported on high school transcripts differently from school to school, and district to district. However, the most commonly used GPA scale is the four point scale. This scale equates the letter grade ‘A’ to four points, the letter grade ‘B’ to three points, the letter grade ‘C’ to two points, the letter grade ‘D’ to one point, and the letter grade ‘F’ to zero points. The totals are then added together and divided by the number of classes to get your GPA, or grade point average. Most colleges use this four point grade scale. Even if your high school doesn’t use the four point scale, it’s a good idea to translate your grades to this system to see how your GPA ranks in comparison.
Understanding what your grades mean now can only help you during the process of applying to college. Being fully prepared will not only enhance your transcript, but help you get a leg up on other applicants.