Final Grades/GPA thread/School/University Discussion

[Stylish Interval]

History of Christian Thought - A (99 Grade, 99 Exam)
Personal Finance - B (88 Grade, 91 Exam)
AP Language and Composition - A (95 Grade, 94 Exam)
French IV - A (96 Grade, 92 Exam)
Honors Pre-Cal - A (98 Grade, 98 Exam)
Chemistry - A (97 Grade, 86 Exam)
AP US History - A (93, 91 Exam)

Meh. Could have done better but it's whatever. Also I'm envious of you people who get 90-100 for As ... I'm stuck at 93-100 for an A :(

That brings me to a question I have ... Do colleges see what your school's letter grade system (90-100 as opposed to 93-100)? I just thought about that the other day when I saw someone saying they got an A with 91. Maybe it was here, but either way I'm still curious. If anyone knows, please share! :)

 

[Fabbles]

That brings me to a question I have ... Do colleges see what your school's letter grade system (90-100 as opposed to 93-100)? I just thought about that the other day when I saw someone saying they got an A with 91. Maybe it was here, but either way I'm still curious. If anyone knows, please share! :)

Yes your school sends the grading system. Colleges will see your letter grade only. So they could see a B for a class and know that a 92 could still be a B. I find it dumb that the actual %s are not sent though.

Anyways, my first semester was meh. Very hard schedule, with 5 final papers and 5 final exams in the last 2 weeks. Grades are not official, but I think I got:

Augustine Culture Seminar (A philosophy, english, theology requirement class): B+
Intro Japanese 1: A
International Relations: A
Honors Philosophy: A-
Honors English: A-

Next Semester Classes

ACS: Modernity
Intro Japanese Part II
Intro Theology
Pre-Modern World History
Honors Ethics

Absolutely hate the core requirements but at least I could be done by first semester next year. Undeclared major as of yet, but I am probably going for International Relations major with Japanese minor.

 

[Xing]

Current Senior year grades:

AP Statistics: A- (92%)
French III: A- (93%)
AP Calculus BC: A
AP Physics B: A (94%)
AP Microeconomics: A (94%)
AP English Literature: A (95%)

I messed up my freshman year, however, and thus I currently have a 3.67 W GPA and a horrible rank. Hopefully my rank will be in the top 25% after this semester.

MY SAT is 2300 and my SAT Subjects are 800, 800, and 740. I hope my test scores will save me.

I already got rejected from Cornell ED. I'm applying to the following schools:

Princeton (only look at 10-12 grades woohoo)
Stanford (only look at 10-12 grades woohoo)
UC Berkeley (UCs only look at 10-12 grades woohoo)
UCLA
UC San Diego
UC Santa Cruz
Carnegie Mellon
Tufts
University of Michigan
Colgate
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Chicago
Boston University
University of Pennsylvania

 

[rekt]

Does anyone else just not care about school at all? I recognize that it has a big impact on my future, but I still just can't bring myself to do any work or try at anything. I'm by no means just not smart, I literally just do absolutely no work besides taking tests or writing an essay a day before it is due.

 

[Stylish Interval]

Does anyone else just not care about school at all? I recognize that it has a big impact on my future, but I still just can't bring myself to do any work or try at anything. I'm by no means just not smart, I literally just do absolutely no work besides taking tests or writing an essay a day before it is due.

I'll probably start caring more once I get to college, but for now I don't really care much either. I write most of my essays the day before too, even papers I don't really prepare for. Part of it is how easy the classes are, part of it is knowing that if I get a 3.0 I'm still going to get into college (just not some big name prestigious ivy league one [like i want to get into one 9_9]). That's why I don't really stress out about exams or anything.

From what I've read / come to understand, high school doesn't really matter. college is what matters. so that's p. much how i stand on it. :P (although if i'm wrong feel free to correct me!) i hate school p. much, especially since mine doesn't offer too many electives. oh well.

 

[smashlloyd20]

Meh, high school matters if you want to get into a good school. You can get into a crap school without doing anything in high school.

 

[Lanturn314]

I'll probably start caring more once I get to college, but for now I don't really care much either. I write most of my essays the day before too, even papers I don't really prepare for. Part of it is how easy the classes are, part of it is knowing that if I get a 3.0 I'm still going to get into college (just not some big name prestigious ivy league one [like i want to get into one 9_9]). That's why I don't really stress out about exams or anything.

From what I've read / come to understand, high school doesn't really matter. college is what matters. so that's p. much how i stand on it. :P (although if i'm wrong feel free to correct me!) i hate school p. much, especially since mine doesn't offer too many electives. oh well.

Yeah, you're right; it doesn't really matter that much what school you get into. If you get into a big name university, the name will somewhat help you, and sometimes the resources at the more prestigious places are somewhat better, but for the most part, you'll do fine no matter where you go. There are perfectly successful people coming out of state schools, so it's really not about what college you go to, but rather what you do when you're there.

Also, just got my grades back, and... 3.8 this semester at JHU!! :)

 

[Morm]

3.8 is pretty good at any university. I got a 3.0 average and did fuck all throughout the last 3 years of my university experience. Hell, I even failed two classes somewhere in there and got a D in parasitology.

Turns out, being the lowest GPA'd grad out of the paleo program for those two years meant nothing as I scored the only job in canada basically. GO Charisma and references!

 

[Lanturn314]

Yeah, even GPA doesn't really matter unless you're trying to get into grad school or med school (like me!) or law school or something. References and resume matter way more.

So those of you who are still in HS and college-- don't freak out, because it'll be fine ^_^

 

[Morm]

in the sciences, a 3.0 and lining up a supervisor prematurely will actually go further than a 3.5 and going in cold, in many cases.

 

[ivar]

why don't you guys just pm each other... seriously

anyways, three A- out of three known grades. awaiting two more. it's okay. gpa 3.7 thus far, this semester.

 

[Oglemi]

LAST FINAL TONIGHT.. gahhh

So far here's my grades:

English 100: A
French 203: anywhere from A/B to B/C
History 119: anywhere from A to B/C
Human Sex: FINAL TONIGHT

I'm currently attending UW-Madison btw...

 

[icepick]

I've never seen a minus or plus on a grade until my first semester of college, so my grades were kinda frustrating.

CMSC131 (Computer Science) A
HONR100 (1 credit Honors introduction) A or A+
HONR268 (Web Design) A-
MATH340 (Lin Algebra and Calc III) A-
ENGL101 A-

 

[Firestorm]

Got my grades for the semester:
Media Project Group: A-
Classical Mythology: B+

A little higher than I expected on both. Just 2 co-op terms + 1 school semester and I'm done. Will likely be fully done with school this time next year :)

Does anyone else just not care about school at all? I recognize that it has a big impact on my future, but I still just can't bring myself to do any work or try at anything. I'm by no means just not smart, I literally just do absolutely no work besides taking tests or writing an essay a day before it is due.

Let me guess, final year of high school?

Yeah, you're right; it doesn't really matter that much what school you get into. If you get into a big name university, the name will somewhat help you, and sometimes the resources at the more prestigious places are somewhat better, but for the most part, you'll do fine no matter where you go. There are perfectly successful people coming out of state schools, so it's really not about what college you go to, but rather what you do when you're there.

Also, just got my grades back, and... 3.8 this semester at JHU!! :)

Not really sure on the US, but yeah here the name only matters so much as who recruits there. Once you're out of school, I really don't see the name of the university getting you far. What matters if you're there to learn is how strong the program you're in is. Somewhat related is which companies recruit on campus due to how strong the programs are.

 

[Alan]

Yeah, you're right; it doesn't really matter that much what school you get into. If you get into a big name university, the name will somewhat help you, and sometimes the resources at the more prestigious places are somewhat better, but for the most part, you'll do fine no matter where you go. There are perfectly successful people coming out of state schools, so it's really not about what college you go to, but rather what you do when you're there.

Also, just got my grades back, and... 3.8 this semester at JHU!! :)

I'm assuming you're american, maybe its different up north, but in the south it pretty much only matters if you go to a big school. We had this discussion in my World Civ class on the last day. I go to UCF. Second largest school in the country with some 55,000+ students. Yet, we are largely: unknown; although this year with our football team getting ranked and our basketball team being 10-0 and ranked 24th, its helping (thank you donnie jones). But my teacher made a good point, when you go to apply for a job, the H.R. guy doesn't know what school is amazing at <degree>, or what school isn't. He just has to know, did you a) get a degree in said subject b) have a decent GPA c) graduate in a decent amount of time. He doesn't likely know ISU from UC Boulder from a hole in the wall in terms of what is excellent at <degree>.

For instance, if I went to, to use the example he used, LSU, and the H.R. guy saw that, he would be like, "oh LSU, thats a good school". I don't know what LSU is good at, as far as degrees. Its a "good school" because they have successful sports teams, football, basketball, and baseball, specifically. Regardless of how dumb this system is, the school you go to is just as important, if not more important than your GPA. If I, as a HR guy, see two possible employees, one from JSU (Jacksonville State University) and Penn State, I am going to go with the Penn State guy hands down, every single time.

Its stupid, but thats the game we gotta play.*


*Disclaimer: Could be different overseas aka not in America.

Does anyone else just not care about school at all? I recognize that it has a big impact on my future, but I still just can't bring myself to do any work or try at anything. I'm by no means just not smart, I literally just do absolutely no work besides taking tests or writing an essay a day before it is due.

I did the same shit last semester and it bit me in the ass. I used to that in High School and coast, but that shit does not apply to University.

 

[Firestorm]

Yeah, in Canada there are fewer universities I think and we differentiate universities from colleges.

University: 4 year degree (lol four years my ass)
College: 2 year diploma / 2 year transfer program

I think it's mostly because we have fewer, but aside from some of the standouts (University of Waterloo, McGill University, some of the known business programs) I don't think people really give a damn about the name of the school.

I'd say in both countries it's a lot more dependent on your work experience (notably internships).

 

[MrIndigo]

In Australia, 'college' is a different term again.

Universities are what any degree-awarding institution is called. Standard length is 3 years, though it varies depending on the course and location. The value of the name of the school changes depending on the field, e.g. Law cares about name a lot more than Commerce.

'TAFE' is what we call the diploma-only institutions (although universities give out diplomas too).

'College' refers to a small, usually religious-aligned, block of living areas on the campus, where students board. It's usually one or two buildings, with a hall, dormitories, and a few other common rooms and refectories and the like. "College guys" and "college girls" are terms used to describe a certain culture subset of university students, somehwat analogous to frat boys and sorority girls.

 

[Blln]

lol i go to Brown and i'm just realizing now our grading system is ridiculous. you can take as many classes as you want pass/fail, there are no +/-s, if you get lower than a C then you just get an NC and it doesn't affect your GPA, there are no requirements outside of completing a major etc.

I technically have a 4.0 my first semester (technically only because we don't actually get GPAs) because i got

Modernist lit: A
Art History 1: A
Seminar about Machiavelli: A
Into to Computer Programming: pass (BARELY!!)

but i feel kind of undeserving because the only class that was at all hard was compsci, and i probably should have gotten a C in it but i took it pass/fail :p

 

[Shiny_Tyranitar]

I'm assuming you're american, maybe its different up north, but in the south it pretty much only matters if you go to a big school. We had this discussion in my World Civ class on the last day. I go to UCF. Second largest school in the country with some 55,000+ students. Yet, we are largely: unknown; although this year with our football team getting ranked and our basketball team being 10-0 and ranked 24th, its helping (thank you donnie jones). But my teacher made a good point, when you go to apply for a job, the H.R. guy doesn't know what school is amazing at <degree>, or what school isn't. He just has to know, did you a) get a degree in said subject b) have a decent GPA c) graduate in a decent amount of time. He doesn't likely know ISU from UC Boulder from a hole in the wall in terms of what is excellent at <degree>.

For instance, if I went to, to use the example he used, LSU, and the H.R. guy saw that, he would be like, "oh LSU, thats a good school". I don't know what LSU is good at, as far as degrees. Its a "good school" because they have successful sports teams, football, basketball, and baseball, specifically. Regardless of how dumb this system is, the school you go to is just as important, if not more important than your GPA. If I, as a HR guy, see two possible employees, one from JSU (Jacksonville State University) and Penn State, I am going to go with the Penn State guy hands down, every single time.

True, I live in northern VA, and the college I go to has a very close proximity to DC and they tend to focus most of their resources on a Political Sci department (which is my major, so that's why I know). Other colleges in VA (CNU, GM, and to a lesser degree UVA) all focus on Poli Sci due to their proximity to DC. I actually had the privilege of meeting the aid of a congressmen at my University who did a run down of interns for other congressmen; VA had an overwhelming number of interns, and my school lead second place by about 2:1 (surprising due to the low cost of tuition).

Second, when I talked to some private lawyers in the area about intern work (I kinda want to go to law school). A lot of the public defenders tended to have degrees from University of Richmond, Appalachia State (IIRC) or University of Washington DC (again, IIRC). Again, very local schools influencing very local work.

In summary, Alan is right in my experience. I wouldn't get a job in Wyoming with a degree in Poli Sci from a "Semi-Prestigious" University in Northern VA. The HR department of said job will focus on schools they know of (which are either big Universities or Universities with proximity) over other schools which they don't.

 

[cim]

I'm currently attending UW-Madison btw...

How many sections of Human Sex did they offer this year? You probably took it with one of several of my classmates from high school.

I live in Madison in the summer and was planning on enrolling in summer stuff there before some recent complications; not a bad place other than being in Wisconsin.

lol i go to Brown and i'm just realizing now our grading system is ridiculous. you can take as many classes as you want pass/fail, there are no +/-s, if you get lower than a C then you just get an NC and it doesn't affect your GPA, there are no requirements outside of completing a major etc.

You're dramatically misinterpreting your school's academic policies. I would correct you but if you're supposed to be intelligent enough to get into Brown then you shouldn't be too stupid to figure that out.

 

[Blln]

Wooooo here we go! Everything I said in my post is a fact, there was no interpretation done. I am very aware of the intention of every single one of those policies and my belief in their validity is the reason I chose to go to Brown. I would defend/explain them but you apparently understand them better than somebody who actually GOES to Brown!

 

[Huy]

I've read that Brown University has one of the highest average GPAs in the country, so I would assume something like that happens in order to inflate their GPAs.

 

[NC]

I think many universities have that policy. Mine (University of Michigan) lets you do that with electives, but most departments will not allow to to take the core classes for your major pass/fail.

 

[Killah]

Just curious, how does the GPA system work for other universities? At Georgia Tech, and all schools in GA (I think?), A's are worth 4.0 points while B's are worth 3.0. Ended with a 3.7 this semester because I was 0.52 points away from getting an A in one class :x Seems to me like a more fair system would award, say, 4.0 points for an A or A+, 3.7 for an A-, and 3.4 for a B+ or something to that effect =/

 

[billymills]

Just curious, how does the GPA system work for other universities? At Georgia Tech, and all schools in GA (I think?), A's are worth 4.0 points while B's are worth 3.0. Ended with a 3.7 this semester because I was 0.52 points away from getting an A in one class :x Seems to me like a more fair system would award, say, 4.0 points for an A or A+, 3.7 for an A-, and 3.4 for a B+ or something to that effect =/

Mine is just like that, except 3.3 for B+ instead of 3.4.