Have you calculated your GPA? Be sure to see my previous post for directions on how to do that. I also have pinned some GPA calculators here. Some things to keep in mind…
If you have changed schools while in high school this can be a bit tricky. First, you want to make sure that you save report cards and transcripts so you have them as a reference for your new school. Courses translate differently from state to state and even from system to system. Keeping these records will help you to make sure that you receive all of the credits you have earned. As counselors we do our best to make sure that everything is done correctly, but we are human and sometimes miss something. You are your best advocate. Never be afraid to ask questions when something doesn’t look right.
Another reason that changing schools can be challenging is when you enter a system that is on a different grading scale than your previous school. My state recently converted from a 7 point scale to a 10 point scale. This can work for or against you. For example, a 90 on a 7 point scale is a B, but on a 10 point scale is an A. If your school counselor takes the grades at face value, it will raise your GPA. However, most of us have been trained in working with this so your numerical grade and quality points should look the same as it would on your old transcript. If you see an error, make sure you bring it to their attention. It wouldn’t be in your best interest to have false information on an official transcript.
Above is an example of the GPA calculation. You can see the difference between weighted and unweighted, meaning that this student took honors or AP level courses at some point. You can also see the difference those courses make in Quality points on the right side. Notice the credits. There are Total High School Credits, Potential Credits, and Total Credits Toward Graduation. If all courses were taken (and passed) in high school, these numbers will all be the same. In this case, you see that there is an additional credit toward graduation. What this means is that this student took a course for high school credit at the middle school level. Another time you may see a difference would be if a student took a course and did not pass it. Then the potential credit number would be higher than the total.
The most important thing I would like you to take from this is to advocate for yourself. Your Counselor is there to help you. If you do not feel like you are being heard, ask another counselor or an administrator. This is your future.
Until we meet again…