# single midpoint letter grades



## victor2010 (May 30, 2011)

My college had single midpoint letter grades, which meant their was no B+ or B-. I always thought this was unfair. when ever I scored a mid or low B i always got a C on my report card. professors didn’t want to give me a B since it put me in the same category of people who got a low A. I graduated with a 2.50 gpa, I calculated that I would have had a 3.25 with a normal grading system. now I cant get into grad school.

the grades at my school are as follows:

A	4.00

B	3.00

C	2.00

D	1.00

F	0


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## momech (May 30, 2011)

Normal? I would guess that your school's grading system, which is the same as mine was, is the norm.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (May 30, 2011)

My undergrad/engineering grad school had whole letter and pluses. The school were I am taking MBA classes right now also has minuses. Which is nice because instead of getting a B+ in a couple classes, I got an A- which helps keep my GPA up.


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## Peele1 (Jun 1, 2011)

All of my undergrad and grad schools only did whole letters. GPA wasn't very important: I got into grad school with a 2.75 or so.

Personally, I'd like to see schools eliminate grades and GPA, and only score pass or not pass. I'm not one of those everyone-gets-a-trophy types, but school should have passers and failures.


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## momech (Jun 2, 2011)

Peele1 said:


> All of my undergrad and grad schools only did whole letters. GPA wasn't very important: I got into grad school with a 2.75 or so.
> Personally, I'd like to see schools eliminate grades and GPA, and only score pass or not pass. I'm not one of those everyone-gets-a-trophy types, but school should have passers and failures.


Sounds like you are a everyone-gets-a-trophy type. Making school pass/fail would seriously reduce the amount of learning that occurs.


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## solomonb (Jun 9, 2011)

I detect whining here as opposed to wanting to solve a problem. The matter, as I understand it is trying to get into graduate school, right? You opine that your 2.5 GPA on a no +/- scale is the inhibiting factor precluding your admission. I disagree. What your final undergraduate GPA is cannot be changed-- live with it.

A key factor in graduate school admission is the GRE or GMAT score. A great GRE/GMAT score will partially obviate a mediocre GPA. A great essay to the graduate school admissions committee will also help in admittance if indeed your GPA was a function of "hard luck." Hard Luck= Your folks were poor, you were the first in the family to attend college and graduate, you had to work 2 jobs and send money home as well as putting you through school, etc. I suspect that none of these conditions applied to your circumstance. I further suspect that you failed to apply yourself dutifully and this is the first time in your life that you have not gotten your way.

Now, let's explore graduate school. If you graduated in 2010, as your name suggests, my advice would be to find a job and work 3-5 years before going back to graduate school. Why? You will be better prepared for the course work, it will mean more and you will be better able to apply the higher order concepts learned in graduate school. Many graduate schools will not take students fresh from undergrad programs without 3-5 years of practical experience. WHY do you want to go to graduate school? WHAT is the reason that graduate school is so appealing? If it is because Daddy will front the bill, wrong answer! If it is because you cannot find a job and want to hang out in a safe, secure environment for another 2 years, wrong again. If it is because you want to examine and explore XXXX, then perhaps the right reason. However, get some work experience before you go.

I know that the job market is tough right now, no matter where you are located geographically. However, you have an engineering degree, I assume from an ABET accredited institution. Have you taken the FE exam? If not, get that completed ASAP. I know, you are not sure that you will ever need to be a PE so you are not sure that you should have to take the FE. TAKE IT and be done with it. You don't know what/when you may need the PE license, so getting it now just gives you a greater competitive advantage over others.

Do you have a job? What branch of engineering is your degree in? What was the key point of your capstone course?

This is probably a lot tougher than you expected, however, welcome to the real world. We are not interested in whiners, we are interested in helping those that really want help.


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## ALBin517 (Jun 9, 2011)

FSU had half points but FAMU did not. So the shared FAMU/FSU college did not.

I didn't like it. I usually fall in the 3.5 range and I felt like I was rounded down to 3.0 far more often than I was rounded up to a 4.0


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## Kephart P.E. (Jun 9, 2011)

Oregon State's Engineering School did +/- and I think for the better students you get screwed.

Instructors are loath to give out and actual A and I never saw an A+ awarded in any engineering class, so therefore you get lots of B+ or A- instead.

So if I got an 91% in the class I would have preferred a straight A. Typically I ended up around 85%-93% so right on the cusp of the two.


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## Capt Worley PE (Jun 9, 2011)

USC did a .5 bump for a &lt;grade&gt;+


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