High school conversion rubric

[MombaBomba]

Does anyone know the rubric the USAFA uses to convert the high school gpa? In some colleges a 93 and above is a 4.0, a 90 and above is a 3.8, while in others a 90 or above is a 4.0. On top of this, the USAFA says a gpa can be raised for sports participation, or it may not be weighted if the high school weights the grade in terms of graduation placement.

 

[nolifepilot]

Not sure exactly what you're asking, but I think I get it. I would assume a standard 90-100 is a 4.0, 80-89 is a 3.0, 70-79 is a 2.0, 60-69 is a 1.0, and anything under a 60 is a 0.

 

[MombaBomba]

I would think that too, nolifepilot, except after seeing various results from colleges for the gpa conversion. I have learned not to assume. And the conversion is further complicated by the mention that the USAFA may add points to the gpa conversion depending on various factors such as sports participation, if the school weights the gpa for graduation ranking, etc.

 

[Pima]

I would not assume that at all. For our kids high school, it was % grade times the weight.

A 95% times 4.0 is a 3.8 uwcgpa. They do not do an A is 4.0. IOWs on their scale, an A being 93%., it is not 4.0 on their transcript, it is 3.72.

Sports have nothing to do with a GPA conversion, what does is some schools use a 7 point scale and others use 10 points. An 85 on a 10 point is a solid B, on a 7 point it is a C. The AFA will place this into the equation. Think about it for my kids if they did a B= 3.0, but for them an 86 is the bottom of the B scale, and an A is 93, they would take a huge hit just because the school district uses a 7 point scale. Meanwhile, the 85 in the 10 point scale would get 3.0 while they got a 2.0. A 92 is a B, or 3.0 if you use the system a B is 3.0. Using the scale from the school profile allows them to change it.


The other conversion factor is weight. Some schools will give weight to honors, others will not. Some will give a 4.5, 5.0 or even 6.0 for AP or college credits. This is why they ask for a school profile, to see the grading scale and weight.

Class ranking matters too, but it is more from a rigor factor and your cgpa. If 30% go Ivy and you rank 15% with a 3.65 cgpa, it looks differently to them than if you rank 15%, 0% go Ivy and you have a 3.90.
~ The first says the school does not hand out A's like presents on Christmas day, the second says they are handing them out at a more liberal rate.

FWIW, our DS's gpa raise on his portal because he attended a school that used a 7 point scale. Have you pulled out your SAT hard copy? Unless things have changed, at the bottom, it will show the 5 schools you had them send your schools to for official admission purposes. They show what your cgpa is according to their rubric. At least the SAT use to do this.

 

[spolac28]

The Air Force Academy takes many factors into account when forming your 4 scale GPA. This includes your transcript, your class profile, your school profile, the amount of people who graduate and the colleges they go to, and many other things. I had a 94.7 GPA in High School but the AFA reconfiguration of that on their 4.0 scale came out to be a 3.69. The Air Force Academy takes many things into account when figuring GPAs.

 

[HeWantsTheBFE]

...which all turns into your academic composite number, which is the real metric admissions uses to compare it's candidates. You do get to see it on your transcript when/if you get into the academy.

Mostly it depends on your grades, school, courseload, etc.

 

[MombaBomba]

Pima, isn't life grand when our kids start applying to colleges? My eldest is in college (he didn't apply to a Military school), and the gpa conversion was different for each college he applied to. My kids' high school uses the 100 point scale. There are at least 4 different on-line 4.0 conversion functions out there, and they can give different results for the same grade.

This conversion issue becomes murkier when sports, etc. may effect a gpa calculation. Looking at my son's USAFA grade provided, it appears to be pretty much a "basic conversion" of his grade (high school gpa x 4 / 100). His high school doesn't weight his gpa for honors and AP classes, so it appears the USAFA didn't weight it either.

So when I hear of people's USAFA calculated grade being higher than their high school reported grade, it makes me wonder what rubric the USAFA uses.

The question is compounded by the fact that I remember reading somewhere that the USAFA doesn't weight your grade if your high school weights your grade to determine class ranking.

I wish to thank everyone for their response to my question. Your time, thoughts and effort is much appreciated.