Hello! I just found out that one of the colleges I'm interested in uses a 1 to 4 grading scale. I'm not familiar with this system. Can somebody explain how it works and how it compares to traditional percentage-based grades?
Hello! A 1 to 4 grading scale, also known as a 4-point scale, is an alternative way to represent a student's academic performance. Instead of using percentages or letter grades, this system assigns a numerical value between 1 and 4 to represent each student's achievements. Here's a quick overview of how the numbers typically break down:
1.0 - Poor performance or minimal understanding of the subject material
2.0 - Satisfactory performance, demonstrating a basic understanding of the subject
3.0 - Good performance, showing an above-average understanding of the material
4.0 - Excellent performance, reflecting a comprehensive grasp of the subject
To put it in the context of the more traditional percentage-based and letter-grade scales, you can think of a 4.0 as an "A" or 90-100%, a 3.0 as a "B" or 80-89%, a 2.0 as a "C" or 70-79%, and a 1.0 as a "D" or 60-69%. Please note that this comparison may not exactly match the way every institution evaluates performance, but it gives you a general idea of how the scales relate to one another.
One key difference between the 1 to 4 scale and the percentage-based grades is the way the overall GPA is calculated. On a 1 to 4 scale, the GPA is calculated by summing the numerical values associated with each course and dividing the sum by the total number of courses. For example, let's say a student took four courses: they scored a 4.0 in English, a 3.0 in Math, a 3.5 in Science, and a 2.5 in History. The sum of these values is 13.0, and the average (GPA) is 13.0 divided by 4, which equals 3.25.
In contrast, converting percentage grades to a traditional GPA usually requires converting the percentages to a letter grade, then determining their corresponding numerical (GPA) values, and finally calculating the average.
I hope this helps you understand the 1 to 4 grading scale better! Let me know if you have any other questions.
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