re: What is the benefit of LSU's new +/- grade scale?

Scruffy is right. It's bullshite. They've done that' at UGA for years. I got Bs for the last two years and my gpa got lower and lower (partially because i stopped giving a frick about grades) but this sucked.

What happens to people who transfer to LSU from a school without this system??? Grades are converted or what?? Transcripts don't show numbers now do they?? This is crazy.

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If those grades are for 3 hour classes no it's not a 3.2. An A+ gets the 4 quality points ... An "A" gets less so a 3 hour class with an A isn't 12 points.

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You're absolutely wrong about that

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I wish this was true for all occupations, but it isn't.

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once you get the first job, what occupation actually cares about gpa after that?

For average students, no benefit whatsoever

A B- is worth 2.7 so if he has all B- then any A would bring his GPA above 2.7
Scruffy lied about his grades

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Scruffy has a family member there right now in ChemE and 4 B's and 1 A equates to a 2.7. Just a bit surprising.

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The math doesn't work. A B- is worth 2.7 so one would have to get all B-s to get a 2.7. That A, even if it's an A-, would bring it up.

Edit: StanDarsh beat me to it.

Isn't it all still a function of what ever scale (scales which are not regulated by the University) a given professor uses to grade their class?

From the LSU website #17

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...the university developed a plus/minus grades default scale. This is NOT A UNIVERSITY GRADING SCALE. It simply allows an instructor to establish the range for scores for each possible grade in the course (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc.). Each instructor must modify the default scale to meet the requirements specific to her/his course.

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Italics added.

I'm long removed from undergraduate study, and I made good grades. I only made one 4.0 my entire life, but I graduated from LSU with an A average, overall.

To me, this new system benefits no one other than the 4.0 crowd. It's yet another attempt by them to separate themselves as "elite" from the other A students.

No one who makes less than a 3.0 really cares about their GPA beyond qualification for scholarships or maintaining good standing in a school. I don't see this new system greatly affecting them. If you make B's you are capable of making A's. If you make C's, you can make B's with a little harder work.

But within the A students, you can do your best and still not get the A+. Maybe you have a tough grader. Maybe you have someone who just doesn't hand out 100's, ever. I think what we have here is LSU thinks it's been handing out too many University Medals lately, so they need to cut back on the number of 4.0's.

While it's true that grades do tend to inflate over time, it's also true that with the advent of TOPS, we have more students than ever who can focus solely on school. They are going to get better not just at the classes themselves but at the "game" of school, because they can devote more time and energy toward it.

This just seems unnecessary to me. I don't see the university-wide clamor for a system to parse the A+ students from the A- students. Apparently, however, someone does. It's strange.

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Correct, they really only benefit people who consistently get A+ grades. Screws everyone else over

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How do you figure? At OSU the a + - grading scale. Even without an A+, it seemed quite fair. Besides for most people, the negative impact of a - can be offset by a +.

Regardless, it adds accuracy to the grades. An 89.4 is qualitatively different than a 79.5, so grades should reflect that differences.

In addition, it lessons the impact of the drop off at the cut-off. For example, the difference between a 79.5 and 79.4 is .1 percentage points while the offense between a 89.4 and a 69.5 is 19.9 percentage points. Yet, the .1 difference would have the same drop as the 19.9. That's nonsensical.