Clearly the behemoth MCS-SCS merger has had and will continue to have countless effects, but one of the most pertinent questions for students is that of GPA. How will it be calculated from now on? How will a student’s GPA change? How will this affect course selection? Counselor Ms. Gossett offers answers.

Previously, Shelby County would add five points for an AP or IB class and three points for an honors class to a student’s quarterly grades and semester exams. These grades were all averaged together on a four-point scale.

For example, a student who received a 90 in an honors class was bumped up to a 93; a student who received an 88 in an AP class also ended up with a 93. A 93 in a traditional class remained a 93.

Under the Memphis City system, AP classes weighed six points, honors classes weighed five points, and a traditional class weighed four points. These were all averaged together. So a student with one AP, one honors, and one traditional class would receive a 5.0 so long as each grade was 93 or above.

Ms. Gossett assures that no records from previous years will be changed. The district will not retroactively add or subtract bonus points from previous transcripts. However, from this year on, the county’s bonus point system will take effect.

“Starting this year, my understanding is that we’re going with the previous county system,” Ms. Gossett said.

This means that 2013-2014 grades will count on a 4.0 scale. Previous grades on the weighted scale will be averaged with the new GPA. Juniors, who had two years under the old system and will have two more years under the new system, will see each set of grades averaged together.

So a junior who had a weighted GPA of 4.5 in freshman and sophomore years and a new GPA of 3.5 in junior and senior years will graduate from high school with a 4.0.

“I really don’t think this is going to hurt anybody,” said Mrs. Gossett. As she explains it, each college a senior applies to will see the unweighted, weighted, and Tennessee GPAs.

The Tennessee GPA will not change at all. “Tennessee schools will only look at your Tennessee GPA. It’s when you’re going out of state that’s the problem,” Ms. Gossett said.

There will be a note on the counselor section of the college application that describes the two different grading scales. Ms. Gossett believes that the brief note will adequately account for a student’s GPA discrepancies. “Honestly, the rigor of your classes is so much more important than your class rank or GPA,” she said.

In the end, the change in grading systems will really only affect current sophomores and juniors. Senior grades, though important, are less visible than previous years’ grades on a college application. Freshmen, of course, have never had to deal with the previous system, unless they took high school courses in middle school.