Most schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions of learning in the United States use a letter based system for grading. These Letters correspond with numbers used to calculate a students Grade Point Average (GPA). With all of the colleges and universities that I'm familiar with in the US, the grades for the individual courses are recorded as letters while the GPA is recorded as a decimal number. Without getting into the confusion this can cause students, I have come to detest the "Average" grade, that is the grade that indicates the middle position on the grading scale, often referred to as a grade of "C." A grade of "C" is, in my opinion, is the worst grade there is.
I'm not speaking about individual "C" grades, which are sometimes badges of honor that a student will proudly display for those classes that they struggled, toiled, and sweated through. There is significant meaning to a "hard 'C'" as opposed to an "easy 'A'". I know of several students who have prided themselves on receiving a "C" in a class that, based on their preparation, challenges, or mistaken enrollment, they would have failed without impressive growth or change on their part. Those "C" are hard earned battle scars on the academic body of a student's transcript and should be remembered as the reason for the better grades from that point on.
What I'm referring to are the "C" grades that pile up, for one reason or another, on a students transcript semester after semester and year after year. These grades may be because of a lack of effort, as is often thought of stereotypical college students focused on partying. They may be because the student has consistently run into road blocks that consistently derail them from their studies. Some of these road blocks are extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control such as family emergencies, medical problems, changes is employment, etc. Some students in these kinds of situations are so focused and determined to earn their degree that they enroll over and over again despite a lack of change to their situation. Many of these determined students end up withdrawing or failing their classes due to their circumstances, but others end the semester with a transcript full of "C"s. While this looks better than having a bunch of failing grades, there are situations where "C" grades are worse than failing. As these situations are subjective to each university I am not advocating failing a class over getting a "C". I will gladly advocate talking to an academic advisor whenever possible about the situation prior to action.
So why are "C"s the worst grade you can consistently get. They are often the minimum grade required to fulfill specific course requirements but are usually too low to allow a student to meet the minimum GPA requirement for the program. For example, a student may need at least a "C" in all of their major courses, but they have to have at least a 2.5 or 2.75 GPA. If the majority of a student's classes are "C"s that student's GPA will be tethered around a 2.0 GPA. This is because a GPA is an average - it hangs around what grade you have the most of. The situation above is why "C"s are the horrible, they are high enough that the requirement is met, so students don't have to / want to retake them, but they are low enough that they can sabotage a student's overall GPA. What's more, there is nothing in place to repair the damage they cause. At the colleges and universities I've worked at we have a provision for students that had been out of school for five or six years and that hadn't done well in previous years. It allowed the removal of grades of "D+" and lower to be removed from the students GPA calculations, effectively boosting their GPA. However, what happens when the student doesn't have any "D+"s or lower on their transcript, but instead have a plethora of "C"s? the only way to remove them would be to retake the classes. If that isn't an option, such as with transfer work, then the student would have to take additional classes and get higher grades to pull up their GPA.
If taking additional classes is the only option for a student it can be a disheartening one. Just to give you an idea. I recently ran the numbers for a student that needed to bring their GPA up 0.7 points. That's the equivalent of going from a "B-" to a "B+". In order to do so they would have had to take 14 courses with perfect "A" grades. What's interesting, is that if they had gotten "A-" grades instead they would need to have taken 26 courses. And if they got "B+" grades - 51 courses. A full Bachelor's program at my current institution requires approximately 40 courses. The number of courses that are required for each drop in grade received increases at an alarming rate. Even for smaller shifts in grades, it can be disheartening. Another student only needed a 0.15 increase in GPA, but they already had over 40 courses worth of transfer. They would need 5 courses with perfect "A" grades, 7 classes with "A-"s, or 16 courses of "B+" grades. Again, for each drop in grade, it increases the number of classes required by a surprising amount. When it comes to GPA, quality reduces quantity.
Now that I've ranted, what is my suggestion for students? For students who find themselves in the position I've described, all I feel capable of saying is that It is possible to bring up your GPA - only you can decide if it's worth the time and effort it will take. I'm more than happy to help them get the information they need to make the decision, because it should not be made lightly. For students that are struggling and who I see are in danger of starting on the slippery slop, I advise they evaluate their situation and take whatever steps are necessary to strive for quality of grades over quantity of courses. This usually involves talking to an advisor.
I'm not speaking about individual "C" grades, which are sometimes badges of honor that a student will proudly display for those classes that they struggled, toiled, and sweated through. There is significant meaning to a "hard 'C'" as opposed to an "easy 'A'". I know of several students who have prided themselves on receiving a "C" in a class that, based on their preparation, challenges, or mistaken enrollment, they would have failed without impressive growth or change on their part. Those "C" are hard earned battle scars on the academic body of a student's transcript and should be remembered as the reason for the better grades from that point on.
What I'm referring to are the "C" grades that pile up, for one reason or another, on a students transcript semester after semester and year after year. These grades may be because of a lack of effort, as is often thought of stereotypical college students focused on partying. They may be because the student has consistently run into road blocks that consistently derail them from their studies. Some of these road blocks are extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control such as family emergencies, medical problems, changes is employment, etc. Some students in these kinds of situations are so focused and determined to earn their degree that they enroll over and over again despite a lack of change to their situation. Many of these determined students end up withdrawing or failing their classes due to their circumstances, but others end the semester with a transcript full of "C"s. While this looks better than having a bunch of failing grades, there are situations where "C" grades are worse than failing. As these situations are subjective to each university I am not advocating failing a class over getting a "C". I will gladly advocate talking to an academic advisor whenever possible about the situation prior to action.
So why are "C"s the worst grade you can consistently get. They are often the minimum grade required to fulfill specific course requirements but are usually too low to allow a student to meet the minimum GPA requirement for the program. For example, a student may need at least a "C" in all of their major courses, but they have to have at least a 2.5 or 2.75 GPA. If the majority of a student's classes are "C"s that student's GPA will be tethered around a 2.0 GPA. This is because a GPA is an average - it hangs around what grade you have the most of. The situation above is why "C"s are the horrible, they are high enough that the requirement is met, so students don't have to / want to retake them, but they are low enough that they can sabotage a student's overall GPA. What's more, there is nothing in place to repair the damage they cause. At the colleges and universities I've worked at we have a provision for students that had been out of school for five or six years and that hadn't done well in previous years. It allowed the removal of grades of "D+" and lower to be removed from the students GPA calculations, effectively boosting their GPA. However, what happens when the student doesn't have any "D+"s or lower on their transcript, but instead have a plethora of "C"s? the only way to remove them would be to retake the classes. If that isn't an option, such as with transfer work, then the student would have to take additional classes and get higher grades to pull up their GPA.
If taking additional classes is the only option for a student it can be a disheartening one. Just to give you an idea. I recently ran the numbers for a student that needed to bring their GPA up 0.7 points. That's the equivalent of going from a "B-" to a "B+". In order to do so they would have had to take 14 courses with perfect "A" grades. What's interesting, is that if they had gotten "A-" grades instead they would need to have taken 26 courses. And if they got "B+" grades - 51 courses. A full Bachelor's program at my current institution requires approximately 40 courses. The number of courses that are required for each drop in grade received increases at an alarming rate. Even for smaller shifts in grades, it can be disheartening. Another student only needed a 0.15 increase in GPA, but they already had over 40 courses worth of transfer. They would need 5 courses with perfect "A" grades, 7 classes with "A-"s, or 16 courses of "B+" grades. Again, for each drop in grade, it increases the number of classes required by a surprising amount. When it comes to GPA, quality reduces quantity.
Now that I've ranted, what is my suggestion for students? For students who find themselves in the position I've described, all I feel capable of saying is that It is possible to bring up your GPA - only you can decide if it's worth the time and effort it will take. I'm more than happy to help them get the information they need to make the decision, because it should not be made lightly. For students that are struggling and who I see are in danger of starting on the slippery slop, I advise they evaluate their situation and take whatever steps are necessary to strive for quality of grades over quantity of courses. This usually involves talking to an advisor.
