Why is it that a GPA goes down much faster than it goes up?

Fuzzy Pepper

Why is it that a GPA goes down much faster than it goes up?

For example, at the beginning of last semester, my GPA was 3.88. I got a “B,” and my GPA fell to 3.66. At the beginning of summer semester, my GPA was obviously 3.66. I got an “A” and it is now 3.68????

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Fuzzy Pepper 78 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (3 minutes after post)

Just ranting :)

But…shouldn’t the GPA be 3.88 again???

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littlenick 126 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (9 minutes after post)

If you kept all your other grades the same yes. However, if your other grades fell too, it’s averaged between all your classes.

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Fuzzy Pepper 78 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (31 minutes after post)

I only took the one class in the summer. So there are no other grades to average…. :(

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m #
An Unknown Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (1 hour, 5 minutes after post)

So lets say you have 5 classes. You get 4 A’s and a B.
so you get 4 points for an A, 3 points for a B.
This puts you at 19 points divided by five. Thats a 3.8.
If you had just had 5 A’s. That would be a 4.0
You then get an A in summer school
This puts you at 5 a’s and a B. thats 23/6. Nearly a 4.0

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courtybubble 176 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (7 hours, 13 minutes after post)

Its because its an average. so higher grades will not really raise it that much if there are other higher grades in there,
but one bad grade will lower the average quite a lot, because the mean or average is biased in that way.

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Fuzzy Pepper 78 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (7 hours, 28 minutes after post)

Yeah, I know…the question is more rhetorical…

But, it just kinda sux to have a good/high GPA and then to have one lower grade (only a “B,” though!!!) and have the GPA slip down like that. :s

Thanks guys :)

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courtybubble 176 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (7 hours, 29 minutes after post)

ya, thats why GPA is kind of a crap way to measure success, but thems the breaks im afraid :/

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Fuzzy Pepper 78 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (7 hours, 32 minutes after post)

Yep….:(

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Snakes_for_m 0 #
An Unknown Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (1 day, 8 hours after post)

Yea, I really hate that. :(

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Anonymous #
3 months, 2 weeks ago (2 days, 6 hours after post)

math is biased

courtybubble 176 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 2 weeks ago (2 days, 6 hours after post)

yes thank you for pointing out that which we have already discussed lol

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pizzacrime 10 #
Bristol, CT, US | 3 months, 1 week ago (4 days, 21 hours after post)

It’s averages my dear. Just as in baseball, when a hitter keeps going to the plate more and more that season (”at-bats”), his batting average drops faster (more) when he gets outs, than it goes up when he gets hits. Basically, the more times you try something, the EFFECTS of your falures (negatives, lower grades, outs) increase exponentially MORE than the positives do (just as in life too, isn’t that wierd). You would think it would be an equal rate of increase/decrease for both for those effects, but it’s not.

It’s easier to go down faster than it is to go up, the more times you try something. I guess that’s how you could put it. Someone tried to explain just why that is to me one time but I couldn’t wrap my thick brain around it…….. Math - go figure. …. Hi btw. . . .

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Fuzzy Pepper 78 #
An Undisclosed Location | 3 months, 1 week ago (5 days, 6 hours after post)

Thank you, Pizza….

Hello to you, too; it’s good to see you back on here :)

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pizzacrime 10 #
Bristol, CT, US | 3 months, 1 week ago (6 days, 23 hours after post)

Good to see you too :) Really though, it is.

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