The A+ question: 4.0 vs 4.33 ladders

Every letter-to-points table has to make one awkward decision: what is an A+ worth? The two mainstream answers produced two different rulers, and knowing which one your transcript runs on matters more than most students realize — especially the moment a transcript crosses a border.

The capped ruler: the standard 4.0

The convention most US registrars publish caps the scale at 4.0. The University of Missouri and Indiana University both run the same ladder: A+ and A at 4.0, then tenths — A− 3.7, B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B− 2.7, down through D− at 0.7. The A+ exists as a mark of distinction but pays nothing extra; perfection and near-perfection price identically. Some schools go further and do not award the A+ at all.

The paying ruler: the 4.33 convention

Canadian institutions commonly take the other road. Simon Fraser University's published scale pays the A+ its premium — 4.33, above the plain A's 4.0 — and steps its minus grades in thirds: A− is 3.67, B+ is 3.33, B− is 2.67. Thompson Rivers University publishes the same 4.33 top. One structural quirk worth knowing: SFU's ladder has no D+ or D− at all — below C− sits a single D at 1.0, then F. The converter shows a dash for those letters rather than inventing values no institution publishes.

The same transcript on both rulers

Four courses, equal credits: A+, A−, B+, B. On the standard 4.0 ladder that is 4.0 + 3.7 + 3.3 + 3.0 = 14.0 points, a 3.5 average. On the 4.33 ladder it is 4.33 + 3.67 + 3.33 + 3.0 = 14.33 points, a 3.58. Same letters, same work — 0.08 apart, entirely because one ruler pays the A+ and steps in thirds. Reverse the direction and the trap bites harder: a 3.9 from a 4.33-scale school and a 3.9 from a 4.0-scale school are not the same achievement, because the ceilings differ. This is why graduate admissions offices publish their own conversion instructions, and why the honest move when reporting a GPA is to name the scale next to the number.

Boundary trivia that decides real cases

The thirds-vs-tenths difference looks cosmetic until averaging magnifies it. An A− student all the way down scores 3.7 on one ruler and 3.67 on the other — three hundredths per course, every course. Across a 120-credit degree that is the difference between clearing a 3.7 fellowship cutoff and missing it, with identical letters. None of this is an argument for either ruler; it is an argument for reading the registrar's table before doing arithmetic about your own future on the wrong one.

Fine print that actually matters

Conversion between the scales is not officially defined by either side — a 4.33-scale transcript does not "become" a 4.0 GPA by arithmetic, and institutions that need the conversion publish their own rules. A few US schools run 4.3-style scales of their own, and plenty of institutions worldwide use percentages or 9-point systems that map to neither ladder here. When a form asks for your GPA on a scale you do not use, the registrar or the receiving institution — not a calculator — owns the official answer.