Does anyone mind of I rant?

Of course you don't care if I rant. Nobody is reading this anyway.

So here is the deal. I'm a little annoyed by something that has been going on for a while now. It's related to my job (surprise.) In the last few months I've been inundated with messages and letters and emails and phone calls etc. from students and parents in my region about a particular issue.

Oh! In case you don't know, I work in admissions for James Madison University and I am responsible for applications from (part of) Fairfax County. Knowing that is pretty much required to make this make sense.

"What is the issue?" you might ask.

I will tell you.

Fairfax County Public Schools currently uses a grading scale in which the lowest A is a 94. And, presumably, grading scales where the lowest A is a 90 are more common.* Furthermore, FCPS has recently changed their policies on calculating GPA, and they are considering options to change their grading scale as well. (Realistically speaking they have already decided that they will change the scale, and it is only a question of exactly where the cutoffs between the + or - divisions fall in the new scale.)

"So what, moron?" you might ask.

I will tell you.

I know about this. I keep up with this. It's my job to know about stuff like this. I have been responsible for some or all of the applications from Fairfax County for the past 5 years. To make a conservative estimate--I have reviewed, on average, about 1,700 transcripts from Fairfax County students each year for the last 5 years-- that's at least 8,500 total.

I have probably given careful consideration to more individual Fairfax County transcripts in that period of time than anyone. (And by "anyone" I mean all people in the entire universe.)

So.... It offends me when people send me a letter or email that says "Did you know that the grading scale in Fairfax is...?" or "My GPA was recently recalculated because my county..."

Yes. It offends me. The people who have sent me these messages might as well be saying "Because you are such a tremendous idiot I need to tell you something."

In case you are wondering--I am not a tremendous idiot. I am only a minor idiot.

In case you didn't notice: the second sentence in last line was dripping and oozing with sarcasm.

If the students who are applying to JMU think that the people who decide who gets in the the university are so stupid then why do they want to come to such a place?

With that said. I am perfectly in favor of the changes Fairfax has made. I know that it won't make a big difference in admissions decisions at JMU. I don't think it will have any long-term effect on the ratio of As, Bs, and Cs that students get in Fairfax. (There may be a short-term difference, but in 3 or 4 years teachers will have adjusted what they do and how they grade so that what they currently consider to be "A" work or "B" work etc will still be "A" work or "B work etc.

Did that make sense?

I would trt to answer questions if anyone asked them.

So. Please stop treating me like I am stupid.

*By the way, I really thought hard about where to put the word "presumably" in this sentence, as well as where to put the commas. I'm not sure if thinking about it actually made it end up the way it ought to be.