As per the new grade system, students who receive an A first quarter and a B second quarter will receive an A on their transcript for the semester. Previously, the final exam grade students received determined if their grade rose or fell.

A new concern arose because of an asterisk that’s seen on the MCPS website, which indicates that students who received an A did so by earning an A first quarter and a B second quarter (AB).

The confusion has been revolving around students who are worried that colleges would see an asterisk beside their grades for subjects for which they went AB.

“The asterisk is utilized as a means to show which calculations are different from our previous grading system on the county website and will not appear on the transcript,” guidance counselor Makeyda Soriano said.

The asterisk seen on the website is just to differentiate between the new changes in the grading system compared to what is the same as before.

According to Principal Joan Benz, the only things that have changed is that there are Required Quarterly Assessments (RQAs) instead finals and the RQAs count for ten percent of students’ grades instead of 20 or 25 percent like finals used to.

Although there has been confusion concerning the rumors of asterisks appearing on transcripts, what’s floating around is just a rumor and should be no cause for concern.

According to registrar Kari Lantos, even though there has been confusion about the issue, the asterisks are nothing more than a clarification point.