Records and Reports
Grades in courses are reported in three categories:
Passing Grades = A+, A, A–, B+, B, B–, C+, C, C–, D, P
Failing Grade = F
Incomplete Grades = I
Term averages and cumulative averages are reported on a 14- point scale rounded to the nearer whole number. The conversion equivalents are: A+ = 14, A = 13, A– = 12; B+ = 11, B = 10, B– = 9; C+ = 8, C = 7, C– = 6; D = 4, F = 1. A Pass does not affect a student’s average.
Midterm warning letters are sent to students who receive a grade of D or F after the end of the seventh week of classes each semester. Midterm warning grades are also available online. A report of all grades and averages is available online after the end of each semester.
Students may only retake courses for which they have received a failing grade or from which they have withdrawn in a prior semester.
The academic records and averages of Amherst College students completing Five College Interchange courses at Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts will include these courses and grades; no separate transcripts are maintained at the other institutions for Amherst College students.
“Rank in class” will not be used, but transcripts and grade reports will be accompanied by a profile showing the distribution of cumulative averages for students of the same class level in the current and in the previous two years.
Student academic records are maintained by the Registrar’s Office and are confidential; information is released only at the written request of the student. Partial transcripts are not issued; each transcript must include the student’s complete record at Amherst College to date. An official transcript carries an authorized signature as well as the embossed seal of Amherst College.
Transcripts of credit earned at other institutions, which have been presented to Amherst College for admission or transfer of credit, become a part of the student’s permanent record but are not issued, reissued, or copied for distribution. With the exception of Five College Interchange courses, grades for courses that were transferred from other institutions including study abroad are not recorded; credit only is listed on the Amherst transcript. Transcripts for all academic work at other institutions of higher education, including summer schools, should be requested directly from those institutions.