1. Has anyone had success requesting a letter grade against the normal practices of their college?

No, as far as I know most colleges are pretty strict, about their policy regarding letter grades. Generally the policy they have in place when you enroll is what you are bound to.

2. If you receive a pass/fail grade, does this count toward or against your GPA? Is the CLEP treated as a "C", or is your GPA only calculated only from your regular courses?

In my experience @ Excelsior the pass/fail grades does not count toward your gpa, you only get the credits for the course/exam.

Southron Boy,

It's funny you asked this question, because I am personally dealing with a gpa/credit situation. I just completed an AS in Liberal Arts @ Excelsior. Excelsior transferred in about 7 classes I completed long years ago @ a local technical college . The classes totaled about 24 credits, mostly C's and D's ( I was young, and only into fast cars and fast women, so my focus wasn't on school) the credits were not needed for me to complete the AS degree so I had them take the classes off my transcript to boost my gpa. It took my gpa from a 2.4 to 3.0.

Now as I finish up my BS, it turns out that those credits are needed. I have to decide do I want to waste time and a get new credits ( pass fail of course, FEMA to be exact) or have them add those credits back to my transcript which will no doubt bring my BS GPA down because they were graded courses.

Because my GPA is extremely important because I intend to enroll in a masters program as soon as I finish my BS I will probably replace the credits and "keep it moving".

__________________
Don G. -Atlanta, GA
A.S. Liberal Arts , Excelsior College,3/2007
B.S. Liberal Studies, Excelsior College,"On the Way"

"Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will"
--Dr. Robert Anthony