<p>Well presently I'm doing my Electronics and Communication Engineering from DCE, India, I'm in my second year and the problem I have is that My college follows absolute grading. When I convert My scores, which have been below par, I end up with a pretty low GPA, although the highest score in my class is not too far from my score. So when I apply to Programmes in the higher ranked Schools, will I get denied immediately or will I still stand a chance based on My GRE score and projects?</p>
<p>Also, I'd like to know, how much does work experience affect your chances of making it to these schools?</p>
<p>Just incase you need to know, My average percentage so far has been 67%,</p>
<p>Thank You</p>
<p>What letter grade does it translate to? That's practically a D+ in the US, you will definitely NOT get in anywhere with that.</p>
<p>Are you saying your grades aren't curved? Does your college keep records of the means and standard deviations for each class or overall, cause if not they are doing you a major disservice and you need to find out how you can get them to include the conversion factor prominently in your application. The last thing you want is for an adcom to see the 67% by itself up top and toss it in the reject pile without looking at anything else.</p>
<p>Thats exactly what I'm so fearful of. The highest in my class is about 75%, so in reality, I'm not that far behind. I can try really hard and get better scores in the remaining semesters, but the problem remains that even then I might only be able to jack up the average to somewhere around 75%. Since my college doesn't assign grades or curve them, I was wondering if having some work-ex might help me out.</p>
<p>I'm sure grad schools get a lot of international transcripts and they'll be sure to do an appropriate conversion. I wouldn't worry that they'd think you have a 'D' GPA.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reassuarance.</p>
<p>Could anyone please tell me as to how much of an advantage I'll get by working for a few years after my graduation, before applying to the colleges.</p>
<p>I sent a transcript attachment along with my official transcript explaining the grading system in Britain. I averaged 70.7% which in Britain is a high mark but by American standards sounds mediocre (in the Arts and Social Sciences in UK scoring above 80%, even within individual papers is almost unheard of)</p>
<p>I'm not saying you have to compensate for a seemingly poor grade. I'm saying you have to make it clear that this is not a poor grade, preferably by having something official from the college giving an idea of the grading scale. Your best bet is to contact the admission committees at the schools you are applying to and let them know what they would want. Like Matthew said, your problem can't be too uncommon - tons of international kids apply to grad school in the U.S.</p>
<p>Basically I think it comes down to whether the school knows about the particular grading system in place at your school. For example, if it is common practice all over the U.K., then I think you are fine. If however it is only for your school or for a few schools, then perhaps getting a statement of your rank in your class and attaching it to your official transcript may be a good idea. When I applied to Purdue University, they had a specific form for rank in class, and my registrar had no problem completing it.</p>
<p>I would have your recommenders address it in their letters. Something along the lines of, "Revelation is in the top 5% of his/her class, and I feel s/he would be a strong graduate student in your program."</p>
<p>Those letters matter. Really. So speak to your recommenders, express your concern, and ask them if they could mention it in their letters.</p>