<p>Hi! As the title states, does anybody know how to convert Canadian grades into the American 4.0 system? Is it true that an extra 5%-10% are added onto Canadian grades to adjust to the American system? </p>
<p>If I am getting a 94 and up in every class in Canada, does that mean that I am getting a 4.0 in the United States?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance :) </p>
<p>Yes u have a 4.0 GPA, a 4.0 is an 85+, type i n grading on google and go to wikipedia gradinga(educatioN) go to North American, Canada, Ontario(or wherever u are), im speaking for myself in Ontario, an A is 85-89 and A+ is 90+, therefore, u have a 4.0 GPA. They may add 5-10% to our grades but then they will look at it on their scale which I believe, is 90+=4.0</p>
<p>wow an 85 counts as a 4.0 in Canada? That seems pretty low to me (not that I’m complaining)</p>
<p>In the US
97-100=A+
94-96=A
90-93=A-
87-89=B+
etc. </p>
<p>The US curve and the Canadian curves are very different. I’ve taught high school in both countries. High school grades in the U.S. tend to be 7-10% higher than in Canada.</p>
<p>I asked for the conversions from 2 US university admissions reps a couple of weeks ago. These are for Ontario percentages to GPA. </p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon - 80 and up is 4.0
UC Berkeley - 90 and up is 4.0, 85 and up is 3.9, 80 and up is 3.7</p>
<p>Another scheme I’ve seen, but I don’t know how accurate it is - 90 and up is 4.0, 89 is 3.9, 88 is 3.8, 87 is 3.7, 86 is 3.6, 80-85 is 3.5. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that a GPA is assigned to the mark for each class and is then averaged. So, if you have a 98 from one class and a 85 from a second class, the GPA average for the two classes would be 3.75 from the last conversion system, even though the percentage average is 91.5%. </p>
<p>my GC told me 80+ is 4.0, but on Wiki and some website(type in foreign credits) say that about 85+ is 4.0. The reason is that for us, a A is 85+, therefore, 85+=4.0GPA, although it very well could be 80+=4.0 GPA. Another thing you could look at is the honour roll in the US(what GPA is needed to get the honour roll) if its a 3.8+, u are qualified for mostly all schools in the US including the ivies</p>
<p>It seems as though Canada has low standards, but there is no doubt that Canadian public schools grade and test students much harder than American schools do. </p>
<p>The schools won’t see your “GPA”. They will see the mark as it is put on your report card, the percentage. The Canadian admissions officer will then make a decision based on your grades. At no point in the process is the percentage converted to a GPA. However, since the Canadian curriculum is much harder, a 90% in canada is viewed differently from a 90% is the states.</p>
<p>And in both countries it’s not true that a 90% is worth the same nationwide; a 90% from a NY high school is not worth the same as a 90% from a GA high school.</p>
<p>Or, in Canada, a 90% from Ontario is not worth the same as a 90% from Alberta or Quebec (respectively some easier-grading and harder-grading locales in Canada)…</p>
<p>It actually can break down even further than that. There is a huge database that colleges and universities use, in both Canada and the U.S., of high school data reflecting how the students have performed once they are in college, and various other comparitors.</p>
<p>@asukumar - stop making statements such as “the Canadian curriculum is much harder”. This will only give those Canadians looking to go to college in the US a false sense of academic security. Every Canadian that I know who has moved their kids to the US or sent their kids to US colleges has indicated that their kids struggled the first year in the US because Canadian students are not accustomed to the workload and don’t typically have the necessary communication (read English) skills that their US counterparts do. This includes 3 of my kids, 2 of which have already graduated from a well ranked school in the US. My older two graduated from Canadian high schools and did their first year or 2 in a Canadian university. When they transferred to their US colleges, they got hammered academically. It was a rude awakening. Same thing for my younger one in elementary school. </p>
<p>Don’t be fooled by the BS international test averages that certain organizations like to knock about. OP is talking about 4.0 grades. When you’re competing against a 4.0 from parts of the US as @Catria pointed out, there is a huge difference between those students and a 4.0 Canadian student. </p>
<p>Having said this, I would encourage OP to attend school in the US. You will be much better off for it. </p>
<p>@alwaysamom - nice avatar - it’s always a beautiful shot from Center Island (or is it Centre Island? I can’t remember as I’ve been away too long)</p>
<p>Although I agree that the Canadian curriculum is not necessarily more difficult, I have to say that my experience, and that of those I know, menefrega, does not mirror yours. We moved back and forth from the U.S./Canada twice during the years that our girls were in school and there was no demonstrable difference between the two systems for them. I know probably 20-30 families who did the same and they, too, had no issues with their kids being behind. And I’m not sure what you mean by a lacking of English skills? Were the people you knew those whose first language was not English? </p>
<p>Two of my Ds attended college in the U.S. and three in Canada and again, no demonstrable difference as to their abilities or their grades. </p>
I live in Canada right now … I have a 81 average Does that mean that i have a 3.7 GPA and could go to Berkeley ?!
An 81 will not get you into most programs at McGill or Queen’s, let alone Berkeley. For elite US universities you will be compared to other Canadian applicants, most of whom will have a 95% plus.
A 81 from an Ontario high school is not worth the same as a 81 from an Alberta or Quebec high school…
If it is of any help, the last non-athlete I knew about that got into Yale as a Quebec resident had a R-score in the 32 range (top-6-8%-ish)… so how would you compare to your classmates? Top-10%? Top-20%?
LOL at English skills. My English speaking and writing skills are perfectly fine, along with every other educated person I know. The United States is harder did I hear? We’re talking about a country where everyone and their neighbour believe that we all live in igloos, where Harvard graduates do not even know the provinces, and the once president thought our Prime Minister’s name was that of a food dish of fries, cheese and gravy. If needed I could name all the states and all of their capital cities, because that is that kind of knowledge I was taught in school. The problem with the States is that they are too focused and proud of themselves to educate their students on worldly issues such as the province’s of their ally Country, so please do not sit there and act self-righteous about your Country’s educational system when everyone on this forum knows that the Canadian education system is in the top ten, and your country did not even make the cut.
A lot of the information on this thread is simply incorrect. I am currently a senior at Columbia University in NYC and I have attended both Canadian and American universities. I can assure you that my time at Columbia has proven significantly more difficult than that of any Canadian University (certainly the one I attended). Here are the G.P.A Guidelines of my school:
97-100=A+ (4.33)
94-96=A (4.0)
90-93=A- (3.67)
87-89=B+ (3.33)
84-86=B (3.0)
80-83=B- (2.67)
77-79=C+ (2.33)
74-76=C (2.0)
70-73=C- (1.67)
You get the idea here. Anything below 60% is a failing grade. In Canada, however, anything below a 50% is a failing grade and anything above 80% is an A. In addition, the workload is VASTLY different in American schools. I must point out here, however, that universities in the U.S.A are quite varied. If you attend, say, The University of New Orleans, you may expect a much easier time. It seems, however, that most of the people on this thread are hoping to attend a school like mine.
The average amount of reading for one class is 100 pages per week and I have taken courses that assign 200/week. So, taking five courses? Expect to be assigned 500 to 1,000 pages per week. You are largely expected to teach yourself higher level maths (where exams consist of proofs. There are no math problems. You must prove the equations) and sciences (where questions are based on problem solving comprehension. Feel free to google Columbia Mowshowitz Biology if you would like to get a feel for what I mean here).
Lastly, admission to top tier American schools is not really based on your grades. Of course, you must have an extremely high G.P.A. and SAT scores. However, since the majority of applicants have both of these, your extracurriculars, recommendations, and essays are really all that matters. Read: top tier schools are looking for PASSION above all else. You must have something that interests you enough that you would kill yourself for it.
So, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE anyone with high scores to apply to a school such as mine. This experience has been the best and most transformative of my life. Just be prepared for the reality. You will spend exorbitant amounts of money and not sleep for four years, but it’s worth it.
Also, to whirlwind woman:
Yes, Canadian schools on AVERAGE will outperform American schools simply as a result of the way the political systems are set up. What this means, however, is that EVERY Canadian school is mediocre whereas there are phenomenal schools as well as terrible ones in the U.S.A.
Please do not comment on things you do not understand.
I have two kids, one did high school in Canada and one in US. I can assure you, it’s so much harder here in the US. The curriculum is much intense, which I know now is a good thing. The transition into the university will be much smoother:)
I really don’t think you can generalize based on anecdotal evidence that high school is much harder in the US. I went to a high school in Canada that was not on the level of top American private/boarding schools, but was definitely NOT mediocre. If you want to look at it objectively, my school had a 2000+ average SAT score and over half the AP scores students received were 5s, with the vast majority of the other scores being 4s.
I definitely don’t think that my transition into university was less smooth than that of others. If anything, I had an easier time than most of my US-educated peers. I actually have less work now than I
Now, I’m not trying to generalize based on my experiences that Canadian schools are better/harder than US schools. I just wanted to point out that it really depends on the individual school. There might be less variation in the quality of Canadian schools (on both sides of the spectrum), but that doesn’t mean that they’re uniformly mediocre.