Does anybody know if colleges calculate GPA's from international IB Students?

Applying to College
1

Hey guys, this is my first post so apologies if it is in the wrong place or anything like that.

Just wondering if American Universities do indeed calculate GPA’s for international IB students. I know they do it for domestic, although I have not heard anything about international.

Thanks.

2

Domestic IB students usually also get a letter grade in all their IB classes, and take other classes as well. So their GPA is entirely separate from their IB scores.

If your did not issue comparable grades, it would not be possible to calculate a GPA on a 4 point scale.

3

Thank you very much for the reply man. I really appreciate it. Would it be possible to get your source, please?

4

It’s just the way it is. Rising seniors in the US apply to college based on the GPA for 9-11 grades- about 36 semester grades, all averaged together. They do not begin IB classes until grade 11. At that point, depending on if they took one SL class in 11th grade or two, they will have at most 2 IB exams scored. They will receive admissions decisions by March, long before they receive their IB scores in July. For that reason their GPA and admission has absolutely nothing to do with their eventual IB scores.

So the statement that “american universities calculate GPA for domestic IB students” is true. But it is calculated in the same way a domestic non-IB student’s GPA is calculated. Nothing to do with them being an IB student.

5

Okay, so as an international student doing the full IB diploma, I wouldn’t have a GPA calculated by colleges? “It’s just the way it is” also isn’t really a source man. Was there a website you learnt this from, or did your school tell you?

Cheers.

Edit: So if I was never issued a GPA the uni I would want to apply to wouldn’t need to calculate one?

6

Spend some time reading through the information at https://educationusa.state.gov/ Then contact the counselors at the advising center closest to where you live. They can help you sort through all of this. They know how students from the country where you are studying are evaluated.

It also is perfectly OK for you to contact the International Admissions Offices at the colleges/universities that you are interested in. The people there can tell you how they handle applicants from your school.

7

Thanks for the advice man. Do you personally think it’s likely that they do?