<p>Hi there,
I am currently studying at an international boarding school in Europe that is quite competetive, in fact one of the best of its type in the country. Some of the staff is English, some American. For that reason, the system is quite fractured. Officialy, GPA is not used, but the Career Advisor offers to convert it somehow from our percentage grades. The thing is we can't control our current GPA during our high school studies, we only know where we stand in terms of percent grades... When applying to colleges in the U.S., should I ask the CA to convert it knowing that the number might be lower due to the competitiveness in our school and the lack of control, or should I just send my transcripts without GPA?
Also, do colleges accept transcripts without GPA and, at the same time, If I sent the GPA, would they take the different system into account?
Thanks.</p>
<p>Let’s first make sure that we are using the term “GPA” the same way. A grade point average is the cumulative average (usually over several years) of your grades, usually on the scale that they are on. For example, if your grades are given in percentages, it’s perfectly fine if your GPA is reported as a percentage grade as well.</p>
<p>Now, are you asking if you should compute a GPA at all (probably a good idea) or if you should compute a GPA on a different scale (probably a bad idea)?</p>
<p>Send it as it is.
Don’t convert since it might lower it, colleges accept different systems, for example where Im from the scale is 5-10 and we use decimals too like 8.9, 9.6 etc etc…
They didn’t ask me to convert it or anything and actually there is an option (theachers evaluation,Common application) where it asks for the scale which you are being graded.</p>
<p>@ b@r!um: I was referring to the grade point average that is usually computed toward the end of high school, just as you’re applying to colleges so that they know how you’ve been doing. There’s a scale from 0 to 4.0… 
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<p>@alfatea: So would you suggest not to report the GPA converted from our system, or report it PLUS send the transcripts using our system? I don’t actually think it would be acceptable not to fill in the “GPA” blank in the common app, but I’m not 100% sure of how it goes… :)</p>
<p>But why do you want to convert your grades to a 4.0 scale? Common App will take your GPA on a percentage scale or any other scale you specify. It’s almost always a bad idea to convert grades to another scale on a college application.</p>
<p>By the way, the 4.0 scale is by no means universal among US high schools either. Many schools report a GPA out of 4.3 or 100, and I have even seen high schools use a 5.0 scale. Some schools weigh grades (grades in harder classes get bumped up to account for the difficulty) and some don’t. </p>
<p>My point is that you are not expected to compute a GPA on a 4.0 scale and I would not recommend it either unless you have a compelling reason to do so. Otherwise, a percentage GPA is perfectly acceptable if that’s the scale that your grades are on.</p>
<p>@ b@r!im: Oh, I get your point now. Thanks! I guess I will have to talk to my College Advisor. The guys who went to US colleges in the previous years got their grades converted to the 4.0 scale plus the transcripts were enclosed to the Common App. Maybe she doesn’t know it’s possible not to convertf it. Aren’t there some colleges which REQUIRE the 4.0 scale to be put on the app (ivies etc.)?
Thanks again. :)</p>