<p>My D will be auditioning next year for MT schools. I've got a small dilemma when it comes to her grades. She attends a private school that does not rank students and uses a 100 gpa rather than the standard 4.0. I've googled for a conversion chart and come up with several but they are not consistent. The variance is 0.5 which is rather a large difference. I've called her guidance counselor who said there is no way to convert it. How do you determine if your child could apply to schools like Emerson who told us they wanted a 3.5 gpa? Anyone else have the same problem?</p>
<p>Our public high school calculates the gpa out of 100 also. We didn't have any problems. Our guidance counselor did have a conversion method or were told by the colleges how to convert it (not sure which) so it surprises me that your guidance dept does not know how to convert it. I did feel that several times the conversion put my d at an unfair disadvantage because her gpa was close to 100 (99.something) and our school does not weight scores meaning you cannot get over 100 and the conversion did not convert her as close to a 4.0 as I believe it should have. Of course this probably would not have hurt her in the MT audition process but more likely in the scholarship application process. I would press your guidance counselor to obtain further information for you. You can also ask admissions at the colleges you are considering how it works. Good luck</p>
<p>zappos...colleges are used to the fact that all these high schools have very different grading systems. Some schools use numerical (0-100), others have a 4.0 scale, others have a 6.0 scale and some have weighted grades and some don't. My kids' school had a 4.0 scale but NO weighted grades. Colleges see all these variations all the time. They will configure an unweighted GPA. I have a conversion chart and for example, a 3.5 is a 90 average. They don't compute a weighted GPA because not all high schools use a weighted system. For kids who have a weighted GPA, they will figure an unweighted one. HOWEVER, they ALSO look at the rigor of the curriculum chosen by the student. But students who go to schools that do not weight, are not compared to GPAs of others that are weighted. A non weighted GPA on a 4.0 scale is figured and then the rigor of the courseload is examined in comparison to what was offered at that high school. </p>
<p>If you were to tell me your D's numerical avg., I could tell you how that equates to a nonweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale. However, the numerical avg. you gave would also have to be unweighted. </p>
<p>By the way, the avg. GPA of admitted students to Emerson is a 3.5. That doesn't mean your child must HAVE a 3.5 in order to be admitted. What it means is if her GPA is lower than the avg. for admitted students, her odds go down compared to the odds of an applicant who has a GPA higher than the avg. of admitted students. Same goes with the SAT. Students DO get in with GPAs lower than a 3.5 (a 90) avg. at Emerson. I have a client attended there right now with a lower GPA. They just get admitted at a lower rate than those with higher academic stats. Further, applicants are not evaluated solely on their stats. For instance, a GPA of 3.4 might be fine if the applicant took rigorous classes or had good SATs and had many achievements in and outside the classroom, etc. So, I don't know your D's GPA but if it is around a 3.3/3.4, she should definitely still apply to Emerson. I'd have had to evaluate her entire "package" to discern if she was a viable candidate for Emerson and to assess her chances of admission (academically speaking). That is also what the adcoms will do.</p>
<p>Thank you both for the information. </p>
<p>I had a follow up conversation with her guidance counselor. It seems that her school does not encourage conversions due to the academic demands of the school. They would like for the college to look at the total picture rather than a fixed GPA. Makes some sense to me now. My D HAS to take 8 academic classes each day including Sr. year to receive a diploma. In contrast, we know of a child with a 4.0 who is taking 1 class her senior year and took 5 classes her Jr. year in a large nearby public school. This child is in a school district which allows 10 points added to a Honors class regardless of the final grade. Technically, she could fail a class but with extra points still pass with a 70. In contrast, our school only allows 8 points to be added to an Honor class if you make an 80 or better. The counselor suggested we not knock any school off our list as this point due to a gpa requirement.</p>
<p>I still remain confused by the conversion method. My D's counselor suggested if I wanted to know a ball park, I could use our public school's conversion table school which is 90-100 = 4.0
80-89 = 3.0<br>
which would put my daughter near the Emerson average. Using the other conversion method (as you did Sooviet) would keep her from applying. I saw both methods when I did the google search.</p>
<p>zappos...YOUR school is not going to convert the numerical avg. to a GPA on a 4.0 scale. The colleges WILL figure out a GPA for her that is UNWEIGHTED on a 4.0 scale. As well, they will look at the rigor of her courseload and within the context of what her HS offered. So, already you can't compare her GPA to her local friend. The grades are looked at in the context of how difficult a courseload was chosen. So, some kid with straight A's who took the easiest classes is not going to look as good as someone with A's and B's who was in the hardest tracked classes available at the school. So, colleges don't JUST look at a GPA, but they look at what was taken and within the context of the particular HS's offerings. If your school doesn't rank, they will look at grade distributions to see in what percentile of the class your child fell in relation to her peers. Just so you know, my own kids took the HARDEST tracked classes available and THEN some (acceleration, long distance college classes). So, there is no way to compare grades in such a track on an equal plane with grades in a much less demanding curriculum. Honors or AP classes are not the same as regular track. Taking a foreign language up through the FIFTH OR SIXTH level is not the same as through the 3rd level. Taking math through 2 years of AP Calculus is not the same as taking math through Alg. 2. </p>
<p>Next, a 90-100 does NOT equal a 4.0 whatsoever. For instance, I have a daughter who had straight A's throughout HS, in a school that did NOT weight the grades at all even though she was in the hardest tracked classes. Her GPA therefore, was a 4.0, the highest you can possibly get on a 4.0 scale. Nobody in the school had a 4.0 GPA. Thus, she was valedictorian. Therefore, someone with all A's for four years and one B even would not have a GPA of 4.0. Someone with an average of a 90 (that would be about half A's, half B's), would have a 3.5. </p>
<p>So, a 3.5 is equivalent to a 90. I understand if your D took all Honors classes, but the colleges will compute a GPA that is unweighted because not all high schools have weighted grades (extra points for harder classes). They surely will consider her grades in the context of having taken demanding classes. They will examine if she took the most demanding, very demanding, demanding, or less demanding curriculum available. They will do all this by not only looking at her transcript but also at the School Profile. Further, the guidance counselor will have to fill out a School Report where he will have to rate the rigor of her courseload in relation to what is offered, and also where in the class she stands, even if there is no numerical rank. </p>
<p>You say that the conversion method I used would keep her from applying. I don't know her numerical average. But earlier you said that she would not apply if she did not have an avg. GPA of at least 3.5 but that is NOT the criteria for applying. A 3.5 GPA is only the AVG GPA of all the admitted students to Emerson. So, many of those admitted had a GPA that was below a 3.5. So, if your D has a 3.3, for example, that doesn't mean she should not apply or that she would not get in! AND no matter what GPAshe has, you can't evaluate her chances on JUST THE GPA. If I were evaluating her chances academically at Emerson or any college, I would look at EVERYTHING she brings to the table, not just her GPA. There is the rigor of the curriculum, her SATs, her rank or percentile in her class in HS, her academic and extracurricular achievements, her commitment and depth of involvement in her ECs, any leadership, her recommendations, and her essays. Are your D's SATs in the range of the mid 50% tile for Emerson? If so, and if her GPA equates to at least a 3.1 or 86 average, she should not rule it out. </p>
<p>Further, your D is currently a junior....there are three semesters of grades to go that will be considered for admissions. A lot can change. She should work her hardest to pull her GPA up in junior year. Fall grades in senior year will also count. So, you really don't even yet know her GPA.</p>
<p>As with all schools, you need not ONLY apply to ones you are sure you could get into academically. Balance the list with academic safeties, academic matches/ballpark, and academic reaches. I don't know your D's grade average or SATs but if they are in the mid range for Emerson, then it is a match, but if she is a little below, it is a reach but a reasonable reach. Everyone should have some reaches, matches, and safeties. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Zappos --</p>
<p>Ordinarily, a 4.0 is assigned to an A and a 3.0 is assigned to a B. A 3.5 gpa represents an even mixture of A's and B's. If your daughter's grades represent a fair mixture of grades between 80 (on many scales, the lowest B-) and 90 and between 90 and 100, then I think the message here is for you to let the school be the judge of your daughter's admissibility. I don't think you need to get too technical, or attempt to determine the exact quotient yourself. As Soozie was saying, many other factors go into deciding whether a student is academically acceptable, and strength of courseload is a big factor.</p>
<p>My children also attended/attend a competitive private school. The school does not use either a 4.0 or even a 100 scale. Instead it simply lists the grades on the transcript, does not compute a GPA, does not rank, does not weight for AP or honors. In fact, the school has nearly abolished all honors classes. Still, it has no problem getting students admitted to the most competitive colleges and universities.</p>
<p>So, I wouldn't worry over the GPA. And good luck with this process!</p>