I am an international applicant applying RD to MIT this year. Based on the grading system in my country, I have a GPA of 77 out of 100. I have also applied to another school in the US. I emailed them to know that my GPA as calculated/converted from my original GPA by their admissions office is 3.778 out of a 4.000.
I was curious as to how MIT would process my GPA of a 77/100. Will it be a 3.7-3.8, if not exactly a 3.778? Is it fine if I phoned/e-mailed the admissions office asking about the converted GPA? I know it’s a busy time on the application timeline, right now.
Finally, if it is around a 3.7-3.8, is it good enough? I have seen so many posts mention that a 3.9+ is absolutely required regardless of high SAT scores, great essays and passion. Please suggest. Thanks. 
GPA actually does not matter. GPA is meaningless absent context. I have interviewed one student applying with a transcript that averaged 72%. That, converted to an American grade was a solid A. Less than 5% of students got above 70%, and the highest score anyone had ever heard of was a 76%. But the thing is, that MIT knew how to interpret that 72%. I do not know what country you are applying from, but barring a very few exceptions, I am convinced that MIT will know how to interpret your grades. And the thing is, they will interpret your grades as a 77, not as a 3.778. The conversion is much, much, much less important than you think at MIT.
Thank you for the response, Mikalye. Actually, in my country, when one averages a 75% or more, it translates to an A.
While my average score earns the distinction of the highest possible grade/division, there are students who score above an 80. In rare cases, students get somewhere close to 84-85. Do you think my 77 will place me at a disadvantage?
A final query - While my average percentage might be interpreted as an A, will there also be emphasis given on individual subjects? For eg: I do have a couple of Bs and a C. Or in other words, most of my scores are above a 75, but not all of them.
How much of a letdown do you think my grades will be? (or perhaps I should say might have been, as my app might have already been read!)
Thank you so much!
Where are you from 75 is curiously a low mark to be given an A, I don’t know how accurate that is.
No it is not fine; these guys have been working non-stop 80-hour weeks for the past several weeks and do not need to be interrupted by a question this trivial. What exactly do you hope to accomplish by so doing? Your application is in, decisions come out in less than 3 days, so what’s done is done.
Rest assured that the admissions office has evaluated transcripts from your country and they know how to interpret.
Whether you get accepted/rejected/waitlisted from MIT will not be the result of a couple of B’s and a C.
Good luck!
All I’d say is that I am an international applicant. But yes, it’s the truth. Above 75 is an A out here. It isn’t explicitly called an A, but it’s given a certain division called “distinction” and it’s the highest possible division/grade whatever you’d like to call it.
It may sound weird. When I checked the GPA conversion for American Schools, and ignorantly applied them to my grades, my GPA fell below 3.0. But I guess all this varies depending on different countries, schools and curriculum. For eg: As Mikalye said in his post above, a 72% actually got converted to a solid A.
Thanks @skieurope . Yes, calling admissions on this issue was just a random thought. I didn’t call them. Let’s see what happens this Pi Day!
For some MIT classes, a 40% or 50% can be considered a grade of “A.”
I believe @gibby, who is mostly on the Harvard forum, has posted the conversion tables that Adcoms use for all the different countries. Perhaps you can pm him and ask if he still has it.
Actually, it is quite common. Just not in the US. In a great many fields, you need a scale, but it doesn’t actually matter what the scale is. Just like Spinal Tap amps going up to 11, you can place an A at whatever number you want. What matters is how rigourous that is. If less than 5% of students get above a 70, then that makes a 73 more impressive than most American A grades.
@Mikayle Ok, that must be happening then, his class rank too would provide a context on the marks I guess.
@Bored1997 My “Class Rank” was 1 out of 42 students. I don’t know my exact “School Rank” but the highest score in my school was an 83.
Great then they would certainly take those marks in context of the difficulty of the classes and marking at your school.
Thanks @bored1997 and everyone. Will see what happens with the results!