How does the 4.0 GPA scale work?

I am a high school senior who has a 101.11 weighted GPA and a 96.49 unweighted GPA. When I applied to scholarships, many asked me for only my unweighted GPA. At first glance, I thought I had to convert the 96.49 by setting up a proportion and finding the exact value (which is about 3.86). But then I looked at some conversion tables to be sure and I found that anywhere from a 93-100 GPA (A - A+) is a 4.0. Is this true? Also, why is there a huge gap in the scale where a 90-92 is an A- and a 3.7 GPA?

each A is 4 points each B is 3 points and each C is 1 point. You add up all of the “points” you have received and divide that number by the amount of grades you have received.

To add to the above at my school an A+ is above a 4 while and A- is 3.67 unweighted. So, +, regular, and - all have different values as well. Generally an A- is anywhere from a 90-92, A 93-96, and A+ 97-100. Hope this helps.

@ian1235 A C is 2 points no? That’s how it is for most high schools at least I’m not in college yet.

You can’t directly convert a GPA on a 100-point scale to a GPA on a 4.0 scale because it’s possible to get different results depending on what your individual course grades are.

When you apply for scholarships, you should just report the GPA given by your school. If they specifically request something on a 4.0 scale, you can email them and ask what to do.

Bingo. Unless a scholarship program/college asks you to convert, don’t convert. If they want it converted, they will tell you how.

^^ yes, #4 and #5 are correct. Never try to convert yourself. Also, understand that both high schools and universities may calculate their own GPA differently so it really doesn’t even help to try.

Converting proportionally never works unless its a 100. Otherwise a 50 is a 2.0 while it should be a 0.0

I’ll give an example to demonstrate why you can’t do a direct conversion.

Students X and Y each take ten classes.

Student X gets 100’s in eight of them and 85’s in two, which is eight A’s and two B’s, or 3.8 on a 4.0 scale.

Student Y gets 97’s in all ten classes, which is all A’s, or a 4.0.

Both students have a 97 average but one has a 4.0 and the other has a 3.8.

To put it differently, to get a 4.0 one must get A’s in every class, while in a percentage system overly high scores in some classes can mask low scores in others.

An A+ has the same value as an A.

^ In some schools this is true, but not all.