Hi, I’m an international student who wants to roughly calculate the equivalent of his high school grades to the US GPA, and so far I know that you(or at least some/most schools, correct me if I’m wrong) take the grade for a certain subject, multiply it by that subject’s number of credits, add this result for all the different subjects, and then divide the total by the total number of credits. My question is, do you calculate the GPA at the end of the year, with the final average throughout the year, or do you calculate it once per semester and then average both results, or something else?
I’ll try to help… Typical high schools have 8 semesters (16 quarters). GPAs are figured based on final grades for each semester. I don’t think High Schools, on the whole, do multiplication for “credits”. That’s more of a college thing.
But, the certainly could.
Simply put (though there are more complicated systems):
Semester 1 - 7 courses, A=4.0, A- = 3.67, B+= 3.33, etc, 6 As and 1 B+ would be: 24+3.33 = 27.33 / 7 = 3.90
Semester 2 - 7 courses, 4 As, 2 A-, and 1 B would be: 16+7.34+3=26.34 / 7 = 3.76
Each semester is a “final grade” (quarter grades aren’t usually even mentioned on a transcript). Typically, grades don’t accumulate over a full year, but by semester.
GPA after 2 semesters: 27.33+26.34 / 14 = 3.83
Add in each semester as you go.
Then there are different weights put on AP or Honors courses at some schools. So, an A in an AP class COULD be a 4.5 or 5 out of 4. That’s why you see GPAs as W and UW.
I’m sure there are some very complicated formulas at other schools and some may have credits or courses that are worth less for one reason or another. But my example is a simple one.
Yes! That´s really useful, thanks. Do you think this table is correct for translating percentage grades to As and Bs?
A+ 100% 4.30/4.00
A 93%-99% 4.00/4.00
A- 90%-92% 3.70/4.00
B+ 87%-89% 3.30/4.00
B 83%-86% 3.00/4.00
B- 80%-82% 2.70/4.00
C+ 77%-79% 2.30/4.00
C 73%-76% 2.00/4.00
C- 70%-72% 1.70/4.00
D+ 67%-69% 1.30/4.00
D 63%-66% 1.00/4.00
D- 60%-62% 0.70/4.00
F 0%-59% 0.00/4.00
I don´t know how you grade in the US, but where I live a 60% is a C and a 70% tends to be regarded as a B.
Percentage grades get confusing in regards to each school. Some schools do not have pluses or minuses, they only report each letter so GPA doesn’t change based on minuses or pluses. For example, my high school is:
A: 90%+
B: 80-89.9%
C: 70-79.9%
D: 60-69.9%
F: 59.9% and below
You add up all the FINAL semester grades from all years in one go, then you divide by the total number of courses.
Just submit the grades to the university. They will calculate the GPA.
Some schools use a trimester system. Also, other schools calculate GPA based on yearly grades, or semester grades for a 1/2 year class. Many of these schools have a short semester (Sept-Dec) and a long semester (Jan-May or June) with a few wrinkles (like AP testing in May) .
If a 70 is a B on your school’s grading scale, don’t try to make up a “US” grading scale. Enter the value in relation your school’s grading scale.