Hey! I’m currently an international student taking the IB MYP curriculum and entering my sophomore year. My school is notorious for its grading standards; getting an A (or in my school’s case, an 8/8, is quite rare indeed.) At my freshman year of high school, I received an 89/100 GPA, unweighted (I don’t know how this is converted to a 4.0 scale). However, I earned a total of 7 Academic Achievements (3 in the first semester, and four in the second semester), meaning I received top grades for a specific class. I would say that I’m in the top 1-3% for class rank.
While there is still a chance for me to improve my GPA (as I said, I am currently entering sophomore year), would top universities “forgive” me for this? Assuming, of course, that my ECs are top-notch, and that I have stellar LoRs and personal essays.
AOs know that high schools outside of the US do not have the grade inflation that many US schools do, and that they do not hand out A+'s like candy.
If you feel you can improve your GPA, certainly strive to do so.
@skieurope
Thanks for the input! It was quite frightening indeed to see that the average GPA of top schools is 4.0. This is, what I assume, an average score of 100 out of 100. I don’t know how my school calculates the GPA, or whether they use a weighted or an unweighted system (since I’m taking all IB MYP classes, which is known to be rigorous, but not as rigorous as the DP classes) as I personally calculated my GPA by finding the average. Also, do you know how I can convert my grades to the 4.0 GPA scale? I’ve seen some tables online where an 89 (my freshman GPA) is interpreted as a 3.33 unweighted, which is really depressing.
You don’t have to worry about converting your grades, the colleges will see your transcripts along with your course rigor and your class rank. They will compare you with others in your home country, not by US standards. Keep working hard!
You don’t.
If a college wants a GPA conversion (and very few do) they will tell you how to do it. What you do is report your GPA using the standard utilized by your school.
Again, don’t worry about the American kids’ GPA. Weighted classes are virtually unheard of outside the US. But every AO will be familiar with the rigors of IB. Good luck.