<p>Wow, the GPA system seems pretty screwed up. Everyone has different ways of setting their GPA, so it's barely a plausible piece of information to compare students across schools.</p>
<p>Actually, an overall 1% can actually make a whole 1.0 difference in GPA if everything was hovering around 70%, 80%, 90%, etc.</p>
<p>The weighted GPA is different in each school, so that's no factor for comparison. However, the unweighted GPA is generally standardized. Though, differences in course difficulty, etc. can still affect the unweighted GPA. This is why colleges have admissions offices.</p>
<p>The GPA is interesting in the sense that it's not a direct average. Let's say you studied each subject just enough to get a borderline A in each one of them - that'll get you a 4.0. Now, say that you absolutely excel at some subjects and get perfects on all subjects except one. For the last one, you miss the A and get the B at a 89%. That'll get your GPA in 3.8. Also, say you have a 90% in all classes - that's a 4.0. 89% in all classes - that's a 3.0 - huge difference.</p>
<p>The system is very open to gaming.</p>
<p>^ Wow :|</p>
<p>I feel sorry for those who are just under the border!</p>
<p>I wonder how colleges would make sense of the GPA..</p>
<p>The GPA works in a sense that it's more of a complex Pass/Fail system than a detailed system. After all, your percentages do not appear on your report card - just letter grades (using 10% per passing letter, most of the time).</p>
<p>Almost nowhere do the college admission officers directly use the GPA. They're usually used for qualification requirements and nothing else. It's for that reason why they want your transcripts - they want to see which courses you took and what you got in each one of them.</p>
<p>As for why this is used instead of percentages - it's similar to not ranking. Is there very much difference between 91% and 92%? Probably not. So, it's more of a categorical grouping.</p>