<p>Hello,
I'm not familiar with the US system and because I may pursue my studies in a US College next year, I would like to know what GPA is about.
Is it like the average of your grades over a given period ? If so, of what grade (homework or tests or?)?</p>
<p>And why is it so important? Is it because it important for your admission in grad school?</p>
<p>I am not in college yet, so I cannot give you your direct answers, but only a general answer</p>
<p>Is it like the average of your grades over a given period ?
Yes it is, it stands for Grade Point Average</p>
<p>If so, of what grade (homework or tests or?)?</p>
<p>Your teacher adds up your homework, tests, quizzes, and/or other grades and averages them up. The average is your final grade, which is added into your GPA. Example: For Biology class: You get a 100 on a test, 90 on you quiz, and a 80 on your project [obviously you will have more tests and stuff in college] So your average grade in that class is 90%, which is an A-. </p>
<p>So, on your report card [final grades of all classes] it looks like this
Biology:A-
Math:A+
English:C+
Spanish:B+
Art:A+</p>
<p>GPA: Normally they have a number system, so:
A=4.0
A-: 3.7
B+: 3.5
B: 3.0
C+: 2.8</p>
<p>So your average GPA is: 3.6 [according to your grades above]</p>
<p>[This is made up by me, it is different depending on what school you are going to]</p>
<p>And why is it so important? Is it because it important for your admission in grad school? Yes your GPA is very very very important for grad school. They look at your GPA, rigor of classes, extra curriculars [extra things you do for fun/education outside of school like clubs or sports], honors or awards you received, internships, jobs, tests you have taken [like the mcat, which is for medical school], and your essays. </p>
<p>For more information you can pm me. Also, I suggest you should talk to your college counselor to find out about your classes, the grading system, and any other questions you may have.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for your answer Juniorita.
So GPA means your overall average. I guess the different subjects are weighed depending on your majors/concentrations ?</p>
<p>Other question: is a grad school really necessary/good idea (for ex, to obtain a masters degree) if my purpose is to work not in academia but industry afterwards ?</p>
<p>in calculating your GPA you also have to take account for credit amounts.
(though most courses are 3 credits so it doesn't change it alot, I just feel like explaining....)</p>
<p>Extending juniorita's example:</p>
<p>Biology (4 credits):A-
Math (4 credits):A+
English (3 credits):C+
Spanish (3 credits):B+
Art (2 credits):A+</p>
<p>Vast majority of colleges have:
A+/A: 4.0
A-: 3.7
B+: 3.3
B: 3.0
B-: 2.7
C+: 2.3
C: 2.0
C-: 1.7 etc....</p>
<p>so, Biology is (3.7<em>4=14.8)
Math (4</em>4=16)
English (2.7<em>3=8.1)
Spanish (3.3</em>3=9.9)
Art (4*2=8)</p>
<p>Then add up the scores (56.8) and divide by number of credits (16) and you get 3.55. Usually time-intensive courses or courses with alot of material will be more than 3 credits and those with less will be less than 3 credits. So classes with more credits will effect your GPA more. </p>
<p>This (3.55) would be your cummulative GPA if these are all the courses you have taken so far. Sometimes people also calculate their major GPA (i.e. if your degree was in Biology then at this point it would be 3.7)</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Other question: is a grad school really necessary/good idea (for ex, to obtain a masters degree) if my purpose is to work not in academia but industry afterwards ?
[/QUOTE]
In terms of the libearl arts (non-professional) you will notice that US colleges offer very few terminal masters degrees, instead offering only PhD programs. (Unlike in the UK, etc where many colleges offer Masters for everything from English to Zoology.) This is partly because US undergrad degrees traditionally take 4 years to complete.</p>
<p>So a masters degree isn't as common or as necessary. Of course for professional programs (med school, business school, law school) or fields requiring more quantitiative study (masters in engineering), grad degrees can be an advantage or absolutely necessary.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>And the only purpose of gaining credit is to meet the minimum credit requirement for the degree ?</p>
<p>Yes and no. You get credits for basically a few reasons</p>
<p>1) Degree Requirements
2) Graduation Requirements (I think I need 120~ credits to graduate)</p>
<p>SOme schools require a min credit amount at their school to graduate as well</p>