Study Abroad GPA?

[MonteCristo]

If I posted this in the wrong section, I apologize.  Didn't see GPA listed anywhere.

In 2009, I studied abroad in Japan for a semester.  At the college I studied at, I got a GPA of 2.77 on their S (90-100), A (89-80), B (79-70), F scale.  My home university's GPA was 3.58 (my grades from Japan did not have a bearing on my GPA; instead they were translated to my home university as Passes) 

I had completely forgotten about this until I ordered transcripts for the college I studied at in Japan.  The thing is, despite S's being in the typical percentile range of an American A or high B, getting a 90-100 was very unlikely.  You get two exams per semester, written, and that's your grade.  If there was any foreign exchange student who got above a 3.2, I didn't meet them.  Essentially, I worked just as hard for that 2.77 (or harder even) as I did for my 3.58.    

What I worry about is universities looking at my foreign exchange transcript and thinking, "What was he doing that semester abroad?"  I've tried doing research into translating my GPA to an American one (despite being both 4.0 scales) and have either gotten 3.66 based on the only available Japan->American calculator online, or a 2.97 based on me directly translating switching the grades to a A+/-~F scale.  I've considered noting this on my CV somehow, but not all my colleges require a CV in the first place.  One college suggested writing in in my statement of purpose, but that's both taking up valuable space and potentially pointing out something that I'm uncertain may even be noticed.  

I've contacted the college in Japan, who said they couldn't help me, and contacted each of my school's individually, with hazy results ( varying from "don't list your GPA in the application, we'll translate it," to "we're going to send you back and forth between departments because we have no idea.") No matter who I've contacted, I haven't received a direct answer as far as how it translates or how it would effect my application

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with how much a GPA from a semester abroad effects an application, as well as if there were any other potential suggestions out there on what I could do.  

Thanks in advance for the help!

[lightballsdeep]

Hi MonteCristo,

There is a better place to post this, and maybe someone there can help you there.  I think people tend to get kind tunnel vision when they come to the GRE thread and just look for a specific answer. Good luck!

The general application thread (have to scroll to below the subthreads): http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/4-applications/