Hi guys,
I've got a couple of questions regarding the conversion of a UK GPA to a US GPA.
Firstly, do US grad schools take account of the weightings UK universities give to each year of UG? In the UK, first year marks do not count towards your final GPA and second year marks account for only 25% of your final GPA, with third year accounting for 75%. Do US grad schools take this into account or will they include all marks and weight them all equally? This would be a problem for me as, due to rather serious health issues, I received the equivalent of a 3.0 in both my first and second years, but I received a 3.7 in my final year and the equivalent of a 4.0 in my thesis.
Secondly, how do US grad schools view discrepancies in grades? I was struggling with health issues for my first 2 years and so, as mentioned above, didnt get good grades. However, after taking a year out to recover, I completed my final year with much better grades. I believe my final year is much more indicative of my academic abilities, but how do I go about showing the universities that that's the case? Do I write an addendum to my sop or will they view this as a weakness?
Thanks in advance for any advice.