Hello,
Currently I'm studying in Tohoku University which, I believe, one of the top Universities in Japan. When it comes to education system, Japan is pretty different from the rest of other countries. I am planning to apply to several top universities in United States which are, indisputably, very competitive. I have a 3.66 GPA which, I think, is pretty mediocre. However, getting 3.65 GPA in my university is by no mean mediocre. The way how my GPA calculated in detail is as follow.
GPA = (Sum of {credit *grade}) / (Sum of {credit})
What messed up in my opinion is the way how the grade is given. In each course, which typically has 2-4 credits, we have four kinds of grade.
AA = approx. 90% of maximum score in a course = 4.0 out of 4.0
A = approx. 80% of maximum score in a course = 3.0 out of 4.0
B = approx. 70% of maximum score in a course = 2.0 out of 4.0
C = approx. 60% of maximum score in a course = 1.0 out of 4.0
D = below. 60% of maximum score in a course = fail
The gap between AA and A is huge in term of GPA. I got AAs of almost 68% of my total credit, while the rest of them are As except one course which I got B. The average student only got 3.2 ~ 3.3 out of 4. How do I justify my GPA? The University has an official document explaining how they calculate the cumulative GPA. Should I include this document along with my transcript?