My University's GPA calculation system is fucked up

[Adam Syammas Zaki]

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? 

[Cryss]

Perhaps you can look into this. I used the WES yearsssss ago because my secondary school did not use GPAs and I was applying to do University in the US. My high school grades were like 60s, which is a fail in the US, but equivalent to a B in my country. When WES converted all my grades, I only had As and Bs. They do take into consideration the quality and difficulty of the education, I believe. 

My undergrad school suggested and accepted WES' evaluation. I'm not sure if every school will accept it, especially at graduate level. They may just want your undergrad GPA as is. 

[Adam Syammas Zaki]

On 9/16/2019 at 3:04 AM, Cryss said:

Perhaps you can look into this. I used the WES yearsssss ago because my secondary school did not use GPAs and I was applying to do University in the US. My high school grades were like 60s, which is a fail in the US, but equivalent to a B in my country. When WES converted all my grades, I only had As and Bs. They do take into consideration the quality and difficulty of the education, I believe. 

My undergrad school suggested and accepted WES' evaluation. I'm not sure if every school will accept it, especially at graduate level. They may just want your undergrad GPA as is. 

Thanks for the suggestion. I guess I’ll just send my gpa along with the official document