Fall 2022 Social/Personality applicant to US and Canada

[SamS]

I'm an applicant from India. I currently hold a Masters in Counselling Psychology, and I'm looking to apply to MA/PhD programs in the US and Canada for Social/Personality Psychology. 

My main concern is some of the universities ask for a converted grade from percentages to the 4.0 GPA Scale, the conversions drastically reduce my scores to about a 3.0 average or just slightly above 3.0. However, my grades have been consistently high according to the Indian scoring system, and I have been among the top of my class throughout my undergrad and postgrad courses, as well as an Honors student in my Postgrad.

How likely will the converted scores affect my chances of admissions? Some universities let me justify the low scores ( if scores are below 3.5 GPA), how do I justify the same?

[SoundofSilence]

Some programs in US and Canada do take into account grades from foreign universities and that they might be on a different scale - this is just an example, but here is one from U Toronto https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/admissions/admission-application-requirements/international-credentials-equivalencies/

I wouldn't just convert the numerical part to North American GPA because it might not make sense. Just make sure you check with the requirements from each program before you apply. Best of luck!