I applied with a 3.98 GPA, but graduated with a 4.0...

[psych77]

Is there a non-obnoxious way to let my schools know this.. or do I just wait to see if I get interviews and let them know then? Would anyone advise me to let them know before I hear anything either way?

[fuzzylogician]

There is no way that could possibly make a difference in your accepance decisions. You can ask to send updated transcripts and you can mention your GPA if you are asked at interviews (unlikely). I would still consider both ways slightly obnoxious and furthermore completely unnecessary.

[ktel]

Yes, I second fuzzylogician's opinion. That information is probably completely meaningless to them and it would definitely make you look obnoxious

[psych77]

Thanks guys.. I sort of figured. I just can't stop worrying about my applications...and all the what-ifs. My fear is someone with equivalent research and GRE's will oust me with the 4.0, y'know all else considered equal.. I know it's irrational, lol, sigh.. but such is life.

[Pitangus]

Thanks guys.. I sort of figured. I just can't stop worrying about my applications...and all the what-ifs. My fear is someone with equivalent research and GRE's will oust me with the 4.0, y'know all else considered equal.. I know it's irrational, lol, sigh.. but such is life.

I highly doubt that would ever happen: if it came down to two people as you described, then the decision would be made due to some difference in research experience (it's pretty much impossible for two people to have the exact same experience unless they somehow did everything together) and not the 4.0.

Besides, I don't know how it would even be possible to go from a <4.0 cumulative GPA to a 4.0, unless you round up or go to a school where A+=4.3, but in that case a 4.0/4.3 isn't the same as a 4.0/4.0. Again not that it will make much of a difference in admissions.

I graduated with a 3.99; that's the number on my transcript and that's what I use when I self-report my GPA. I've never come across an application where I was forced to use one decimal place.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Pitangus

[Eigen]

I actually am curious, how do you go from a 3.98 to a 4.0?

[psych77]

At ASU, A+'s are worth 4.33, regular A's are worth 4.0. I had gotten an A- previously, but canceled it out my last semester with an A+

Edited January 13, 2012 by psych77

[Pitangus]

Ah, yes I edited my post before seeing yours; I initially forgot about A+s since I've never come across them personally. My mistake.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Pitangus

[Eigen]

I know our adcom would consider it 4.0/4.333. Whatever the maximum GPA you can get is what the score is out of. As has been said, a 4.0 on a 4.0 scale is perfect, if you can get a 4.33, then you'd be looking at a 4.33 average as perfect.

[mechengr2000]

If you are applying for graduate level studies, grades will not matter very much. What matters is your research/project experience, and what your letters of reference say about your character strengths and weaknesses as a person and as a professional

[Pitangus]

out of curiosity, for schools that give A+ = 4.33 gpa, is your gpa considered to be x/4.33. At my school there is no A+, so the highest gpa you can get is a 4.0, and it seems unfair if someone goes to a school like the OP where an A+ = 4.33 since it would be easier to get a high gpa. When applying to grad schools do you have to convert your gpa?

Law schools have a conversion system for GPAs, I believe.

I don't know about graduate programs, though UC Berkeley asked for both my GPA and what it was out of.

I'd imagine one of the reasons programs ask for full transcripts is to determine what a GPA really means; that is, did a student's high GPA come from getting mostly As and a few A-s or a B+, or did a student get a B- or lower in a major course and make up for it with A+s.

But I agree with mechengr2000 that grades do not matter that much (of course they do matter enough that a 4.0 GPA is preferable to one hovering around 3.0 in most cases). But again, if it comes down to someone with a 4.0 (out of whatever) and someone with a 3.8 or 3.9, the decision will most likely not be made based on GPA.

[popcandy]

Just contact the university... I did that when originally applying for my first grad program and I went up in GPA (right after I sent in the email I received an email back from the director of admission stating I made it in). It would never negatively affect your application, only positively affect it. So why not?

[ktel]

Just contact the university... I did that when originally applying for my first grad program and I went up in GPA (right after I sent in the email I received an email back from the director of admission stating I made it in). It would never negatively affect your application, only positively affect it. So why not?

I would beg to differ. A 0.01 change in GPA is so meaningless you are wasting somebody's time by e-mailing. That negative impression could negatively affect the application. It just doesn't make a good impression

[popcandy]

I would beg to differ. A 0.01 change in GPA is so meaningless you are wasting somebody's time by e-mailing. That negative impression could negatively affect the application. It just doesn't make a good impression

Heh, that's cute. Well I beg to differ because I've already done this for a grad program, and it worked. It's the difference of seeing a 3.98 and a 4.0. In psychology, the difference between seeing a $19.99 shirt and a $20.00 shirt is not the difference of a penny. Also, your math is a bit rusty.

Have a nice night!

[ktel]

Heh, that's cute. Well I beg to differ because I've already done this for a grad program, and it worked. It's the difference of seeing a 3.98 and a 4.0. In psychology, the difference between seeing a $19.99 shirt and a $20.00 shirt is not the difference of a penny. Also, your math is a bit rusty.

Have a nice night!

I doubt the 0.02 increase in your GPA is what "worked"

[Rebecca8]

Is there a non-obnoxious way to let my schools know this.. or do I just wait to see if I get interviews and let them know then? Would anyone advise me to let them know before I hear anything either way?

They're not gonna reject/accept you because of 0.02 GPA... Just don't bother.

[Lyra Belacqua]

out of curiosity, for schools that give A+ = 4.33 gpa, is your gpa considered to be x/4.33. At my school there is no A+, so the highest gpa you can get is a 4.0, and it seems unfair if someone goes to a school like the OP where an A+ = 4.33 since it would be easier to get a high gpa. When applying to grad schools do you have to convert your gpa?

When I was applying last year, I had to fill out online applications that wanted my overall GPA, major GPA, and upper-division GPA, all on a 4.0 scale. I went to a 4.3 school. So I had to go look up all my grades and compute all the weighted averages manually, with A+ = 4.0 ("upper-division GPA" wasn't a thing at my school, either, so I would have had to calculate that one myself anyway).

[juilletmercredi]

At my grad school there is a such thing as an A+ which counts for 4.33, but they are so rarely given that I would expect most students count their GPA out of a 4.0. There is no realistic way to expect anyone to get anything close to a 4.33 here.

And I've got to disagree with popcandy. I'm in psychology and the difference between a 3.98 and a 4.0 is negligible. It's certainly not worth contacting a graduate program over - popcandy has no idea whether it "worked" because they don't know whether or not they wouldn't have gotten in without that extra .02.