GPA Conversion - Canadian + American!

[ligerfish]

I'm sure this has been asked around but I couldn't find any direct answers anywhere.
In Canada, all schools have their own GPA scale (some on a 9 point, others on 4, etc.)

This chart has been suggested as a way to convert GPA's to the 4 point scale for Canadian Schools:
http://studentsuccess.mcmaster.ca/students/tools/gpa-conversion-chart.html

How would I go about converting my grades to an American scale?

When applying to grad school is there a standardized way of doing this?

I'm just very confused with regards to how the process works. Is it the applicants responsibility to provide a conversion of your grades if your university followed a different system?

[doingthings]

I'm sure this has been asked around but I couldn't find any direct answers anywhere.

In Canada, all schools have their own GPA scale (some on a 9 point, others on 4, etc.)

This chart has been suggested as a way to convert GPA's to the 4 point scale for Canadian Schools:

http://studentsuccess.mcmaster.ca/students/tools/gpa-conversion-chart.html

How would I go about converting my grades to an American scale?

When applying to grad school is there a standardized way of doing this?

I'm just very confused with regards to how the process works. Is it the applicants responsibility to provide a conversion of your grades if your university followed a different system?

I had to deal with this as well. Unfortunately, you have to send this to a credentials service. The most commonly used/accepted one is http://wes.org.  Warning: Costs $$$ *sigh*

Edited March 5, 2014 by doingthings

[doingthings]

Sorry, I should have provided more details. My school (and a bunch of other Canadian schools), like you said, had its own conversion system, which you had to convert using hours spent in lab weekly etc. Unfortunately, it's really complicated, especially if courses have been altered over the course of your undergrad/masters. Most American grad schools either do the conversion in-house or require you to send it to a credential's service (WES or other). 

 

If you're looking for an estimate though, you just take the overall letter grade (for me 81% was A- = 3.7 GPA) and convert it to a GPA. 

[ligerfish]

Sorry, I should have provided more details. My school (and a bunch of other Canadian schools), like you said, had its own conversion system, which you had to convert using hours spent in lab weekly etc. Unfortunately, it's really complicated, especially if courses have been altered over the course of your undergrad/masters. Most American grad schools either do the conversion in-house or require you to send it to a credential's service (WES or other). 

 

If you're looking for an estimate though, you just take the overall letter grade (for me 81% was A- = 3.7 GPA) and convert it to a GPA. 

But at my school we don't use %'s, so final grades are based on letter grades which are translated to numbers. The letter grades are within a 10% interval. So for example if I receive an A in a course it could be anywhere between 80-89 - which would translate to a 8.0 on a 9-point scale. So I could divide my GPA lets say 8.13/9 (the cumulative total of all my grades) and get a % but would that estimate be at all even considerably accurate, since some schools give out only A- and A and others give out only A and A+ ?

With regards to the credentials service - were you able to use it once for all the schools you decided to apply to? And was this only for schools in the US?

Edited March 5, 2014 by ligerfish

[doingthings]

If your grade is A- (letterwise), it would still be considered a 3.7, generally.  But, of course, the estimate isn't really 100% accurate, which is why you have to use a credentials service. 

 

Also, only one school I applied to required a credentials service, but it allows you to send the same grade report to multiple schools if you want to. Most schools require WES anyway, but I would check with the schools you're applying to. 

 

I didn't apply to anywhere outside of the US, so I don't know if non-US schools will require a credentials service. 

[ligerfish]

Is there some chart or general GPA outline for american schools that I could use to get a closer approximation?
Or does every school in the US also have their own grading system?

 

[doingthings]

I've personally used this one http://www.sfsu.edu/~gradstdy/gpa-calculator-sfsu.htm. Also, most US schools go by the same grading system. The only differences would be credits (semester vs quarter).

[TakeruK]

I never converted any of my Canadian grades to an American GPA. While I was filling out applications, one of the following cases happened:

 

1. Some schools specifically instruct non-American students to NOT fill in the "GPA" box and just submit our transcripts and they will do the rest.

2. Some schools have either an alternate GPA box where it's like __ / __ so I can fill in something like 4/9 or 75/100 or whatever my school uses.

3. In the one case where I was specifically asked for a GPA out of 4, I emailed the department admissions secretary and they told me that I could try to convert if I wanted but for international students, they actually will just figure it out themselves using my transcript. 

[ligerfish]

I never converted any of my Canadian grades to an American GPA. While I was filling out applications, one of the following cases happened:

 

1. Some schools specifically instruct non-American students to NOT fill in the "GPA" box and just submit our transcripts and they will do the rest.

2. Some schools have either an alternate GPA box where it's like __ / __ so I can fill in something like 4/9 or 75/100 or whatever my school uses.

3. In the one case where I was specifically asked for a GPA out of 4, I emailed the department admissions secretary and they told me that I could try to convert if I wanted but for international students, they actually will just figure it out themselves using my transcript. 

But in that case how would you know whether you're competitive enough for the program?

I wanted to approximate my GPA myself so I could compare where I stand with my grades compared to the stats for the university

[ligerfish]

I've personally used this one http://www.sfsu.edu/~gradstdy/gpa-calculator-sfsu.htm. Also, most US schools go by the same grading system. The only differences would be credits (semester vs quarter).

But my school doesn't give out A- 

So would it make sense for me to convert it to a canadian GPA on a 4.0 using McMasters website and then use SFSU to convert that into an american?