GPA

[sesostris]

Hi, I´m applying this year for a doctoral program on Political Science. I have a question regarding GPA. In my country the scale is 1-10, I graduated top of my class but with 8.7, if I just convert it by cross-multiplication the grade is not that good.

Should I convert the GPA or ask my university to convert the grades to a 4 point scale in order to complete my applications? Or should I just put the original grade and the admissions comittee will know how to interpret grades from my country?

I really appreciate any help!

Thanks!

 

[Warelin]

According to http://www.classbase.com/countries/Argentina/Grading-System, an 8.7 would be the equivalent of an A- or 3.7. However you're on the higher end of the A- which would be closer to a 3.9.
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However, not all institutions will convert it like this. (Can you imagine trying to convert GPAs from more than 100 countries each of which a certain grade is considered different?)

If you can, include an official statement from your college indicating how the grading scale should be interpreted.

[AP]

I'm familiar with the Argentine system.

Look for a good converter site and stick to it. Your 8.7 is fairly high so don't shy away from the 3.9 @Warelin mentioned. Anyway, in your application package you will include an unofficial transcript. By 'unofficial' I mean a copy of it. But it should be as legit as possible and with translation. Translators usually include somewhere that the grading system is over ten. Anyway, in your CV you can write next to your degree: 3.9 GPA (8.7/10). Admission committees are not stupid. I don't think the official statement from your college is necessary. I know MANY international people from around the world and NONE of them submitted anything of the sort. If you don't get in, trust me, it won't be because the admission committee couldn't figure out what 8.7/10 meant. I mean, seriously.

As a side note, what you should highlight in your package is that the Argentine degree is nothing like the American one. You bring substantially more preparation than the average American recent graduate so you should display that in your SOP. 5+ years of college education and probably a job should be omnipresent in all your paperwork. Be aggressive.

And all the best! PM me if you have any questions!

[Monody]

From my experience so far, most universities handle this differently. Some (Princeton, Stanford) ask you to write 0.0 and will convert it themselves, other will ask for the original GPA and the original scale (NYU if I remember correctly) and others again will ask you to use WES to transform it yourself (Duke). I would really suggest that you do what they tell you and don't decide anything by yourself without contacting them first. Some specifically told me that I should really not transform my GPA on my own.

Edited October 28, 2016 by Monody

[sesostris]

Thank you all for the advice! I have started to send the applications and figure that out, each one has its system, but in any case I managed to get an official statement from my university attached to the transcript with the course statistics explaining precisely what my grade meant. I wanted to hug the woman from the registrar's. Good point the one you mention AP about the Argentinean system, 4+ years of study, +job, 2 years MA... I will include it!