Question Regarding International GPA

[Hamb]

I went to an american Undergrad with a 3.82 GPA before pursuing a masters degree in Germany. I'm now looking to apply to US programs for a phd.

They use a different system over there, and in my program I finished with a 2.1 (without my thesis grade). Now a 2.1 in their scale isn't great, but it is above average in my program (2.4). I was told by our program head that historically the grade would place me 9-12th in my program of 30.

Has anybody run into issues with converting their grades from a system that hasn't suffered from grade inflation? The common quick conversion formulas put my GPA at a 3.5, but like I said it's still top 1/3rd of my masters program, but I'm extremely worried that some schools might disqualify me because in the US a 3.5 graduate GPA is pretty poor. Is this something I should mention in one of my statements, or are they generally aware that other countries haven't necessarily suffered from GPA inflation like us? Does my pretty solid undergraduate GPA make up for this at all, or should I be worried?

[fuzzylogician]

Usually schools do their own conversion and there isn't much that you can do about it. Frankly, writing in your SOP that someone told you that your grade puts you in position N in your cohort isn't terribly convincing. It'd be much better if you got a letter from someone from that program who could discuss your grades (and performance more generally) and explain how you rank with respect to your peers. If there is an official document to be had that explains your ranking, you could get that, too, and submit it along with your transcripts. Otherwise, there isn't much that you can do. Again, just asserting something about your grades or rank without official support won't be enough. 

[lemma]

I would have thought that a rank of 12/30 would have been a generous conversion at 3.5... at most schools (including my alma mater), a 3.82 is well in excess of that too. Did you go to an undergrad that severely inflated humanities/social science in comparison to STEM? That's the only circumstance I can brainstorm where a 3.82 could potentially be equal to 60th percentile.

[Hamb]

6 hours ago, lemma said:

I would have thought that a rank of 12/30 would have been a generous conversion at 3.5... at most schools (including my alma mater), a 3.82 is well in excess of that too. Did you go to an undergrad that severely inflated humanities/social science in comparison to STEM? That's the only circumstance I can brainstorm where a 3.82 could potentially be equal to 60th percentile.

Undergrad was a 3.82 and a 3.81 was the cutoff for top 10% of graduating class. 

[TakeruK]

I second what fuzzy said. I think you should ask one of the letter writers from your Masters degree to mention your class standing and/or the average grade in your class.

I actually do not think a 3.5 GPA for a graduate program is that bad. It is not a "top of the class" GPA but at the same time, graduate school isn't all about achieving high grades. Especially since there is not much you can do about your GPA at this point (other than the letter writer suggestion), I wouldn't worry about it anymore. Your entire set of achievements as a graduate student will be weighed more heavily than just your graduate GPA.