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USA GPA vs international... 10% difference?

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USA GPA vs international... 10% difference?

by SmallCG » Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:05 am
Hello. I attended a university in Ontario, Canada.

My grades are letter based, but are very different than the MBA.com conversion chart. Class averages were set to be 68% or as my school called it a C+. Apparently if I was an average student my gpa would be 1.8. That seems low. My average was a B+ ish which got me suma cum laude. Apparently that is a 2.8 gpa.

The biggest thing seems to be that my B is an American C. Do admission committees adjust international GPAs up to compensate? For example would my CDN B+ be counted as an American B+?

Any help would be great so I can know if I have to apply to only Canadian schools like rotman and schulich.

Thank you very much.
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by arun@crackverbal » Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:22 am
Don't worry. Most bschools know how to convert the grades of your home university into the American GPA system. You will also be surprised to know the level that they can assess the degree of difficulty in taking those courses.

Infact the US Schools explicitly mention NOT to convert the grades/GPA/letter-system.

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by essaysnark » Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:50 pm
Hi SmallCB,

First point: The adcoms do indeed have experience with a wide variety of grading scales and practices from around the world. However, sometimes the school DOES WANT you to convert the grades to the U.S. 4.0 scale; other times they want you to report it exactly as your school reports it. So you'll need to check what your target schools require.

Second point: It's unlikely that your grades are equivalent to a 2.8 if you graduated suma cum laude. We don't want to offer a direct statement of what we think your grade might translate to, but it's improbable that it would be a 2.8 GPA on the American scale. An American C is a very low mark in the context of the typical high-achieving bschool student.

You can always have your transcripts officially converted using a service like WES at https://www.wes.org/students/igpacalc.asp (we're not associated with them in any way, we're just mentioning them as a resource you could investigate). Most schools do not require an official conversion. Again, you'll need to research the exact requirements for each MBA program.

Bottom line: This should not preclude you from applying to a U.S. bschool!

Good luck with it,
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by PrepMBA.AlexLeventhal » Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:15 pm
Yes MBA programs will all be experienced in converting grades, particularly from countries such as Canada. I get clients every year from Canada, Russia and China and they are always worried about the level of difficulty of their systems. Don't worry. If you were applying from a tiny country, then there would be potentially less experience.
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