How the GPA Grade System Works.?
3 min read
What is the GPA system?
The GPA is a mark (the French translation is “average poised cumulative”) assigned to each student by taking the average of the marks that the latter will have received in each of the subjects he or she has taken. It is one of the core elements of any application package for students applying to North America . The GPA can be important, particularly in the context of the following steps: Applying for a scholarship , joining an organization or association, applying for extra-curricular activities or applying for a new school course.
The grades awarded to students in the United States are scaled from A to F, with A being the best grade. It is estimated that a student receiving an A would master between 90 and 100% of the knowledge on which he would have been questioned. A B would be equivalent to a mastery of the acquired skills between 89 and 80% approximately and so on. A student who masters less than 50% of the assessed knowledge ends up with an F, without further details.
Once the marks for each subject have been obtained in the form of a letter, the latter is converted into a numerical value… A=4 B=3 C=2 D=1 and F = 0 not on 4.0, in order to assign a value of 1 to a grade that would be an E while the GPA on 4.0 ignores it.
Some schools have a grade system that includes + and – variations, for example A+ or A- in this case, a 0.3 is added if a note is followed by a + and a 0.3 is removed if the note is followed by a – . Thus, if a B is equivalent to 3.0 a B- is equivalent to a mark of 2.7 in the calculation of the GPA. A C+ is equivalent to 2.3.
The GPA is weighted by the value of the credits of each subject (in France, we call it a coefficient). A student who takes Literature as a Major and Economics as a Minor will see his mark in Economics weigh less heavily than that in Literature in the calculation of his GPA . It is therefore necessary, to calculate your GPA , to know the different coefficients of each subject.
Converting French grades to GPA:
The system is therefore extremely different from the French grading and it is particularly difficult for a French student to obtain an excellent American GPA , in particular within the framework of his higher studies .
Indeed, the letter notation is less precise than the 0 to 20 system of France. We do not distinguish the results of the students as much. Thus, two people who have obtained a 10 and a 12 can be assigned the same letter and therefore not distinguish themselves from each other. What’s more, due to the greater precision of the French system , and some cultural differences, the perception of grades may also differ. For example, during higher education , a 12 could be better considered in France than a B or B+ in America. Recruiters are mostly aware of this, which explains why a GPAis not always required of international students or that the grade is interpreted differently than those of American students.
READ ALSO
Everything you need to know before going to study abroad
However, if an institution asks you to provide your GPA, here is how to calculate it:
In order to know your GPA , you need to be able to convert your French grades into letters, which will then give you your grade on 4.0 or 5.0 depending on the establishment to which you wish to apply.
The transcription can be made by following this diagram relayed by the French consulate in Miami, which although not including post-secondary studies, can also apply to it:
