Page 1 of 1

GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:34 am
by JSC4
When people list their GPAs in the chance forum, are these GPAs listed out of 4.0 or 4.33.
I am not from the US so I am not too familiar with this system.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:36 am
by ln91
4.33 but most people don't reach above 4.0.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:39 am
by JSC4
ln91 wrote:4.33 but most people don't reach above 4.0.
Okay thanks, do you know where I would find some sort of conversion scale?
I am used to:
4.0= 90-100%
3.9= 85-99%
3.7= 80-84%
3.3= 75- 79%

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:44 am
by Tom Joad
In the US it depends on each class. It isn't a cumulative system where you get a certain grade for your percentage (97 or 88 or whatever), just an amalgam of each class averaged together.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:26 pm
by SoCow
JSC4 wrote:
ln91 wrote:4.33 but most people don't reach above 4.0.
Okay thanks, do you know where I would find some sort of conversion scale?
I am used to:
4.0= 90-100%
3.9= 85-99%
3.7= 80-84%
3.3= 75- 79%
The highest is 4.33, which is an A+. Not all US schools award 4.33 for A+'s though. Also, each class grades differently and depends on the professor. Some professors give out A-'s at 88% some do it at 90%, for example.

At my undergrad an A- average came out to be a 3.7gpa and B average was 3.0gpa.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:28 pm
by Corwin
In engineering it's out of 4.33. Humanities are out of 4.32.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:29 pm
by JamMasterJ
Corwin wrote:In engineering it's out of 4.33. Humanities are out of 4.32.
lucky. We only have 4.0. A 4.2 for the last year or so would have been really helpful

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:32 pm
by MumofCad
Are you coming from the British system?

At most US schools, the highest attainable GPA is 4.0. At my uni, all A+s are a 4.0, but an A- will knock you down to a 3.9. So it depends on how the particular school evaluates. I am not sure you can get a "standard" GPA from the variety of systems you can find in the US.

Foreign grades are not typically translated into a 4.0 type scale anyhow by LSAC. They are regarded in some formula of superior, above average, average, etc. I'm not sure where this scale is located and they have yet to evaluate my Master's transcript.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:34 pm
by Corwin
JamMasterJ wrote:
Corwin wrote:In engineering it's out of 4.33. Humanities are out of 4.32.
lucky. We only have 4.0. A 4.2 for the last year or so would have been really helpful
Naw I'm being a dick and trolling this guy who made a thread about engineering v. humanities GPA. Most engineering classes have A+ available, some don't. I calculated my maximum GPA based on my course load in undergrad and it was something like a 4.25.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:49 pm
by anewaphorist
Yeah, it can work for or against you. I had several 99-100% classes but received As in them, because my UG does not award + or - for any letter grade. So even though I only had one class where this benefited me (re: I had a 91 in a Public Finance class), my GPA would have been above 4.0 on a different institution's scale.

90-100: A (4.0)
80-89: B (3.0)
70-79: C (2.0)
60-69: D (considered a failing grade for any classes counting towards one's major, 1.0)
0-59: F (0)

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:59 pm
by 09042014
Didn't schools stop using % to grade conversion after high school?

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:01 pm
by anewaphorist
Would you rather they convert based on some sort of raw score? Too much LSAT, dude. Or are you saying they should do it based on an arbitrary top 'percentage' of any given class?

EDIT:
Also, each class grades differently and depends on the professor. Some professors give out A-'s at 88% some do it at 90%, for example.
Seems like we have to pick a certain posion either way.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:04 pm
by 09042014
anewaphorist wrote:Would you rather they convert based on some sort of raw score? Too much LSAT, dude. Or are you saying they should do it based on an arbitrary top 'percentage' of any given class?
90%-100% to A is retardedly capricious. What does a 90% correct paper even look like? Any test that you can reasonably expect many people to get 90% correct on is way too easy.

You write hard exams then curve, or use subjective discretion.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:06 pm
by anewaphorist
You're a tool. Percentage is for classes like math/sciences/econ that have hard numbers. Of course humanities professors do not assign a numerical grade and then a letter grade for a given paper. I posted the scale for those classes in which any numerical scale could feasibly be applied to determine a grade.

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:09 pm
by 09042014
anewaphorist wrote:You're a tool. Percentage is for classes like math/sciences/econ that have hard numbers. Of course humanities professors do not assign a numerical grade and then a letter grade for a given paper. I posted the scale for those classes in which any numerical scale could feasibly be applied to determine a grade.
NERD RAGE KILLS

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:10 pm
by 094320
..

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:13 pm
by anewaphorist
Nah, it's just a rage at people who post things with no value just so they can get to 20,000 posts. It's an odd person that would assume what you did to make your initial sarcastic post. If you interpret everything you read in its least favorable light, then you'll straw man every argument with which you're ever presented.

Learn: Davidson's Principle of Charity--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity

I didn't even benefit from the system at my school, but I also recognize that such a system inflates grades much less than others: Number right/Number possible right=%, then converted to letter grade. In cases when no "possible right" points or questions exist--i.e. humanities--professors use either a curve or 'subjective discretion' to determine grade distribution.
Any test that you can reasonably expect many people to get 90% correct on is way too easy.
The point is that the teachers know from the school administration that their tests need to be easy/hard enough so that 17-20% of the students in a given class (which, as I heard from the mouth of the registrar's office, was the target distribution of As to students for my class) can structure their test accordingly. Do they institute curves if certain tests are way too hard? Sure. But that's not the norm, which seems a little 'capricious' too, doesn't it?

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:40 pm
by Corwin
Desert Fox wrote:
anewaphorist wrote:Would you rather they convert based on some sort of raw score? Too much LSAT, dude. Or are you saying they should do it based on an arbitrary top 'percentage' of any given class?
90%-100% to A is retardedly capricious. What does a 90% correct paper even look like? Any test that you can reasonably expect many people to get 90% correct on is way too easy.

You write hard exams then curve, or use subjective discretion.
+1

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:30 pm
by JamMasterJ
anewaphorist wrote:Nah, it's just a rage at people who post things with no value just so they can get to 20,000 posts. It's an odd person that would assume what you did to make your initial sarcastic post. If you interpret everything you read in its least favorable light, then you'll straw man every argument with which you're ever presented.

Learn: Davidson's Principle of Charity--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity

I didn't even benefit from the system at my school, but I also recognize that such a system inflates grades much less than others: Number right/Number possible right=%, then converted to letter grade. In cases when no "possible right" points or questions exist--i.e. humanities--professors use either a curve or 'subjective discretion' to determine grade distribution.
Any test that you can reasonably expect many people to get 90% correct on is way too easy.
The point is that the teachers know from the school administration that their tests need to be easy/hard enough so that 17-20% of the students in a given class (which, as I heard from the mouth of the registrar's office, was the target distribution of As to students for my class) can structure their test accordingly. Do they institute curves if certain tests are way too hard? Sure. But that's not the norm, which seems a little 'capricious' too, doesn't it?
Go away. You bother me

Re: GPA 4.0 or 4.33?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:08 pm
by anewaphorist
One person makes several posts that have no relevance whatsoever to the OP's issue, and the other tries to give insight into his experience with LSAC GPA. The latter is told to go away. Non-sequitur?