How to Calculate Your GPA–Letter Grades and Percentages
One of my most popular posts is about how to calculate your “real” GPA. Some readers have asked how to translate grades expressed as a percent into letter grades, and then into a GPA based on a 4.0 scale.
Below is a chart that can serve as a starting point. Recognize, however, that all schools and colleges will have their own grading policies. This is one way to translate one kind of grade into another. It’s meant as a helpful tool, but you should always investigate how individual colleges and schools handle this translation before making any assumptions about how they will consider your own performance.
If you’re worried about your GPA, it’s likely that you are a bit nervous about how your GPA will affect your admission to college. There are three things to keep in mind.
First, it’s not just about your GPA overall. You need to pay close attention to your core GPA.
Second, you need to think first about which colleges fit you best. It may turn out that you are worrying too much for the wrong reasons.
Third, if you are having trouble fitting all these pieces together–your GPA, your test scores, your interests, your aptitudes–you may want to consider asking for some professional advice from an expert who can help you navigate the college admissions process.
Interested in a free consultation? Send me a note!
Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
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About the Author
Mark Montgomery
As a former professor, administrator, and high school teacher, Mark has the knowledge and skills to counsel students as they make the transition from high school to college.
123 Responses to “How to Calculate Your GPA–Letter Grades and Percentages”
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Hello again, and thanks for the clarification.
As a homeschooled student, a GPA does not hold much weight in college admission. The problem is that the GPA demonstrates (or is assumed to demonstrate) a comparison among peers, and not a norm-referenced result. A norm referenced result, by comparison, would be an exam that requires a certain level of achievement in order to receive a top score (such as an AP or IB exam).
Thus test scores often become more important for a home schooled student. I recommend that your child take as many SAT 2 subject tests as possible, in addition to the ACT and the SAT 1.
I suggest that you research the ways in which home schooled students are evaluated at the college to which the student plans to appy. Different colleges have different policies with regard to home schoolers.
Alternatively, you may want to seek the advice of a professional college planner to help you map out the college admissions process. It’s complicated enough for a student who attends public schools. It can be even more complex for home schooling families.
I hope this is helpful. Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you for the advice.
how do u convert total GPA into total marks????
Supreeth,
I’m not sure I totally understand what you are asking. Are you trying to convert grades from another national system to the US system?
Thanks for your inquiry.
Hello.
I have my transcript from Monash University in Australia which lists my letter grades, but it only shows the percentage scores for the last few units. I approximated my average score to be in the mid 70s, which according to your table is a C-grade or a 2.0 GPA, but that doesn’t really mean anything to me.
I hear people talking about 3.x GPAs and 4.0 GPAs all the time, so I can only assume a 2.0 GPA is not really anything to be proud of, but I have a Bachelors degree that I worked hard for and I AM proud of that and my parents were proud of me when I graduated, too.
I guess what I’m curious to know is where my 2.0 GPA puts me among my peers. Does everyone here in the U.S. graduate with a 3.0+ GPA (like it seems)? Or is it just that nobody wants to admit to anything lower?
Thank you,
John.
Sir,
Minor type error on line D+…. 67-79, corrected 67-69.
Not applicable to my pending averages, thank goodness, but you might appreciate the intel.
Regards,
A.
hi i hav completed mbbs (bachelor in medicine & bachelor of surgery ). i earned a total of 89.4 percent score for 48 subjects each of fullmarks of 100. i am asking you to convert my score (89.4%) into GPA.
thank you.
Thank you for the wonderful information. You have been a big help so far. I am an American living in Saudi Arabia and I am trying to get my son (American but studied in a Saudi Private School) into a good university there. The high schools here have no idea on how to provide the appropriate information and to prepare students like my son(dual citizenship) for life after high school. (Eventhough I paid enough tutition for his education so far that I could have put him through Harvard twice. Not Joking!!! I understood every thing you wrote about real GPA. I just want to know since they have intensive religion classes here (which are rather difficult)should I calculate these classes as well as the Math, Physics, Chemisty, ect.? And how about his English classes (ELS)? Would his Arabic classes be calculated as if they were English Literature, grammar, and poetry? Please help! We were in America this summer to enroll him for the fall–they did us wrong. I provided the university with translated transcripts they were obviously unaware about how to calculate his GPA. They wanted me to do it. EXCUSES EXCUSES EXCUSES. It was a huge disappointment. I don’t want any mistakes and really want him to start this spring. Do you provide help for people who are overseas? Believe me, they need it here.
Dear Michaela,
Thanks for stopping by and for your questions.
First off, I do work with international clients–about 30% of my students live overseas. So let me know if I can help your son with his specific needs.
But to answer your questions, you’ll want to report a GPA for all of his courses, if he has marks in them. Colleges will see the complete GPA for every student, and then they will make their own decisions about what to count toward their “real” GPA. You don’t need to make the determination about whether to include religion. You should include it. Just know that college admissions offices might not. My guess is, however, that they would definitely include Arabic as a foreign language credit (i.e, a core academic subject).
Some universities are much more savvy when it comes to students with transcripts from abroad. It sounds like you were dealing with an office that is not as seasoned as others.
Let me know if I can provide you with more personalized assistance. I’d be happy to help.
OOPS! I mean “tuition”.
May God bless you and reward you for all your help.
Hello John,
I don’t think there is a record of a national average college GPA for the US. I think it depends on the school and the programs the students are enrolled in. For example, students who are studying in the sciences or are premed may have a lower GPA average than their peers studying in other disciplines. The important thing is that you are proud of the work you have done!
Katherine
Do senior year first semester grades count in your overall GPA? My gpa is decent, I suppose, but I am very disappointed with it and I’m wondering if really great senior grades could help me. Also, if I have a (somewhat) legitimate reason for some of my not so great grades, will this be taken into account? My reason is that I’ve had trouble participating in classes due to shyness and this really hurt my grades in some cases. I am improving now in participation, so is it okay if I tell colleges about this reason for my not so great grades? I don’t want colleges to think that I won’t participate in their classes; I really am improving now.
thank you so much!
Dear Anonymous,
Senior grades definitely do count, so getting good grades in your senior year is important. If your senior grades can pull up your overall GPA, colleges will be pleased.
As for whether “shyness” constitutes a justifiable reason for lower grades, I’d have to ask this: how do you document shyness and your ability to overcome it? For most students who present reasons for less-than-adequate grades, we’re talking about the death of a parent or sibling, a difficult divorce, a full-time job that a student must pursue to help support her family economically, a documented learning disability, or some other extenuating circumstance that clearly has an impact on performance. Shyness does not quite reach this sort of level of impact. You can certainly tell them about your shyness; whether they will see this as a justification for overlooking poor academic performance, I have to say that I have my doubts.
That said, if you choose carefully the colleges to which you will apply, and if you pay attention to finding schools that match, you will be able to create a great educational future for yourself. Just be you, and do your research carefully, and the rest will fall into place.
Best of luck. And let me know if I can help you find the right college for you.
Hello, and thanks for your question. As you can see, we get many requests to convert grades or marks earned at foreign universities to a US GPA. This cannot be done. The systems are too different. Therefore, your application to university in the US will be judged in the context of how grades are determined in your country. In some countries, an 89% would be very, very high and enormously impressive. In other countries, 89% might be the average. My guess is that 89.4% is quite good in your country. But I would need more information and would need to know more about the graduate programs to which you plan to apply. If you’d like some personalized assistance in this, please let me know and either I or my associate, Katherine Price, will be happy to help you.
Hi, John. I’d just like to add my two-cents to say that the US and Australian contexts are not compatible in the way you calculate. As an applicant to a US university or graduate program, you would be judged upon the context of your home country. So a university average at Monash might be considered an indication of much higher performance than if you were attending a US university (with grade inflation, you would have to work really hard to get an overall average of 70% at a US university).
Most of our comments here are focused on students in the US secondary school system. You are right to point out that what may be true in the US, may not be at applicable to you and your performance at Monash.
Thanks for your question!
Thank you for responding. It makes sense that “shyness” wouldn’t really count as an extenuating circumstance. Just to clarify, when I say lower grades, I mean that I have a B+ average, but I do want to apply to selective schools. For example, two schools that I am considering are Williams and Wesleyan. Do I have no chance at admission to these schools?
I have completed my undergrad in Engineering in Iran and I have just applied for a graduate school in the US. My undergrad GPA based on Iran’s system is 13.9 out of 20. The graduate school to which I am applying is telling me that my GPA in their system is about 2.2 out of 4.0! I’m not sure how GPA scaling works but if I scale my GPA linearly, I guess my GPA must be something around 2.7-2.8. Could you please explain the big difference in GPA scalings here?
Rabee,
Thanks for your question. If they are scaling according to some numerical formula, the graduate school in question may not know enough about the Iranian education system. You need to inquire as to how the graduate school is making that determination. Has your diploma been translated? Has a third party service verified and certified your transcript–perhaps including an explanation of the grading system used in Iran? Make sure that the people in the admissions office know what they are doing. I am unfamiliar with the Iranian system, so it’s best you take it upon yourself to ensure the admissions people are adequately educated!
Good luck!
Mark
Hi my name is Al. I am a Canadian student who is looking to get into a Law School in the United States. How compatible are our two systems? Does an 80% in Canada translate to an 80% in the United States system-since are countries are so close and many student travel quite easily between boarders.
It seems like students in the United States have quite high marks upon entering into law school, anywhere in between 85-90%. With a Canadian GPA of 80% do I stand a chance of entering into a reputable school?
Dear A,
Thanks for alerting me to the error. You are right! I need to fix the graphic.
Regards.
Our kids attend a school, which calculates GPA as follows
K or AP = A = 7
OnLevel = A = 6
K or AP = B = 6
OnLevel = B = 5
etc..
How does this GPA calculation equate to the entrance GPA for college, does A = 4, A- = 3.7, B+ = 3.3 etc?
Dear Marjoe,
Thanks for your question . I have run into this unusual grading scale before. It’s one more bit of proof that we do not have a centralized, standardized educational system in the US. I cannot give you a concrete correlation with the 4.0 grading scale that is more traditional in this country. I am working with a student in another state that has a similar sort of grading system, in which he has about a 6.0 GPA. But his high school translates that to a 3.9. I am going by the percentages he has earned on his exams, and by the translation/calculation that the school district makes.
I’m sorry not to be more helpful. Perhaps you can ask the school guidance counselor how they answer the question when admissions folks call the school asking for a clarification. I’m sure you’re not the first person to have asked the question!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and for taking the time to ask a question. I hope this is at least somewhat helpful.
I have completed Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Osmania University which is there in India with Aggregate percentage of 75.15%.I am planning to apply for MS in Architectural Engg. in King Fahd University of Petroleum & minerals. In the requirement list of the university it was mention that a mininium gpa of 3.0 on scale of 4 should be there in order to get enrolled in the university.Sir iam finding it hard to convert my aggregate percentage to gpa.Please convert it for me because i have already applied for feb semester.Awaiting for your.
for the B- is it 80 – 82 instead of 80-83. and is the d+ 67-69 instead of 67-79?
Hello,
Thank you for your question. Since your university uses a different grading system, there may not be a direct way to convert your aggregate percentage into a direct 4.0 scale. Most admission officers will view your grades and your school’s grading procedures independently of students applying from schools that do grade on a 4.0 scale. They will also look at other factors, such as rank and how many students also received a 75.15% at your school. You should contact the schools you have applied to and see if they need any additional information on grading procedures from your school.
Best of luck!
Katherine Price
Educational Consultant
Yes, Ramonica, you are correct: A D+ is 67-69 and B+ from 80-82. I need to edit the chart. Sorry for the confusion.
hey mark!,
i study at a technological institute in India .The GPA chart that you have provided doesn’t seem to be fair to us Indian students .In india the courses we take are really tough especially at the undergraduate level i scored a 70% aggregate in my undergrad but this translates to a C in your report but education here is tough and people hardly score above 85% so i think that its a flaw..please solve this problem mark
hello
my GPA=1.7(72.09%). please tell me how can i improve this to be acceptable for postgraduate study in canada
iam egyptian pharmacist
Hello, Vinay.
Different countries have different systems. Mexico scores on a scale of 1 to 10, with 7 being a passing grade. France grades on a 20 point scale.
My comments on this post relate only to the US grading system.
Thanks.
hello
my score is 86.7% is that equal 3 or 3.3 by APG
Hello.
If you are asking about your percentage score in an American education system, your 86.7 is almost a 3.3. However, if your percentage score has been earned at a school outside the US, you may need to have your transcript interpreted by an expert, such as WES (World Educational Services).
Hope this is helpful.
my percentage is 69% from an indian university and here itsgrade A
so what would my points or grade be?
Hello!
I am an Indian student. We don’t have grade system in our colleges. I have got an average of 60.65% for 6 semesters. I want to know my GPA till 6th semester.
Thank you!
my CUMMULATIVE WEIGHTED AVERAGE IS 51 OUT OF 100. CAN GAIN ADMISSION IN US GRADUATE SCHOOL? OR CAN I GET ADMISSION WITH 2.5 ON 4.0 SCALE GPA. THANK YOU, I AM FROM GHANA IN AFRICA
What is a good way to score High School Mathamaticss (Algebra, etc) Test scores,quizes and homework assignments, for example Tests being 50% and the other two 25% each or 70,15,15 ? Trying to fined a good rule of thumb. Thanks
Hi, JMC.
I don’t have a good answer for you, except to tell you my opinion. I think it does a disservice to kids to weight homework too heavily in the grading scheme. Students need to be able to perform on an assessment, and homework is just practice for those assessments (quizzes and tests).
That said, I become VERY frustrated with math teachers who do not at least LOOK at kids’ homework to see whether they are really understanding the concepts taught before the test. Too often kids are not monitored (or given “continual assessments” in educational parlance) for understanding. Teachers just pass out the test, grade them on a scantron, and then dole out the grades.
Whatever you decide to do, I beseech you to do continuous assessment to monitor your students’ progress toward mastering the concepts (or “standards,” if you will). Education is about learning, after all, and not just about earning (or dishing out) grades.
Thanks for visiting my blog, and I hope this is helpful to you.
Hello Jainam,
Generally schools in the US will not try and calculate a GPA for a student coming from a completely different curriculum. Are you talking about your grades in college and looking for information on how your grades would be reviewed for graduate school? Or are you looking to go to college in the US? Please let me know and I can give you a little more information.
Sincerely,
Katherine Price
Generally schools in the US will not try and calculate a GPA for a student coming from a completely different curriculum. Are you talking about your grades in college and looking for information on how your grades would be reviewed for graduate school? Or are you looking to go to college in the US? Please let me know and I can give you a little more information.
Sincerely,
Katherine Price
How much is a 3.5 GPA in letter grade?
Thank You
Hi, Maria. It’s a solid B+. You need a 3.7 to receive an A- in most schools.
Best of luck!
I am concerned about what my gpa is on the grad school level.
An A = 12 points if its 3 credit hours
An A = 9 points if it’s 1 credit hour
Here are my grades and credit hours
A/3 credit hour course
B+/1 credit hour course
B/3 credit hour course
C+/3 credit hour course
What would my gpa be?
helloo
i got a 2.54 GPA in an american curriculum school
can i have my GPA in a percentage?
thank you
Hi!I am student of Russia.I don’t know how to convert my GPA.For example 50% of my scores are excellent and 50% of them good.In russia there are this kind of grading
1)Excellent
2)good
3)satisfactory
4)unsatisfactory
How can I convert my grade.THANKS ..
Hello. You need not worry about converting your Russian grades to an American GPA. It is never converted. Rather, your grades will be interpreted in the context in which you earned them. Given your description, it seems you are a good student. You will be judged as such in an American context.
Good luck!
Hello, Donna. This is a good math problem. Multiply your grades by the appropriate number on the 4-point scale. Then multiply the answer by the number of credits. Then add up all the numbers in all your courses, and divide by the number of credit hours.
A: 4 points times 3 credits = 12
B+: 3.3 points times 1 credit = 3.3
B: 3 points times 3 credits = 9
C+: 2.3 points times 3 credits = 6.9
Total points = 31.2 divided by 10 credit hours = GPA of 3.12
Hope this helps.
Hi Mark,
I am a student from India. In my undergrad, my cummulative percentage is stated as 80% (with distinction). In my postgraduation, I had a cummulative GPA of 8.5 (on a 10 point scale). How do these two convert to 4.0 point scales? Grateful for advice! Thank you!
hii pls i would sincerly like to know how to calculate my gpa and also how to convert it in equivalant to the u.s gpa.in my country 75 and above is A1
70-74 B2
65-69 B3
60-64 C4
55-59 C5
50-54 C6
45-48 D7
40-44 E8..
THANKS n looking forwars for your reply.
Hello Ammy,
Can you tell me what country you are from? I can then do some research on the grading procedures and give you an idea of how your grades may be interpreted in the US.
Thanks,
Katherine Price
Education Consultant
Hello Sasi,
Is your 80% cumulative based on your results for the India Annual Exam? If so, that would be about an A average for the US. I am not familiar with the 8.5/10 scale that you wrote about, but depending on how competitive your high school was, that may be consider a high B average in the US. It all depends on how your high school calculated your grades and how many other students were able to achieve the same GPA or higher. Any college reviewing your grades will not attempt to calculate a direct GPA for you, but they will try and estimate (usually by saying you have an A average or B average, etc.) Hope that helps.
Katherine Price
Educational Consultant