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At some point during your academic journey, you might have wondered what a GPA stands for and why it's crucial to maintain a good GPA score. For those not well-versed with the concept yet, we have put together an informative piece on the importance of GPA, GPA to percentage conversion, and how to maintain a good GPA.
No matter where you're headed, a GPA score determines your eligibility to enrol into the universities in top destinations worldwide. So, let's start with the basics, shall we?
Grade Point Average (GPA) is a quantitative measure of a student's academic performance over a certain period of time, say, during an academic year or a particular semester. Generally, GPA is calculated by assigning numerical values to grades and calculating the average score based on the values.
A good GPA is crucial because it is an indicator of the student's ability to meet the demands of a particular course/degree programme. Every university has a predefined GPA requirement that students need to meet to be accepted into their preferred course.
So, how to calculate GPA?
To understand how to convert GPA to percentage, it's essential to understand how GPA is calculated. Here are the steps to calculate the average GPA:
Example:
Let's assume you have 4 subjects as part of your course.
Subjects | Grades | Credit | Grade |
English | B | 3 | 3 |
Accountancy | A | 3 | 4 |
Maths | A | 2 | 4 |
Economics | C | 3 | 2 |
To calculate the average GPA, multiply the grade points with credit hours assigned for the subjects and divide the result by the total number of credit hours earned.
(3*3)+(3*4)+(2*4)+(3*2)/11 = 35/11 = 3.18
So, on a scale of 4, the average GPA is 3.18.
Weighted GPA takes into account the difficulty of the course by assigning additional values for advanced courses. Advanced course programmes and honours courses or other college-level courses receive additional points, typically on a 5.0 or 6.0 scale, rather than the standard 4.0 scale.
For example, an A in an honours course would be graded at 5.0 points instead of the usual 4.0 scale.
Unweighted GPA, on the other hand, doesn't take into account the difficulty level of the course and defines GPA by multiplying the grades with the credit scores. This is the most common type of GPA and is usually on a 4.0 scale, where an A is worth 4.0, a B is worth 3.0, and so on.
Most education institutions confer weighted GPAs for advanced level or harder courses to motivate the students to take up advanced subjects and enhance their eligibility for college.
Cumulative GPA is the sum total of GPA scores of all the courses during the student's academic cycle.
Cumulative GPA = Grade points earned by students throughout their course
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The number of credit hours
Non-cumulative GPA is the common term GPA or semester GPA, where the GPA is calculated for a particular academic term or semester.
For example, let's suppose a student completes two semesters with the following grades and credits:
Semester 1: 3.5 GPA, 15 credits
Semester 2: 3.0 GPA, 16 credits
Their cumulative GPA would be (3.5 x 15 + 3.0 x 16) / (15 +16) = 3.25
Their non-cumulative GPA for semester 2 would be 3.0.
So, let us see the steps to convert GPA into percentage.
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To convert GPA into percentage, understand the grading system used by the institution/country and accordingly follow these steps:
For example, if your GPA is 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, you can convert it to a percentage using the following formula:
3.5 x 100 = 350
350 / 4.0 = 87.5%
Therefore, your GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale is equivalent to a percentage of 87.5%
Maintaining a good GPA (Grade Point Average) is important for several reasons:
Given how important a good GPA score is in academic and career aspects, here are a few hacks on how to maintain a good GPA:
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GPA stands for grade point average, which is a numerical representation of a student's academic performance in college or high school. GPA is important because it is often used by admissions committees and employers to evaluate a student's academic performance and potential.
If your GPA is low, there are several things you can do to improve it, such as meeting with a tutor or academic advisor, developing better study habits, and retaking courses in which you received a low grade.
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