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03 Apr 2007, 13:56
That was a little harsh, but I will agree with Rhyme's point that for the purposes of applying to business school, there will be no difference between 3.82 v. 3.98 - I think this is common knowledge to all that frequent this board. I see that you're new here lngbrdr.
I think you hit upon it in your own question, there are just too many variables for GPA to carry much weight in the process. There are differences in grading systems (A-F, 1-5, 1-10, percentages, I've heard of a bunch), and there's no consistency between schools, majors, possible grade inflation, different standards around the world, etc.
Since there's no way to really compare grades, I believe a more general approach is used by most schools. They look at grades in combination with the quality of a school, then factor in any knowledge they may have regarding the difficulty of a major and/or grade inflation, and then they probably categorize the result generally. The key question they want to answer is whether someone can handle the MBA program, and might award brownie points for people that have clearly excelled in past academics. The specifics of actual grades are meaningless because there is so much variability they cannot account for.
Anyhow, my conclusion is the same as Rhyme's - don't worry about it.