Stringer wrote:
I received letter grades during my undergraduate degree at a Canadian university. What is the most accurate way to convert these for U.S. and international schools to calculate my GPA? I'm mostly looking to be able to compare myself to others so I can find out how competitive my application would be for certain schools.
Also, Canadian MBA schools typically focus on the last 2 years of your undergrad or even just the last year. Is this true of U.S. and international schools or will a terrible first two years of university derail my chances?
Thanks.
Here is a good guide.
https://www.ouac.on.ca/docs/omsas/c_omsas_b.pdfIt's for med schools, but is close enough to what most schools will use for conversion to be useful. It has the grading system of each school listed. Keep in mind that most schools will not ask for you to do the conversion, but simply ask for your transcripts and will do the conversion themselves. Columbia is a notable exception, but they provide guidance on how to calculate your GPA.
I'm Canadian and had an "OK" first few years at one school (~3.0 GPA) followed by two really good years at another school (~3.7 GPA) - both are considered top 10 schools in Canada. I've received interviews at H/W and LBS, so I would bet they are more concerned with the general trend than with the overall GPA. No one is perfect, so provided you recovered / have a good explanation for the poor performance in the first few years, I'm sure you'll be fine. The top US schools seem to have average GPAs around 3.5, which roughly translates to ~80% at a Canadian school (of course reputation of school, course work / program, progression, etc all count I'm sure).