GPA Question

Question

Hello Guys, It's my first post here, after I struggled in the V&Q area the last months

My first question will not be exceptional though. When I booked the gmat, I had to answer some questions like my GPA score. Having graduated in France, where the GPA doesn't exist, not knowing what it exactly is and thinking that it was just for stats, I put a 3.5. Now in my gmat report and I suppose in the one sent to schools, that GPA score is displayed... Do non internationals and french(Fig?) applicants targeting INSEAD, Bocconi, IESE(european MBAs) have faced the same problem? I feel a bit stupid because I should have left that field blank. And another question: Is there any method to translate French scores into GPA so that schools can get an idea how good/bad I was at school/university?

Fig · Answer

Uhmm

I'm afraid to be helpless

.... I'm applying only for HEC and I must say that I do not encounter the need to "translate" any scores

Better for me that I look closer at the application online of HEC

.... Doing so now

aaudetat · Answer

I would not worry about it too much. Schools are going to look for your academic record in other sources - transcripts, your entries on their apps.

Most schools say that you should not attempt to translate anything yourself. They are used to people from various places, and know how to manage the academic records. (meme pour les grenouilles comme toi.)

Fig · Answer

Kalfurt, prenons cela sous la forme d'humour

.... Un peu grinÃ§ant, qu'en penses-tu?

aaudetat · Answer

oh come on, mes chers.

I lived among you folks for a year and got my fair share of ribbing about my fat compatriots. And of course i love you all - you taught met to make fun of Les Rosbeefs, which somes in handy when PMing Rhyme.

Vous avez perdue le sens d'humeur chez Pearson, ou quoi?

karlfurt · Answer

J'ai pris cela pour un compliment de la part d'un americain!

ou resident aux USA. Ce qui est suspect est l'absence de fautes... Anyway, it seems I shouldn't bother with the score I reported. I even don't know if 3.5 is good or medium. But the guys at GMAC are really stupid because they ask hundreds of uninteresting questions used for their stats. They could have indicated at least which info would be published.

karlfurt · Answer

I posted my answer above before seeing yours.
Don't worry, it was funny.It seems you are aware that french have also their opinion about americans!

aaudetat · Answer

Amen! I firmly believe that everything related to GMAC is horrible.

Et, mefie-toi - c'est la part d'UNE ameriCAINE.

But really, I lived in France for a year - near Arraas - and attended a French high school. Passed the French Bac with a 14, I did. Parler francais c'est devenu un peu difficile, mais j'arrive quand meme.

Et ecoute - je sais qu'en general les americains sont des nuls linguistiques, mais il y en a qui sont un peu plus intelligents que le reste....moi y inclus!!

karlfurt · Answer

Ok, eh bien je me souviendrai desormais que tu es une fille un peu plus intelligente que les autres. And 14 is really good, especially for a foreigner. Congrats! I think I had about 11.

aaudetat · Answer

Il vaut mieux, mon gar. :wink:

Ca etait, le GMAT?

braindancer · Answer

Merde!

*painfully thinks how to build a phrase having a one-word vocab*

aaudetat · Answer

Good contribution.

Next, I shall teach you a most important French phrase:

Passez-moi le fromage puant, s'il vous plait.

(Pass me the stinky cheese, please.)

braindancer · Answer

Merci beaucoup, vous Ãªtes trÃ¨s aimable! (*oh, the beloved Rocquefort...*)

Fig · Answer

aaudetat, interesting

Apart the french cheezes/wines/frogs, what marked u the most in France?

imjimmy · Answer

Guys...I have the same problem. I put my GPA as 3.0/4.0. Translating that from a 7.5/10(Asian student our GPA is on scale of 10). However i believe my GPA should be more than 3.0 on the US scale, since our univ topper was 9.1/10. And more than half of my class was below 7.5.

I put 3.0 on my GMAT profile. My GMAT score has already been received at all my target schools.

I am thinking what they'll think looking at a 3.0.

karlfurt · Answer

aaudetat, I got a 670

Braindancer, the few words you spelled without mistakes are some of the most important in French. Keep studying! Iimjimmy, reading your post, I discovered how the GPA score works. So 3.5/4 is pretty good far above my level at university. So some schools might think that your GPA is very low whereas they will think I tried to cheat them!

imjimmy · Answer

I guess i am screwed. Why the heck did i not leave that field blank. :cry:

aaudetat · Answer

I really don't think so. I don't know this, of course, but I think it's likely that schools are going to base their understanding of your academic history on the fields you enter yourself and, more importantly, on your transcript. 

Think about it. Did the GMAT folks give you a space for other GPAs? To explain? No. Did they even tell you that you needed to check your transcript before coming in? To be honest, I wasn't totally sure exactly what my GPA was - I had to guess a bit, because I hadn't looked at my transcript yet. 

I bet that that field is used for exactly two purposes: institutional research on the part of GMAC and so schools can run you through their filter and decide whether or not to send you unsolicited PR materials.

Relax. There is a lot more to worry about in this process.

imjimmy · Answer

Thanks very much. You're right, there's so much else to worry about.

I just realized there are so many people in this forum who messed up their undergrad GPA's but have outstanding GMAT's.

amorica · Answer

right.. there really isn't a whole a lot of space to say much..i'm sure its just for PR materials..

I have computer science and business degree, but you could only select one major while taking the test...I thought I selected business administration.. but when the score report came back..

Business Education?...guess I was in a nervous rush

GPA Question

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards