How do you calculate the GPA in India ?

Question

I am a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering graduate from Mumbai (erstwhile Bombay) University, India. We are not awarded GPA's from the University but rather are given a percentage score. The thing is that the average percentage in different university boards of India varies wildly. For example, in Gujarat state, an engineering student (Bachelor's Degree) can expect to graduate with an 80% quite easily while in Maharashtra, a 65% is considered an achievement. 

 My question is - in the midst of the non-standard grading, how do I know my GPA or calculate an equivalent so I can gauge the competency of my application with the existing student profile of a prospective college? Do the colleges have an existing database of students from that country against which they calculate my GPA equivalent ?

 Also when an MBA programme mentions "credits" what is the exact meaning of it. I've heard it very often but unfamiliar with the term. (e.g students are required to complete at least nine credits) Very often the tuition fee is given per credit or term.

Thanks,
Conal

Hjort · Answer

Hi,

There is no reliable universal conversion to US-style nominal GPA. The most reliable guide is generally your class standing. If you were ranked near the top of your graduating class then this is usually taken as a good indication of your ability (there is an astounding number of technical problems with this type of analysis but it appears to be used frequently).

The terms "units" and "credits" are used to describe the value of a class toward graduation and (often) GPA calculation. A typical scheme is for a typical college class to be worth four units with 120 units required for graduation. The credit value is usually associated with the number of hours of class per week (e.g. 4 credits would correspond to about 4 hours of class per week). Sometimes classes might be worth fewer units because they meet only 2 hours a week.

Hjort

conalcharles · Answer

Hi Hjort,

Thanks for the tip. I too have heard of this method of computing the GPA by taking into account the the scores of the top four people in the class, but am at a loss to know how this computed for my specific class. Would I be compared with my college class, the Elec Engg Dept for the Bombay University or the entire Bombay University as a whole. Would I be expected to compute this or provide this information to the university ?

Just for my information, suppose the person who scored the highest score in my class scored a 80% and I got a 70%. What would my GPA be ? Is there a formula of sorts ?

Knowing how you like to put a formula down on things ( like your calculate-your-GMAT formula

) was wondering if you know.....

Warm regards,
Conal

P.S Your formula got my GMAt score down to within a few percentage points !

) was wondering if you know..... Warm regards, Conal P.S Your formula got my GMAt score down to within a few percentage points !

Sonia (Accepted.com) · Answer

I'd just like to add that there are actually professional "credential evaluation" services that help people deal with this issue in the context of international admissions--I honestly don't know enough about what's out there to recommend any one in particular, but they do exist! That's a very different area of expertise than my own, though, so I hesitate to get too far into it. 

I do agree that your class ranking is probably the most important thing here, since it shows how you perform relative to your peer group.

Best of luck getting it all sorted out!
Sonia

Hjort · Answer

Hi conalcharles,

I'm glad to hear the formula worked! Just out of curiousity, did the formula overpredict or underpredict?

Regarding the GPA conversion, in my experience, schools generally will "convert" on their own. Some, however, ask students to make use of a transcript service as mentioned by Sonia. For your class ranking, I would start by looking at your transcript to see if you are compared with any students on the transcript. 

Hjort

Wolf · Answer

this is a good question

Wolf · Answer

i guess there is a calculator on wes site

Wolf · Answer

but they mention that percentage should not be converted

Wolf · Answer

i hope this helps!

SmartSeed · Answer

Since Indian grading systems vary a lot (CGPA, percentage, different scales), doing manual conversions repeatedly can get confusing.
If you want to quickly check different formats (CGPA → GPA → percentage), you can use tools like  CalculatorWallah —it’s simple to test different scenarios without needing to sign up.

How do you calculate the GPA in India ?

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