Introduction of GPA and GPA Calculators
GPA stands for Grade Point Average and the GPA Calculators are the methods to calculate your academic score in a simple and a single number. The most important thing in the world of education is ta GPA. This is reflecting a student’s academic records and summarizing the earnings during the study. The GPA calculators start from the school and will remain with you until you completed your education.
The GPA Calculators can help you to track your educational carrier progress and the standings of your hard work. In this guide we will introduce you all the methods of GPA calculations implemented in the different universities around the globe.
What Is GPA?
GPA is a simple single digit that is showing your academic progress and performance. The majority of the global universities are scaling this number from 0.0 to 4.0. It means 0.0 is the lowest and 4.0 is the highest. In this numbering system 1 is reflecting 25% and 4 means 100%. This is also called US system of measuring academic performance. The GPA is always consider starting from your college admissions to job interview call, every time the major role player is GPA and GPA Calculators.
What Is a GPA Calculator?
A GPA Calculator is digital too to calculate your academic performance. These tools help student to quickly calculate their GPA. These are the much easy to understand in comparison with percentage calculators and the manual calculations. These GPA calculators are reflecting the overall progress of a student based on the grades from all subjects. There are several types of GPA calculators are available online and downloadable to cater different types of grading systems such as German GPA Calculators, VIT and SRM.
Types of GPA
Unweighted GPA
An unweighted GPA is commonly implemented in high schools and colleges. In this system all subjects will be calculate on standard 4.0 scale regardless the length of the subject or the difficulty of the subject. This system is also commonly called equal weight system.
Key Features
- This system is not dependent on the course difficulty.
- All subjects are equally weights.
- This is a most simple and straightforward academic performance evaluation system.
Weighted GPA
The weights GPA is based on the difficulty of the subject. In this system every subject will not considered equally but depends on the length of the course and the difficulty of the subject. The calculation scale will remain 4.0.
Key Features
- The weights GPA reflects overall educational performance.
- This system covers both minatory and elective courses.
- GPA is an important indicator at the time of college/ university admissions as well as job applications.
Semester GPA
The semester GPA system is the based on a term that can be semester of quarter. In this system the average of grades is considered as an academic performance indicator.
Key Features
- Semester GPA system is easier for a student due to term base calculations.
- This system is also useful to track a student history term by term to identify the incline or decline in the performance.
- The Semester GPA system is also contributed to the overall GPA at the end certificate/ degree program.
Major GPA
The major GPA system is depending on the major subjects or courses chosen by the student. This system is calculated on the base of the specialization area that a student chosen for his degree.
Key Features
- The Major GPA is focused on the specialization subjects or major courses.
- This system is useful to track the academic history of specialization courses.
- This system is important for the university and job applications.
College GPA
The College GPA is important in the majority of the colleges. This system is based on the grades earn during the complete college program.
Key Features
- The College GPA reflects the educational standing in the college.
- This system is more considered at the time of scholarship decisions.
- Most of the employers are considering this calculation at the time of hiring.
How GPA Is Used in Different Countries
The GPA system is implemented in various ways in different countries. In the Canada and USA implemented GPA scale is based on the 4.0 and on other hand UK based educational institutions are calculating based on the percentage. Australian institutes grading on the scale of 7.0 that is different from the majority of the calculation methods. This is very important for the students to understand deeply these system especially while they are applying in international universities.
How to Calculate GPA
Basic GPA Calculation Steps
- Grade scales are, A=4.0, B=3.0, C=2.0, D=1.0 and F=0.0
- Classes and Grades: In this you need to write down all the grades that you have earned from each class and GPA.
- Convert from Grades to Scales: You need to convert your grade into a sing digit numerical value.
- Multiply by Credit Hours: Multiply each grade point by the number of credit hours for that class.
- Add Up Total Quality Points: You need to sum all the quality points.
- Add Up Total Credit Hours: Add up all the credit hours.
- Divide Quality Points by Credit Hours: The Result of GPA
Example Calculation
For example, the calculation is based on the following subjects and the grades that you have earned.
- Math (3 credits): A (4.0)
- Computer (4 credits): B+ (3.3)
- Science (3 credits): B (3.0)
- English (2 credits): A- (3.7)
This is the method of calculation.
- Math: 4.0 × 3 = 12 quality points
- Computer: 3.3 × 4 = 13.2 quality points
- Science: 3.0 × 3 = 9 quality points
- English: 3.7 × 2 = 7.4 quality points
Total quality points = 12 + 13.2 + 9 + 7.4 = 41.6
Total credit hours = 3 + 4 + 3 + 2 = 12
GPA = 41.6 / 12 = 3.47
Specialized GPA Calculators for Different Universities and Countries
Round the globe different universities have implemented their own grading system. For those students who are moving from one region to another they required to convert their academic earnings to check the eligibility for the next university admission. To facilitate students in this conversion GPA calculators are helping as a digital toolkit. Following is the deep dive on most common grading system calculators
VIT GPA Calculator
VIT stands for Tailored for students at the Vellore Institute of Technology. VIT is designed for the universities grading system to ensure the accuracy of academic performance measurement. VIT GPA Calculators are considering the specific weightage and the grade points.
SRM GPA Calculator
SRM system basically designed for SRM University’s grading system. These GPA Calculators helps student to calculate their GPAs according to the SRM standards. SRM grading system is different from all other systems and the SRM GPA Calculators are important digital tools for the students to convert their grades according to the requirements.
German GPA Calculator
The German GPA Calculator is basically designed for the Germany based universities. This is very important for the student who are planning to take admission in German universities. The German GPA calculation system is different from the USA and UK. This is totally opposite from both countries. In the Germany 1.0 means excellent performance and 5.0 mean fail. The German GPA Calculators are helping the students to convert their grades according to the German university’s requirements.
Importance of GPA in College
The GPA is not only a number but played vital role in your rest of life, either you are planning for the further studies or starting a fresh start of your carrier. Higher GPA can help you to take admission in your dream university or get your dream job. On the other hands, low GPA not only create hurdle for the further studies but also can become a reason not to get a good job, it means low GPA can limits your opportunities either these are in your academic or related to your job.
During the academic career GPA is the key tool to identify a student’s progress and interests. All awards and honors are also depending on the GPA that he earned. The scholarships and financial aids are also based on the earned GPA. This is a single digit number but most important thing in a student’s life that can make his future a successful or even can destroy his dreams.
At the start of professional career, the first step of success is based on the GPA that he earned during his educational journey. According to my own experience when low GPAs CVs are dropped at the first stage of recruitments by ATS even before reaching to the real recruiter. On the other hands, high GPA candidates are always considered for interview. GPA is also considered as a measuring unit of knowledge and hardworking.
Tips for Maintaining and Improving Your GPA
Consistency is a key to success, and the same rule applies to the educational career. If you consistently give a good amount of time to studying, you can definitely earn a good GPA. Here are a few tips based on my studies, experience, and research.
- High attendance: If you regularly attend classes and, during the class, pay your full attention to the lecture, it will give you directions to get a high GPA.
- Discipline is another major tool for success. Always cover your syllabus without collecting backlogs. It means never delaying your assignments, always staying focused in class, and writing your exam with full patience.
- Never skip any educational competition during the course. Always pay attention and give your best to stay on top.
- Asking questions is a key to understanding. Asking more questions will help you understand the topic in more depth. Questions will also help you clarify your concepts during the class and save time for research.
- Adopt smart study concepts, use the latest tools and technologies, and make them your assistant for understanding. Group study can also be beneficial if you can use it honestly purely for study purposes.
- Always prioritize your educational activities over any other activity. Doing so will definitely help you earn a high GPA.
Conclusion
GPA calculators are vital in your academic journey. In this modern era of science and technology, a variety of GPA tools are available on the internet to help students track their GPA at all levels. This is either required during college or university or when going abroad for educational purposes. GPA and GPA Calculators are important to set and achieve scholarships and admission to high-ranking universities.
I have shown you all the aspects of GPA and GPA calculators in this article. I also covered how to calculate GPA and convert GPA from one system to another. I have also given you tips on earning a high GPA based on my experience and studies. Taking these tips on severe note and utilizing the GPA calculator more seriously will help students gain a high GPA. You can also use the GPA Calculator to track your academic progress, set targets, and manage study time according to the results of these GPA calculators.