A high GPA can help land you that dream job.
One of the ultimate goals for a person who graduates college is to get a good job and, ultimately, career in the field that she studied. One of the parameters that human resource personnel gauge when reviewing potential job candidates is the grade-point average (GPA) the applicant attained while attending college. Applicants with higher GPAs tend to get interviews more often than those with low GPAs. Summing up a student's GPA is as simple as counting 1, 2, 3, 4.
Instructions
1. Understand what the letter grade means. In general, students are given letter grades for the classes they take while in school. These letter grades are generally A, B, C, D and F. The F grade is used if a student has failed a class (some Midwestern states, such as Michigan, use the letter E for failing grades). There are other letter grades that are handed out as well, depending on the institution, such as "I" if the student did not attend enough of the class for it to be considered complete. It carries the same weight as a grade of F. A grade of A is considered exceptional; a B is considered above average; C is considered average; and D is considered below average, but passing.
2. Determine the number equivalent for the letter grade. Letter grades are based on a four-point scale. So, a letter grade of A is equivalent to 4.0, a B is equivalent to 3.0, a C is equivalent to 2.0, and a D is equivalent to 1.0. Some grades are further designated with "+" and "-" -- for example, B+. The "+" letter grades are listed as .3 higher than an even grade, so a B+ would be equivalent to a grade point of 3.3. The "-" letter grades are listed as .3 lower than an even grade, so a B- would be equivalent to a grade point of 2.7.
3. Figure your current GPA. Using a calculator, take the number equivalent of the grades you received for all of your classes in the current term and add them together, then divide by the total number of classes taken. For example, if you took five classes and received an A (4.0), A- (3.7), two B's (3.0) and a C+ (2.3), your total for those five grades would be 16. Divide that number by the total classes taken -- five -- and you would have a GPA of 3.2.
4. Determine your cumulative GPA -- the average of the grades you received during your college career. The process is the same: Determine the number equivalent for all of the grades you received and divide them by the total number of classes you received grades in (this includes any failing or incomplete grades, which would have no number value but would count as a taken class). For example, if you had taken 37 classes and had a total grade value of 122, your cumulative GPA would be 3.3, which works out to be a B+ average.
Tags: equivalent equivalent, grades received, letter grade, letter grades, number equivalent, average considered, classes received