3.58 GPA as a percentage?

a fat guy

Hi folks,

I've been googling for about an hour now trying to figure out exactly how much more work I need to do to get a distinction (3.68 GPA), but nothing useful comes up and UCD's quick guide is about as useful as a paper hat.

I received:

B (10 credit module)
A+ (7.5 credit module)
B+ (5 credit module)
B- (7.5 credit module)

And got 3.58 GPA as a result.

If anyone could help me turn this into a percentage (I've never had to deal with GPA before, it's always been percentages before this) I'd greatly appreciate it.

Cheers!

Greyian

GPA can't be mapped to percentage, as you can get different percentages across different modules, but still end up with the same GPA.

I believe UCD uses the following system.
Grade | Percentage | GPA
A+|76.67%+|4.2
A|73.34%-76.66%|4.0
A-|70.00%-73.33%|3.8
B+|66.67%-69.99%|3.6
B|63.34%-66.66%|3.4
B-|60.00%-63.33%|3.2
C+|56.67%-59.99%|3.0
C|53.34%-56.66%|2.8
C-|50.00%-53.33%|2.6
D+|46.67%-49.99%|2.4
D|43.34%-46.66%|2.2
D-|40.00%-43.33%|2.0


So, how was your GPA calculated.
You've done a total of 30 credits.
You got a B (3.4 GPA) in a 10 credit module, A+ (4.2 GPA) in a 7.5 credit module, B- (3.2 GPA) in a 7.5 module credit and a B+ (3.6 GPA) in a 5 module credit. So your overall GPA is equal to (3.40*10 + 4.2*7.5 + 3.2*7.5 + 3.6*5)/30, which comes to 3.58333, or 3.58 to 2 decimal places.

Assuming you are doing 60 credits (which a normal year is), you need to average 3.77667 in your other 30 credits, to give you an average of 3.68 GPA across the year.

Let's pretend you have 6*5 credit modules this semester. To get 3.77667, you'd need 5 A- and 1 B+ (of course, you could get 2 B+, 3 A- and an A, or a bunch of other possible permutations).

So, if you get exactly 70% in 5 modules, and 66.67% in another, that would give you 5 A- and 1 B+, at an average % of 69.45%, with a GPA of 3.76667. If, however, you got 73.33% in 5 modules, and 66.66% in the final module, that would give you 5 A- and 1 B, which would only give you a GPA of 3.733333, despite the average percentage being 72.22% (over 2.5% higher average).

In short...percentages are irrelevant for overall GPA. Percentages only matter for individual modules, to determine which grade band you end up in (exactly like the leaving certificate, where it is better to get 6 * 90%, than 5 * 100% and 1 * 89%, as the 6 90%s give you 6 A1s, whereas the 2nd scenario, despite a higher average percentage, would give you 5 A1s and 1 A2).

Mr.Saturn

Going by UCD's "Modular Grades Explained" guide, a 3.58 would place you slightly under a B+ average, and UCD use a 68.33% a calculation point for such a grade.

Edit: Or, yanno, just science it as above.

a fat guy

Thanks for the help folks!

So my best bet is to just aim for around 85% (A+) for each module? Since all that matters for my GPA is the letter?

Also, I'm doing three semesters (Negotiated Learning Masters) so I think I can drag my grade up. Am I being unrealistic with this when I say that though? I still don't fully understand how GPA works...

Like, am I on 3.4 for the purposes of averaging my overall GPA across the three semesters or will my 3.58 be used?

a fat guy

Thanks for the help folks!

So my best bet is to just aim for around 85% (A+) for each module? Since all that matters for my GPA is the letter?

Also, I'm doing three semesters (Negotiated Learning Masters) so I think I can drag my grade up. Am I being unrealistic with this when I say that though? I still don't fully understand how GPA works...

Like, am I on 3.4 for the purposes of averaging my overall GPA across the three semesters or will my 3.58 be used?

Greenmachine

Are you studying undergraduate? What year are you in? Are individual years further loaded.
e.g year 1... 10% of overall grade, year 2... 20% of overall grade, year 3... 30% of overall grade, year 4...40% of overall grade.

Greenmachine

Are you studying undergraduate? What year are you in? Are individual years further loaded.
e.g year 1... 10% of overall grade, year 2... 20% of overall grade, year 3... 30% of overall grade, year 4...40% of overall grade.

a fat guy

Greenmachine wrote: »

Are you studying undergraduate? What year are you in? Are individual years further loaded.
e.g year 1... 10% of overall grade, year 2... 20% of overall grade, year 3... 30% of overall grade, year 4...40% of overall grade.

No, it's the computer science masters (negotiated learning) course. There's two semesters as normal, followed by a third in the summer that focuses on a group project, thesis or industry internship.

So it'd be my final year, and first, in Ucd.

Greenmachine

a fat guy wrote: »

No, it's the computer science masters (negotiated learning) course. There's two semesters as normal, followed by a third in the summer that focuses on a group project, thesis or industry internship.

So it'd be my final year, and first, in Ucd.

That makes more sense.