How do you compare IB grades to GPA?

Just out of curiosity (again), how do you compare IB grades to the American GPA? (out of 4.0)....I've heard that a 7 is higher than 4.0 ....is this even possible? On my transcript it also says that a 6 is equivalent to american A+, 5 is A, and a 7 is just too high to compare to anything....wouldn't that mean anyone who doesn't have anything lower than 5 has a 4.0 GPA?

Reply 1

IB-more

Every school has to use their own system, or so it seems. At my American public school, the grades that we get are hardly ever on the IB 1 to 7 scale. Certain individual assignments will be graded on the IB scale, but they're always converted somehow to a percentage grade. So on my report card, I grades out of 100 in all of my classes, like lots of other schools. On top of that though, they "weight" the IB grades, essentially raising them a little because you're taking a harder courseload. So that's why I have an unweighted average of 94%, but a weighted average of 108%, even though it's impossible to get over 100% on your transcript.

I'm not sure about the 4-point scale though. That's just too confusing. I'm sure it works in a similar way, and that's how people who are insanely smart can get like 4.6's and 5.0's. It's all very confusing, honestly.

It's actually a good ToK topic to discuss: do the number grades actually mean anything? What's to distinguish between a 99.9999 and a 100 on a paper? What significance, if any, do the numbers have? What significance do ALL numbers have? Can we live without them? How can we live? Are we living? Are we? Are? er? r? e? ?

(There you have it. A Theory of Knowledgeable questions leading to the destruction of coherent thought. Excuse me while I go shut myself off in a cave now.)

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Reply 2

Firz

talespirit

Hm..I would say that the GPA system is not the most accurate way for you to compare between the two systems.

The American GPA system is not always out of 4.0 - depending on the school, the highest possible GPA ranges anywhere from a 4.0 to a 5 (in my school, for instance, it's 4.9). This is the reason many colleges recalculate a student's GPA rather than to simply accept what is printed on each student's High School Transcripts.

It would therefore make more sense for you to draw a relation between the letter grades and the IB scores. Thus, in the IB system the highest grade achievable is a 7 and in the American Grading system the highest grade possible is an A+. Therefore, a 7 on the IB is equivalent to an A+ (for the relevant course).

There is no such thing as the IB going off the scale when converted to American grades. Don't forget, courses in the American system are categorized not only by subject, but also by level of difficulty (e.g. Honors or AP courses).

Also, if you really want a comparison, you should be comparing the IB to the AP system. GPA is more reflective of course work while APs are the actual exams.

How do you compare IB grades to GPA?

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