I’m about to become a senior. In new york city high schools, our gpa’s are measured in percents instead of numerical values. My culminative GPA is 91.75%. I’ve seen different charts online and some say 91 is 3.6 while others say 3.7. Which one is most accurate? Also if I’m able to achieve a high score on the Sat (I’m retaking in October) should I even bother to apply to my dream school Cornell or is that an impossible reach considering my GPA?
Some High Schools publish a school profile with a conversion chart showing what percentage grades translate to on a 4.0 scale and an A,B,C,D,F scale. See if your school has this. You should also know that grades vary widely from school to school. For example, at my kid’s HS, an unweighted GPA of 3.75 would place you in the top 5% of the class. At another school, a 3.75 might place you outside the top 10%.
Neither - your GPA is 91.75.
Unless you are asked to convert your GPA, which outside of the UCs and CSUs is rare, you report it as listed on your transcript. For those programs that ask for a GPA conversion, they will tell you how to convert.
Now, if your question is how will your 91.75 will impact your admissions to Cornell and similar schools, then the answer is - it depends. Your GPA will be evaluated in the context of other students in your HS (via your rank or by decile placement), and SAT/ACT, essays, recs, essays, etc all come into play.
What is your class rank? That will give you a better sense of your competitiveness for Cornell.
My class rank is 17 out of approximately 200 students, so I’m in the top 10 percent
That speaks volumes about the grading at your school. I would not worry about your gpa, focus on the rest of your application.
Ski’s right, you can report 91.75 on a 100 pt scale.
It also depends on whether your hs considers 91.75 to be an A or B. That will likely show in the school report the GC sends.
It is not just rank. A lot depends on who else applies from your school…or the hs down the road.
My kids’ school also used a 100 point scale, but more than one college wanted their GPA converted to a 4.0 scale.
Since their school considered an A to be 93-100, we just took all grades 93 and above as a “4,” any grades of 85 to 92 as a “3,” etc., then figured out the equivalent GPA. Kind of a pain, but not that hard.
The common app does ask what grade scale your school uses. Your GC would simply check 100 point scale, list your GPA. IF your school ranks, GC will also list your rank.
If you attend a NYC public school, your GC will have a copy of the academic policy which converts 100 point scale to 4.0 scale.
According to the NYC Academic Policy guide A 91 is a B+, 93 is an A-, 95 is an A and a 98 is an A+