Bristol1983

Has anybody had any experience with having their UK undergraduate degree translated to a US equivalent grade? I just had mine done and my 2:1 Upper Class Honours degree was translated to only a US GPA of 3.17 which seems awfully low. My overall UK score was 67 so pretty strong but the translation is way below expectations.

I needed a 3.5 US GPA to be accepted onto a graduate school program as well!

markcst

I guess it depends on who you have used and how expert they are. Best advise I have seen on here is to use the grade conversion agency recommended by the international admissions people at the university/college you want to attend. GPA's are black art in some parts of the US. Have you checked out Free Degree Equivalency | World Education Services ?

Bristol1983

I did the WES calculator yesterday and it came up to 3.47. Other online conversions suggest it's between 3.3 and 3.7.

NatashaB

I had a similar issue when I had my OU work translated to US GPA scores. They don't take any account of the fact that the UK courses were far more rigorous than the US equivalents - just converted the score.

malch

There's really no definitive conversion or right answer. I think it will depend on how the schools you apply to will choose to view it. In the US, a 3.5 GPA is frequently required for graduate programs and in the UK, a 2:1 is often the prerequisite. So I think you're in the right ballpark.

I would call or email an admissions officer at the school(s) you're considering and ask them what they think. They may provide additional tips or guidance on how best to present your application.

sherbert

Yep. My OH has a 7 year engineering Masters degree and that was assessed to be equivalent of a US bachelors. We laughed a lot.

markcst

To be honest most people see Masters as a bridging degree even in the UK. When I was a lad, a long time ago, it was seen as the "I made a mistake with my first choice of degree but this is my get out one!"
They give them away at Oxford and Cambridge...
Its the content that matters in reality, not the label.

Bristol1983

I decided to take my transcript to a different company (World Education Services) and, low and behold, my GPA is 3.46 which the university will round to a 3.5 and admit me to their program.

Complaint already lodged with Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) and refund requested.