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vapid's picture

Converting British grades to GPA?

by vapid (Chimp, 8 Banana Points Points) on 8/19/08 at 10:31pm

Hi guys, I'm an American who's looking to returning to work in the States after graduating from the LSE.

So far I have a 2:1 average score, and I was just wondering if I should put that on my resume, post my individual grades, (I did better than a 2:1 in econometrics but worse in micro) or convert my 2:1 to a GPA. Thing is, I looked all over the LSE website and couldn't find a definite equal GPA.

Thanks for any help!

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kingb's picture

I had the same problem and I

by kingb (Chimp, 14 Banana Points Points) on 8/20/08 at 12:01am

I had the same problem and I just wrote my UK degree classification but really unless the person reviewing the resume is familiar with the different grading system I don't think there is any way to accurately convert it. In the UK, 2.1 or above just acts as a threshold thats usually good enough for all but the most competitive places but really it covers a huge spectrum of students so a conversion to GPA would be misleading. Having said that, I think the link below gives a reasonable idea what the range should be like and a good 2.1 should be more or less an A- in the US.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/usa-education-advisors-us-study-abroad-faq...

briboy22's picture

Also at the LSE. I would

by briboy22 (Senior Chimp, 24 Banana Points Points) on 8/20/08 at 4:15am

Also at the LSE.

I would just put the class you graduate - distinction or merit. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a 2.1 is equal to merit and a 2.2 is distinction.

smallmonck's picture

I thought that a First was

by smallmonck (Chimp, 13 Banana Points Points) on 8/20/08 at 5:30am

I thought that a First was merit, 2.1 distinction and 2.2 pass?

LdnMezz's picture

No

by LdnMezz (Senior Baboon, 178 Banana Points Points) on 8/20/08 at 6:40am

3rd is a pass.

newbie2banking's picture

No 'pass' is a pass. 3rd is

by newbie2banking (Senior Orangutan, 400 Banana Points Points) on 8/20/08 at 7:19am

No 'pass' is a pass. 3rd is better, then 2.2, 2.1, then first.

2.1 should be 3.6-ish, depending on the strength of the 2.1.

LdnMezz's picture

You're right newbie, see below:

by LdnMezz (Senior Baboon, 178 Banana Points Points) on 8/20/08 at 8:12am

http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/graduateTeachingAssistantsHandbook/append...

not the right course, but the structure is the same.

nauru's picture

2.1 could be anything from

by nauru Certified User(Senior Baboon, 197 Banana Points Points) on 8/20/08 at 10:58pm

2.1 could be anything from 3.0 to 3.7, since basically anyone in roughly the top half of the class gets a 2.1. For graduate programs the requirement for UK students is a 2.1, while the requirement for US students is 3.5. So perhaps that's a reasonable rough equivalency.