The one leveling number when discussing your achievement in school, whether it is college or high school, is your grade point average (GPA). A numeric representation describing how well you performed in school, a GPA ranges from 4.0 to 0.0, with straight A’s equaling a 4.0 GPA. Some schools, such as Penn Foster College, grade each course assignment on a percentage scale. Your grade for the class has a letter grade assigned at the completion of the course. When comparing yourself to students at other schools, you must convert your letter grades to a GPA.
List all the courses you have taken at Penn Foster College. Include in the listing the grade you received and the number of credits for the course.
Assign a point value to each letter grade you received. The points associated with letter grades are 4 for an A, 3 for a B, 2 for a C, 1 for a D and 0 for an E.
Multiply the point value by the number of credits for each course. Add up the points acquired for all the courses you have taken.
Add up the total number of credits you earned during your time at Penn Foster College.
Divide the number of points earned by the number of credits earned and the result is your GPA. Take, for example, two courses worth four credits and three courses worth three credits each. If you received a B in both courses worth four credits and an A in each of the three-credit courses, the GPA would be calculated as (4 X 3) + (4 X 3) + (3 X 4) + (3 X 4) + (3 X 4) = 60 grade points divided by the total number of credits of 20. Therefore, your GPA equals (60/20) = 3.0.
Related Articles
Writer Bio
Sean Lancaster has been a freelance writer since 2007. He has written for Writers Research Group, Alexis Writing and the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce. Lancaster holds a Doctor of Philosophy in chemistry from the University of Washington.