Hey, I'm just curious about how grades are calculated at University of California Irvine (UCI). I'm a high school junior and I'd like to know if there's a specific grade calculator or a method I could use to understand how my grades would translate for admissions at UCI. Thanks in advance!
Hey! It's important to understand that the grading system at the University of California Irvine (UCI) might be different from your high school's grading system. UCI, and the whole UC system, uses a slightly modified 4.0 scale.
Letter grades are assigned points as follows: A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, and F = 0. Plus and minus grades receive a 0.3 increment/decrement, such as A- = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, and so on. This system is fairly standard, but at UC schools, only your grades in A-G courses taken in 10th or 11th grade will be factored into your GPA.
Exactly which courses count as A-G courses can vary by school, but generally speaking they fall into the academic core, of English, social studies, foreign language, math, and science, although some electives such as arts courses also count. If you have any questions about whether one of your courses should be included, I'd recommend contacting your counselor, or reaching out to UCI's admissions office directly.
One key step is to make sure to add a point for each semester of a UC honors-level course (such as AP and IB courses), for a maximum of 8 points. Remember, only courses you took in 10th or 11th grade count, so you unfortunately can't earn any extra points for advanced coursework you take next year, as a senior.
Finally, you simply add the total number of points you've earned in A-G courses, and divide by the number of A-G courses you've taken. The resulting number will be your UCI GPA!
For a straightforward example, if you earned 36 total points in 12 A-G courses, your UCI GPA would be 3.0.
On one last, separate note, if you want tips on how to strengthen your overall application to UCI, beyond just your GPA, I'd recommend checking out this blog post from CollegeVine, which breaks down how to tackle their application essays: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-university-of-california-essays
Good luck with your college process!
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