Calculating Your OTACAS GPAs
- Last updated
- Save as PDF
|
If your program requires... (Note: see the Colleges Attended & Transcript Entry sections for more information on transcript and coursework requirements.) |
...then OTACAS does the following with GPAs... |
... and your application's final status is... |
|---|---|---|
|
Official Transcripts + Full Coursework Entry |
Calculates two GPAs and makes them available to your programs:
|
Verified |
|
Official Transcripts + Prerequisite Entry Only |
Provides your programs with per transcript and overall GPAs. |
Verified |
|
Official Transcripts + No Coursework Entry |
Provides your programs with per transcript and overall GPAs. |
Verified |
|
Unofficial Transcripts + Prerequisite Entry Only |
Does not calculate or provide GPAs to programs. |
Complete |
|
Unofficial Transcripts + No Coursework Entry |
Does not calculate or provide GPAs to programs. |
Complete |
|
No Transcripts + No Coursework Entry |
Does not calculate or provide GPAs to programs. |
Complete |
Overview
During verification, OTACAS uses the information you entered in the Transcript Entry section to calculate several GPAs, including GPAs for each institution you attended. To calculate these GPAs, each A-F or 0-100 grade you entered in the Grade field is first converted to a OTACAS numeric grade value, then multiplied by the attempted credits. The resulting product is Quality Points.
Your total Quality Points are then divided by your Attempted Credits to determine your GPA.
Non-graded credits are not included in your GPAs. Non-graded credits are earned credits for which you did not receive actual letter grades (e.g., advanced placement credits, "pass" or "satisfactory" credits, college board AP exams, courses taken as pass/fail, etc.). Note: a grade of WF (i.e., equivalent of a withdrawn with penalty, withdrawn failing, etc.) is factored into GPA calculations as an F.
OTACAS calculates all GPAs in semester hours. Courses that were completed in quarter hours are converted to semester hours. The conversion ratio is 1.0 quarter hour = 0.667 semester hours.
Use the GPA Calculator to see how OTACAS will calculate your GPA.
Example:
|
Course |
Transcript Grade |
Converted Numeric Grade Value |
Attempted Credits |
Calculation |
Quality Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
MATH 1100 |
A |
4 |
4 |
4 x 4 |
16 |
|
ENGL 1310 |
B |
3 |
3 |
3 x 3 |
9 |
|
GEOL 1610 |
C |
2 |
4 |
2 x 4 |
8 |
|
PHED 1000 |
D |
1 |
3 |
1 x 3 |
3 |
|
PSCI 1040 |
F |
0 |
3 |
0 x 3 |
0 |
|
Total |
|
|
17 |
|
36 |
|
GPA Calculation: 36 (Quality Points) / 17 (Attempted Credits) = 2.12 (GPA) |
|||||
GPA Types
OTACAS calculates several GPA types, including:
School GPAs
School GPAs are based on your overall GPA for each school you have listed in the Colleges Attended section. Because of the standardization that occurs during verification, it is not uncommon to see GPA discrepancies between what your schools calculate and what OTACAS calculates. Discrepancies can occur for several reasons, including if:
- OTACAS does not recognize an individual school's policies for forgiveness, academic renewal, or grade replacement for repeated courses. OTACAS will verify based on how grades for repeated courses are reported on the official transcripts. All grades earned for repeated courses are factored into your OTACAS School GPA.
- OTACAS's numeric grade values differ from an individual school's.
- OTACAS calculates all GPAs in semester hours. Courses that were completed in quarter hours are converted to semester hours. The conversion ratio is 1.0 quarter hour = 0.667 semester hours.
Additionally, note that if you manually enter more than one college as an "Unlisted US Institution" in the Colleges Attended section, then your GPA for all the unlisted colleges will be combined into a single "Unlisted US Institution" GPA.
School GPA Example:
|
School Name |
Graded Credits |
Quality Points |
GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
|
ABC College |
97.0 |
334.0 |
3.44 |
|
XYZ University |
35.0 |
94.0 |
2.68 |
Year-level GPAs
Using Quality Points, OTACAS calculates a GPA for each academic year. GPAs from your Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior academic years are subsequently:
- Combined with any post-baccalaureate coursework to create a cumulative undergraduate GPA, and
- Combined with any post-baccalaureate coursework plus any graduate coursework to create an overall GPA.
Year-Level GPA Example:
|
Year |
Credits |
Quality Points |
GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Freshman |
66 |
166.2 |
2.52 |
|
Sophomore |
48 |
119.4 |
2.49 |
|
Junior |
66 |
223.2 |
3.38 |
|
Senior |
60 |
169.2 |
2.82 |
|
Total |
240 |
678.0 |
2.83 |
|
Post-Baccalaureate |
28 |
112.0 |
4.00 |
|
Cumulative Undergraduate |
268 |
790.0 |
2.95 |
|
Graduate |
66 |
245.4 |
3.72 |
|
Overall |
334 |
1035.4 |
3.10 |