What is the difference between GPA, CGPA , in-Major GPA, and Faculty GPA?
If you go around a university and ask random students: “what is your GPA?” Chances are you will be given:
a) a nasty look;
b) a CGPA, GPA, in Major GPA or a faculty GPA — whether or not your respondent knows the difference; or
c) an “I don’t know”,
or a combination of all three.
Respondents with (c) answer can be genuinely puzzled, especially if they are only one term or two in, or they are international students who have been understanding their academic performance using different metrics.
So, why is it so hard to report your grades?
The Canadian university grading system is challenging to understand because it varies across institutions and provinces; and it has elements from both the European letter grade/percentage system, and the North American grade point system. For example, University of Victoria uses the 9-point GPA system, MacEwan University determines GPA on a 4.0 scale, while Queens University uses the percentage system. We shall begin with understanding some basic grade point terminology in this post:
GPA (Grade Point Average)
Your GPA is derived from either letter grades or percentages that you obtained from your subjects in a completed semester, with a value of 0–4, 0–4.7or 0–9 on a 9-point scale. It is also called an overall or general GPA because it consider all courses regardless of faculty offering them.
Now, how do you calculate GPA? This general example of a 4.0 scale GPA below shows the calculation if you take 3 subjects in a semester:
Subject 1 :
Subject units = 3.0 (generally means 3 instruction hours per week)
Letter grade = A (equals 4.0 grade points)Subject 2:
Subject units = 3.0
Letter grade = B- (equals 2.7 grade points)Subject 3:
Subject units = 3.0
Percentage = 68 (falls in 67-69 range therefore equals 2.3 grade points*)
Your GPA in this semester:[(3.0 x 4.0) + (3.0 x 2.7) + (3.0 x 2.3)] divided by (3.0 x 3 subjects) = 3.0
Note: Some people may be confused about the weighted/unweighted GPA distinction, a practise more commonly used in American high school system. Only a handful of schools use the weighted average, such as the Edwards School of Business in University of Sasketchewan. In general, the difficulty of a particular course in the Canadian higher education system is derived from your class size and class grade average.
Your GPA is an assessment of your performance in the current semester. Note that the percentage to grade point conversion (68% = 2.3 grade points) in this example follows the University of Calgary practice, while the letter grade conversion is from Dalhousie University. This conversion may be different in other institutions.
CGPA (Culmulative Grade Point Average)
A CGPA is your academic performance from 0.00–4.00, calculated as an average of your GPA from all completed terms/semesters. For example,
GPA from Fall 2017: 2.5GPA from Winter 2018: 3.1CGPA: 2.5 + 3.1 divided by 2 semesters = 2.80
Your CGPA is used for an assessment of your overall academic standing. For example, if you are a student in University of Lethbridge with over 20 completed credits, you are in good standing if CGPA is over 2.0. If your CGPA is less than 2.0, you will be placed on academic probation. It will also be noted in your final transcript and be assessed for graduating honours.
In addition, many scholarships, merit-based financial aid, and funding programs consider the CGPA in their assessment.
Faculty GPA / Faculty CGPA
Faculty GPA and CGPA uses the same formula for overall GPA, but only consider courses that are offered by the student’s home faculty. For example, if you are in the engineering faculty, your faculty GPA will represent only grades in courses offered by the engineering faculty.
A faculty GPA is important for funding resources within the faculty, applications to honours programs, admission to special certificate programs within your current degree, and other programs within or inter-faculty that requires assessment of your academic performance.
Note that most programs do not look at faculty GPA but overall CGPA, such as a campus community contribution recognition, or a student leadership award.
In-Major GPA
In-major GPA is important for your pursuit in research, employment, and applications to graduate school in a program related to your major. For students in a specialization or honours program, your in-major GPA determines your eligibility to stay in the program, and graduate with the honours recognition. For example, a students needs to maintain a 3.3 in-major GPA to stay in an honours program in University of Calgary.
So, which one do you use when someone asks you “what’s your GPA”?
Answer: (a) a nasty look.
Because they shouldn’t be asking anyway.
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