The major scales
| Scale | Ceiling | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| 4.0 unweighted | 4.0 | Most US K-12, basic college |
| 4.0 plus-minus | 4.0 (or 4.3) | Most US colleges |
| 5.0 weighted | 5.0 | US high schools with honors/AP/IB |
| 4.33 LSAC | 4.33 | US law school admissions (LSAC CAS) |
| 10.0 CGPA | 10.0 | Most Indian universities, some Asian |
| Percentage | 100 | European, Latin American, Asian universities |
| UC capped | 5.0 | UC admissions (with 8-semester cap) |
Quick conversions to 4.0
- From 5.0 weighted: No clean conversion. Most colleges look at both numbers.
- From 10.0 CGPA: Simple proportion = (CGPA / 10) × 4. Or use WES table.
- From percentage: 85+ ≈ A (4.0), 75-84 ≈ A- (3.7), 70-74 ≈ B+ (3.3).
- From 4.33 (LSAC): Drop the A+ ceiling; A and above = 4.0.
When the conversion matters
US admissions usually accepts your home transcript at face value. They will do their own conversion if needed. Submit the GPA on its native scale and provide context in any free-text field. If a specific 4.0 number is required, use the simple proportion or your target school's published table.