How does a GPA work?

[anna.xo]

Hi guys ! Just a quick question - how does the GPA actually work ? I'm a little confused.

Hypothetically, say you get 4 HDs for one semester, you would have a GPA of 4.0. But if you got 2 HDs and 2 Ds, your GPA would be a little lower. Is it possible to bring your GPA to 4.0 or does that only happen if you are a straight HD student?

Sorry for the silly question & thanks

[EEEEEEP]

Hi guys ! Just a quick question - how does the GPA actually work ? I'm a little confused.

Hypothetically, say you get 4 HDs for one semester, you would have a GPA of 4.0. But if you got 2 HDs and 2 Ds, your GPA would be a little lower. Is it possible to bring your GPA to 4.0 or does that only happen if you are a straight HD student?

Sorry for the silly question & thanks

AS the name suggests, the GPA is the average of your marks times the points that you get.

if your GPA drops below 4, you can never bring it back up.

Thus , to have a gpa of 4, you need a straight HD record.



**even with full HD's , the average will never hit 4. .. due to those 2 HDs**

[sidzeman]

When you times the points you get - what do you mean by points. Also, what is the difference between a GPA and WAM

[Joseph41]

Hi guys ! Just a quick question - how does the GPA actually work ? I'm a little confused.

Hypothetically, say you get 4 HDs for one semester, you would have a GPA of 4.0. But if you got 2 HDs and 2 Ds, your GPA would be a little lower. Is it possible to bring your GPA to 4.0 or does that only happen if you are a straight HD student?

Sorry for the silly question & thanks

Hey.

So, for Monash at least, you achieve the following number of "points" depending on each unit's results:
* High Distinction: 4.0
* Distinction: 3.0
* Credit: 2.0
* Pass: 1.0
* Near Pass: 0.7
* Fail: 0.3
* Withdrawn Fail: 0.0

The GPA is calculated by this formula, which, again, is taken from here.

So in your example, assuming that all units are "regular" units worth six credit points:
* Unit 1: 4.0 (High Distinction) x 6 (credit points) = 24
* Unit 2: 4.0 (High Distinction) x 6 (credit points) = 24
* Unit 3: 3.0 (Distinction) x 6 (credit points) = 18
* Unit 3: 3.0 (Distinction) x 6 (credit points) = 18

24 + 24 + 18 + 18 = 84
80/24 = 3.5

So your GPA would be 3.5. As EEEEEEP has alluded to, you can only achieve a 4.0 GPA with straight HDs.

I don't think I've explained that overly well. On the assumption that all of your units are worth the same number of credit points, you can just add up your total "score" (4 for an HD, 3 for a D and so on), and then divide by the number of units you've completed.

In this case, 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 = 14
14/4 = 3.5

[anna.xo]

Thanks EEEEEEP & Joseph for explaining this. It actually makes a lot more sense in my head now

[EEEEEEP]

When you times the points you get - what do you mean by points. Also, what is the difference between a GPA and WAM

As Joseph alluded to, units are allocated a number of points (which you get credited for when you pass the subject).

WAM is different.

The WAM (weighted average mark) is the average of all your marks (after weighting) .

The way they calculate it in different universities is different... so it is hard to generalise, but read these two links. Generally some sort of weight is applied to subjects (rather that using point system ..which GPA uses)
https://student.unsw.edu.au/wam
http://www.monash.edu/exams/official-record-results/wam

WAM does get 'weighted' when some universities offer both 6 UoC and 3 UoC courses.
ADditionally, some unis can weigh it depending on what year the subject was taken in as well.
...


Here is an illustration =)

[Joseph41]

Thanks EEEEEEP & Joseph for explaining this. It actually makes a lot more sense in my head now

Nah, all good! I still think my attempt at an explanation was unnecessarily convoluted haha, but yeah, hopefully has cleared it up at least a little.