1-A
2-B
3-C
4-D
5-E
6-Incomplete

x.5 would probably stand in place for the +/-, i.e., a 1.5 would probably be like a A-.

an A-

Charlie are you sure you didn't get carried away there. Shouldn't the 5 be equivalent to an F? I have never seen an E on a grade card except in elementary school where the grades were U for unsatisfactory, S for satisfactory and E for excellent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grading_in_the_U...

The two most common grading systems assign numeric values approximately as follows:

percentage system
A+ .... 98-100%
A ...... 93-97%
A– .... 90-92%
B+ .... 88-89%
B ...... 83-87%
B– .... 80-82%
C+ .... 78-79%
C ...... 73-77%
C– .... 70-72%
D+ .... 68-69%
D ...... 63-67%
D– .... 60-62%
F ...... 59% and below

4-point system
(A+ .... 4.3)
A ...... 4.0
A– .... 3.7
B+ .... 3.3
B ...... 3.0
B– .... 2.7
C+ .... 2.3
C ...... 2.0
C– .... 1.7
D+ .... 1.3
D ...... 1.0
D– .... 0.7
F ...... 0.0

Having 4.3 as the top complicates matters on the 4-point scale, so it might be useful to calculate the conversion once with that, and another time with only 4.0 as the top, to see how much difference it makes. Wikipedia says many schools use 4.0 both for A+ and A, but I haven't come across that myself, and it seems counterintuitive; if both grades exist at all, surely they can't be the same. However, it could indeed be true that the grade of A+ exists mostly only at the high-school level, not at the college level, where a true 4-point scale is more common.

Wikipedia also says that some schools use, say, 3.5 for both A– and B+, but that also seems very illogical, and I haven't encountered anything like that myself.

Anyway, surely one of the math or computer buffs among us could write a formula for conversion to and from the 6-point scale (with 1 as the top, which also complicates matters). But I myself don't know how (or whether) fractional grades are given on that scale.

And I'm also not sure how to factor in the failing point, which is also a sort of absolute anchor point on each scale. In most US schools, only an F is a failing grade, but is it true that a 5 and a 6 are both failing grades in the 6-point German system, or am I remembering that wrong?

Here's an earlier discussion. It might help.


related discussion: GPA Grading System

Yeah, I had forgotten about that. There may even be several other old discussions.

I agree with one comment in the other thread: It's probably not a good idea to try to translate your own grades for any official purpose. Personnel departments and admission departments probably have their own systems of equivalency, and you don't want to give the impression of dishonesty even if you were only intending to give an approximation.

You're probably right Snickerdoodle. Students, such as myself, tend to throw around an E as a natural progression of D, even when it's supposed to be an F. I've never seen an E for "excellent," though.

Having experienced both German and US grading systems, 5 and 6 are both definitely failing grades in the German system. It's just the distinction between having failed and being a moron that the US system does not care to make. Then, on the surface, the correspondence is very easy:

A = 1.0
A- = 1.3
B+ = 1.7
B = 2.0
B- = 2.3
C+ = 2.7
C = 3.0
C- = 3.3
D+ = 3.7
D = 4.0
and perhaps
D- = 4.3
F = anything above 4.3.

How this relates to a percentage system (not used in the German scale) is defined by whatever percentages translate into the letter grade. The true equivalency is skewed, however, by the fact that many US grades are corrupted by 'grading on a curve', i.e., the "C" grade is determined by the maximum (or median) of some (oftentimes) arbitrary point system. Grading of that kind does exist in Germany, but I believe it is not as prevalent and endemic as it is in the US.

Another problem with translating the grades is the fact that they don't really translate, even if you can line them up in parallel scales. A 3 in Germany is a respectable grade, whereas a C in the US is much less so.

I'm guessing here but perhaps the difference between 5 and 6 in the German system is their consequences. My husband is a teacher, and I know from experience that a 5 is reason to fail a grade, but it can be compensated for by having a 3 or better in 2 other subjects (or something like that). I can imagine that a 6 is an automatic ticket to repeat the grade.

Danke für die vielen Reaktionen auf meine Frage!
Meine Schlußfolgerung daraus lautet: Obwohl es ein mathematisch korrektes Umrechnungssystem gibt, lassen sich die Notensysteme nicht auf einen gemeinsamen Nenner bringen. Wenn ich mich an die Noten aus meiner kurzen Zeit an einer walisischen "grammar school" erinnere, so gab es da nur selten etwas Schlechteres als ein C+, während bei uns auf dem Gymnasium in Bayern eine 3 als eine recht gute Note gilt. Übrigens ist hier im Jahreszeugnis eine 5 erlaubt, führt also nicht zum Sitzenbleiben; die Möglichkeit eines Ausgleiches mit einer 1 oder zweimal Note 2 in einem Hauptfach stellt sich erst bei 2 5ern oder einer 6, sofern die restlichen Noten deutlich besser sind (da gibt es genaue Vorschriften) und außerdem die Lehrerkonferenz dem Notenausgleich zustimmt.

The percentage system already supplied doesn't look correct to me.

greater than 80% was the A's
70 - 79% - B's
60-69% - C's
50-59% - D's
less than 50 was a fail where 40 - 49 was an E and everything else below was a F.

I am no longer sure of the exact breakdown of A-, A, A+, B- etc.

This is the actual grade conversion my exchange program uses for transferring my grades at my German university to my American university.

A = 1/1,0 – 1,25 sehr gut/good
A = 1- /1,3 – 1,7 sehr gut - gut/very good - good
A- = 2+ /1,75 – 1,9 gut+/good+
B+ = 2/2,0 – 2,25 gut/good
B = 2- /2,3 – 2,5 gut-voll befriedigend/good - fully satisfactory B = 2-3/2,6 - 2,7 voll befriedigend/ fully satisfactory
B- = 3+/2,75 – 2,9 voll befriedigend – befriedigend/fully satisfactory - satisfactory
C+ = 3/3,0 – 3,4 befriedigend/satisfactory
C = 3-4/3,6 – 3,9 befriedigend – ausreichend/satisfactory - adequate
C = 4/4,0 – 4,25 ausreichend/adequate
C- = 4-/4,3 – 4,9 ausreichend-/less than adequate
D = 5/5,0 – 5,5 nicht ausreichend/inadequate
F = 6/5,6 – 6,0 ungenügend/unsatisfactory

Danke alysse, genau nach so etwas habe ich gesucht!

Nichts fuer ungut, alysse, aber bitte Vorsicht mir dieser Umrechnungstabelle!

Diese erscheint mir extrem auf dein Einzelfall bezogen. Normalerweise gilt ein D in einem Kurs an einer amerikanischen Universitaet oder Schule als "bestanden" und entspricht damit der 4 im deutschen System. Das von alysse genutzte Umrechnungsschema "schönt" die deutschen Noten etwas. Das mag im Einzelfall durchaus korrekt sein (wie schon angsprochen, ist die Vergabepraxis der Noten durchaus unterschiedlich und eventuell sind die Durchschnittsnoten an dieser amerikanischen Uni hoeher als an der deutschen), aber diese Umrechnung muss von der amerikanischen Uni vorgeschlagen werden. Ein Student, der eigenstaendig behauptet seine deutsche 3 entspraeche einer C+, tritt eventuell gehoerig ins Fettnaepfchen oder setzt sich dem Verdacht der "Schönung" aus.

Ich wuerde mich lieber an das Schema in #9 halten oder auch an die Kommentare in related discussion: Umrechnen von Schulnoten Deutschland-Amerika

ich kenne das von meiner Uni noch extremer als #13.
In der Regel scheint die Notenvergabepraxis in den USA eine ganz andere zu sein, dort bekommt man die guten Noten hinterhergeschmissen und das Niveau der Pruefungen ist deutlich niedriger als in Deutschland.
Waehrend man in D vor allem im Vordiplom froh ueber eine 4 ist, werden in den USA ganz gute Noten vergeben.
Bei meinem Zeugnis wurden alle Noten besser als 2,3 in ein A uebersetzt. Umgekehrt galt dann allerdings auch, dass man fuer seine erworbenen As in Deutschland nur eine 2.0 bekommen hat.