Pusan National University (PNU) student Lee Ji-Min (School of Public Policy and Management, 22), who is preparing for admission to the Law School, is facing difficulties due to PNU’s Grade Point Average (GPA) conversion regulations. Despite high grades, the resulting score according to the GPA regulations of PNU is lower than that of students with the same grades at other universities. Since most law schools apply the GPA conversion formula of the previous university to the admissions process, law school applicants are inevitably sensitive to GPA conversion regulations. 

Compiling the coverage of “Channel PNU” on March 22nd, the “GPA conversion formula” converting GPA to a 100-point scale varies from university to university. PNU converts GPA according to Article 32 of the “PNU Academic Regulations.” Accordingly, GPA is calculated by multiplying the grade points of each course by the credits and dividing the total by the applied credits, rounding to the third decimal place, and converting that value to a 100-point scale according to the “Actual Score Conversion Table.”

The issue is that when applying PNU’s table, the converted score with the same credit is lower than other universities. According to the investigation by “Channel PNU” on March 21st, in the case of PNU operating on a 4.5 credit system, 4.0 corresponding to A0 translates to 94 points. When comparing that to other major national universities, it is 94.3 points for Jeonbuk National University, 94.3 points for Kangwon National University, and 94.9 points for Chungnam National University. For private universities in the capital area, 94.29 points for Chung-Ang University, 95 points for Korea University (KU), and 95 points for Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU). The results of each university differ, ranging 0.3 to 1 point difference from PNU.

When comparing PNU’s converted scores with those of other universities operating on a 4.3 credit system, PNU’s scores are much lower. For universities operating on a 4.3 credit system, when converting a 4.0 corresponding to an A0, the score of major national universities is this: 96 points for Kyungpook National University, and 97 points for Seoul National University (SNU). As for private universities in the capital area, 97.67 points for Kyung Hee University, 97 points for Yonsei University, and 96.5 points for Ewha Womans University. However, PNU’s score is 94 points.

Achieving high grades in universities operating on a 4.5 credit system is more challenging than in those operating on a 4.3 credit system. Universities operating on a 4.3 credit system, unlike PNU, have -(minus) grades, which means that the range for an A grade is relatively broader. For instance, if a student scores 3.7 points in a course, it is evaluated as B+ (3.5) in the 4.5 credit system. In contrast, it is assessed as A- (3.7) in the 4.3 credit system.

Many metropolitan universities are revising their conversion methods upward to enhance students’ competitiveness. University of Seoul raised its percentile conversion scores by one point for GPA below 4.4 in April, 2021. Then, in 2023, SNU, KU, and SKKU also revised their conversion formulas to allow the conversion scores according to the previous formula to increase from 0.7 points to 0.5 points.

Students are discontent with PNU’s GPA conversion method. According to a survey by the General Students’ Association (GSA) regarding the “Revision of GPA Conversion Regulations” from February 27th to March 2nd, Lee Ji-Min’s experience is not the only one. The Education Policy of the GSA stated, “Because the report has not been completed yet, we cannot disclose detailed information. However, most of the 427 respondents expressed the need for revision, saying that PNU’s GPA was unfair.” in response to the “Channel PNU” question on March 6th.

The GSA, which campaigned to revise GPA conversion regulations, plans to establish detailed policy directions based on the survey results. Choi Han-Gyeol (Dept. of Mathematics, 22), the Director General of the Education Policy of GSA, stated, “We will make efforts to reflect student opinions through discussions with relevant departments, based on the results of this survey and additional studies related to GPA.”

However, it remains to be seen whether the revision of GPA regulation can fundamentally solve the problem caused by varied conversion standards among universities. Choi said that issues with GPA inflation, which means increasing overall scores after the revision, are also expected. The question of whether a nationally standardized metric without errors can be established remains. 

Reporter Choi Yun-Hui

Translated by Ha Chae-Won