A very general question about university transcripts & GPA

[jeeves0923]

I would say that ad coms probably do a better job of determining the definition of "good grades" than we do on TM. I definitely think standards are adjusted for different grading scales. I think the 3.9 rule generally holds for those from American Universities that are not top 10 type institutions. However, it is neither necessary nor sufficient as the location of that boundary varies with other application variables such as LORs, GREs, and research experience.

[asianeconomist]

I once read somewhere (probably in TM) that while evaluating applicants from relatively unknown universities, current students from that university/country are requested by the adcoms to provide a perspective on the relative performance of the applicant.

For instance, even the best school in a obscure South-east Asian country might have complete anonymity in US. In that case, adcoms would benefit from asking a student from that country to put the applicant's profile in perspective.