Does WES Raise Your GPA? Real Cases and How It Works

One reason people do a WES evaluation is to see whether their GPA will improve. The answer: it may rise, and it may fall, depending on the shape of your grades.

How does WES convert?

WES converts your courses one by one to a North American 4.0 scale. In that system major courses carry more weight, and non-core courses (such as PE or political theory) carry less. For example, a political-theory course that scored well on a 5-point scale may count for very little, or be converted very low.

Two real directions

• Up: we have seen 2.4 rise to 2.8. Students with strong major grades and weak general-course grades are more likely to benefit.
• Down: we have also seen 3.6 fall to 3.0. If general courses are high and major courses low, the conversion can lower the result.

How to anticipate it

1. List the averages of your major courses and your general courses separately.
2. Check how many political-theory courses you have and what you scored.
3. Remember that U.S. universities do not always require WES; confirm that year’s requirement for your programme first.