The grading system in Chile is very different than we are used to in the United States. The system ranges from 0-7, while 7 is the best and 0 is the worst. There are couple interesting facts about it:
- 7 is the best as you can get and it is very rare if someone gets. It is like getting A+ in United States.
- To get 6 is still relatively hard. 6 equals A- grade in United States.
- 5 is much more common grade than 6. A lot of students get 5, which would be B- in United States.
- 4 is the passing grade in Chile. Anything bellow 4 is considered as “not passing” or “failing”. It would be the C- or some case C range in United States.
- 3 is a very poor grade and not passing. 3 is like getting a D or D-.
- 2 is an F or E.
- 1 is also an F or E.
But most students do not get round numbers like 4, 5 or 6. They get grades like 4.8, 5.2 or 6.4:
- 7-6 – A range (6.5=A for example)
- 6-5 – B range (5.5=B for example)
- 5-4 – C range (4.5=C for example)
- 4-1 – C to F range.
Lastly, in a lot of classes, at least in my university, students do not start at 0 but at 1. So to give example, let’s say that your average grade is 4.8. But your final grade is 5.8 (4.8 + 1). It may seem like a big help, but professors in Chile grade much harder, so it is very common that the best grade is 5.2 a B- in United States.