This is the way colleges determine how you rank compared to other students. You insert your grade for each subject, or class (A, B, C, D, E, F, all the way to Z; now that's about as low as you can get) ... along with the credits for each subject. And you then get a grade point average. Of course, let's not forget that school quality and standards can vary, and the caliber of your competition can vary. Competition in school is like horses running at the racetrack; how you judge a horse depends upon who (or is it "whom"?) the horse is running against? You know, who's your competition?