GPA Calculation for Australian schools?

[Lokhtar]

I was reading the FAQ on GPA calculation, and I am not sure how it would work for someone like me. I went to undergrad part time and finished it with a 3.43 (took seven years, but I had no choice due to family illness). I am now in a post-bac where I have a 3.94 so far (I should finish in six months), but it is not toward a degree. Also, unit wise, my post-bac is on a traditional semester system while my undergrad was on a quarter system.

According to the FAQ, only the last three years that count toward a degree are calculated? Does that mean my post-bac doesn't count? Any help is appreciated.

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[shan564]

The post-bac doesn't count if you don't get a degree. However, your undergrad GPA is actually considered pretty good in Australia (it's much harder to get an 'A' there than it is here), so you probably won't need to worry about it. If you do well on the MCAT, you'll probably get in with the 3.43.

 

[Lokhtar]

What happens if it took me such a long time to get a bachelors? Do I break it up into three equal parts? Someone said that they weigh the last third more (if so I have a 3.85 in the last third, that will help?) I appreciate your help.

 

[shan564]

That policy varies from school to school. Some schools will give 50% weight to the last "third", 33% to the second "third", and 17% to the first "third". Other schools will weight the whole thing evenly. For UQ and USyd, they won't even look at your GPA as long as it's above 2.7.

 

[lyndal]

I would recommend you contact the schools you are interested in as many calculate their GPAs differently. But Shan is correct, you have a competitive score and should be OK,

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Your MCAT score will also be heavily weighed in the decision to offer you an interview. I think your GPA should be okay, but you definitely need a good MCAT score to get into school here.

 

[Lokhtar]

Right now, I am scoring around 31 on the practice tests. I have until April (my classes end in March, and I want to devote one month of full time study on top of what I am doing during my post-bac). I think I can get that up to a 34-35 by that point. A low estimate of my score, assuming I don't improve at all, would be around a 31. Is that too low?

 

[lyndal]

Right now, I am scoring around 31 on the practice tests. I have until April (my classes end in March, and I want to devote one month of full time study on top of what I am doing during my post-bac). I think I can get that up to a 34-35 by that point. A low estimate of my score, assuming I don't improve at all, would be around a 31. Is that too low?

Again it depends where you apply. 31 is competitive at Wollongong, but may not be in some of the larger schools..... you need to seek advice from the schools themselves, or from agents like Australearn or Oztrekk

Lyndal

 

[shan564]

31 will probably be good enough for most schools in Australia. It'll at least get you into Queensland.

 

[jaketheory]

generally the aus school wont look at postbac, but Notre Dame may.

because your degree is likely a 4 year degree (if its from the US), to calculate your gpa you would divide the coursework into 4 equal full-time equivalent year portions. because almost all aus med schools will only consider the last 3 full-time equivalent years, your gpa would be calculated only ont the last 3 full-time equivalent years. as noted above, many will weight them progressively.