A+:A as A:A- ?

[james1988]

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I know some schools have systems that allow for A+'s
My questions is when adcoms evaluate two transcripts, and one comes from a student who went to a school that uses A+'s, and another comes from a school which doesn't, suppose the two transcripts look like this:

Student A (from school that has A+'s)

XYZ101: A+
XYZ201: A
AZZ301: A
XYA401: A+

Student B (from school with no A+'s)

XYZ101: A
XYZ201: A -
AZZ301: A -
XYA401: A

Will adcoms look at these two students as essentially the same? I can reason two ways:

(a) yes, adcoms will treat the students as being academically analogous, as both received maximum possible grades in two courses and one step below the max in two other courses; an A+ for student A = an A for student B, and an A- for student B = an A for student A

...or...

(b) no, adcoms will treat student A as superior, despite the fact that his "earning potential" was higher, simply because an A+ is an A+ and an A is an A.


is the A in student A's school viewed as an A- by adcoms because it wasn't 'perfect'?

Which of these two options is true?

If (b) is true, than I think the evaluation system is completely unfair because (a) seems more logical to me.

What do you think?

 

[bigman225]

(1) get a hobby

(2) A+'s don't show up on AMCAS, and the criteria for A-'s are typically comparable from school to school

 

[flip26]

They look at your GPA. A+ = 4.0, so you get no extra bump in your GPA for an A+...an A- = 3.7, so you do lose a little if you come from a school with minus grading compared to one with no plus/minus...but who is to say that if you had only had plus/minus that you may have earned an A- instead of a B, or possibly a B+.

Coming from a uni with plus/minus grading, I like it. Just wish the A+ counted for more than an A...I had a bunch of them, including in some of the pre-reqs.

Not sure what you are asking otherwise.

 

[Aidan]

I know some schools have systems that allow for A+'s
My questions is when adcoms evaluate two transcripts, and one comes from a student who went to a school that uses A+'s, and another comes from a school which doesn't, suppose the two transcripts look like this:

Student A (from school that has A+'s)

XYZ101: A+
XYZ201: A
AZZ301: A
XYA401: A+

Student B (from school with no A+'s)

XYZ101: A
XYZ201: A -
AZZ301: A -
XYA401: A

Will adcoms look at these two students as essentially the same? I can reason two ways:

(a) yes, adcoms will treat the students as being academically analogous, as both received maximum possible grades in two courses and one step below the max in two other courses; an A+ for student A = an A for student B, and an A- for student B = an A for student A

...or...

(b) no, adcoms will treat student A as superior, despite the fact that his "earning potential" was higher, simply because an A+ is an A+ and an A is an A.


is the A in student A's school viewed as an A- by adcoms because it wasn't 'perfect'?

Which of these two options is true?

If (b) is true, than I think the evaluation system is completely unfair because (a) seems more logical to me.

What do you think?

Obviously they wouldn't be equal. GPA alone will tell you that - you seem to like math, now tell me. Does a 4.0 = 3.8X or 3.9X (I'm not sure how "-" is calculated into GPA, but it doesnt count as 4 points)
I'm also interested in AZZ 301, which school offers it?

 

[paranoid_eyes]

A+=A=4
A-=3.7

nuff said

 

[dArroway]

I know some schools have systems that allow for A+'s
My questions is when adcoms evaluate two transcripts, and one comes from a student who went to a school that uses A+'s, and another comes from a school which doesn't, suppose the two transcripts look like this:

Student A (from school that has A+'s)

XYZ101: A+
XYZ201: A
AZZ301: A
XYA401: A+

Student B (from school with no A+'s)

XYZ101: A
XYZ201: A -
AZZ301: A -
XYA401: A

Will adcoms look at these two students as essentially the same? I can reason two ways:

(a) yes, adcoms will treat the students as being academically analogous, as both received maximum possible grades in two courses and one step below the max in two other courses; an A+ for student A = an A for student B, and an A- for student B = an A for student A

...or...

(b) no, adcoms will treat student A as superior, despite the fact that his "earning potential" was higher, simply because an A+ is an A+ and an A is an A.


is the A in student A's school viewed as an A- by adcoms because it wasn't 'perfect'?

Which of these two options is true?

If (b) is true, than I think the evaluation system is completely unfair because (a) seems more logical to me.

What do you think?

uhh

 

[161927]

A+ = A > A-

/thread

 

[harposnarpo]

ADCOMs will see A+ marks, but they are factored in as 4.0 like normal A grades. A- are factored in as 3.7.

 

[james1988]

um.. idon't think anyone here understood my question

 

[Law2Doc]

um.. idon't think anyone here understood my question

No, I'm pretty sure they all did. An A+ equals an A on AMCAS (regardless of how your school treats it). An A- does not. So if you have As and A+s, you end up with a straight A average on AMCAS, ie a 4.0. If you have A-s, you have lower than a straight A average. So the two groups you listed ARE NOT THE SAME. The one with the A-s is lower. So student B in your example is treated as inferior. And that is totally fair because his grades are inferior both by his school's transcript, and the GPA as determined by AMCAS. He isn't getting A-s because his school doesn't use A+s, as you seem to be trying to suggest. The schools that do give A+s are just dividing the A group into two and they still have A-s as a separate category which are equivalent to A- at other schools. For example a 90-93% is an A-, a 94-96 is an A and a 97-100 is an A+ at schools with A+, and at schools without A+, it just means a 94-100 is an A, and 90-93 is an A-.

 

[aunt ethel]

At my undergrad school there was no such grade as an A+. When I found out that my current school (where I'm finishing my prereqs) offers A+ as a grade option, I thought it was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard of.

I think that there are many schools that do not offer A+ as a grade option, and also that adcoms will be looking at GPA, not necessarily at the letter grade so much. Therefore, someone with a bunch of A+ grades would just have a 4.0, whereas someone with a few A's and some A-'s would have less than a 4.0.

A+ =

 

[ChemGrad08]

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/2009conversionguide.pdf

 

[paranoid_eyes]

At my undergrad school there was no such grade as an A+. When I found out that my current school (where I'm finishing my prereqs) offers A+ as a grade option, I thought it was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard of.

I think that there are many schools that do not offer A+ as a grade option, and also that adcoms will be looking at GPA, not necessarily at the letter grade so much. Therefore, someone with a bunch of A+ grades would just have a 4.0, whereas someone with a few A's and some A-'s would have less than a 4.0.

A+ =

i agree with you 100%. but your complaint also spills over into why A-'s are treated with lower grade points than A's, because SEVERAL schools have no minuses. They give ONLY A, B, C, D, F. So it's technically not fair for this part too, since some students who would otherwise have had a B- end up with a B, skewing their gpa up. i guess this is counterbalanced by the B+'s, but there is no such counterbalance for A vs A-.

 

[ZagDoc]

I came from a school which didn't have A+s, even if you had higher than a 97% (I had a couple). So if I had to go against students from other schools who had a higher GPA even though they got identical grades to me percentage wide, I would be quite peeved. Honestly, rounding down is the only fair way to go.

 

[aunt ethel]

i agree with you 100%. but your complaint also spills over into why A-'s are treated with lower grade points than A's, because SEVERAL schools have no minuses. They give ONLY A, B, C, D, F. So it's technically not fair for this part too, since some students who would otherwise have had a B- end up with a B, skewing their gpa up. i guess this is counterbalanced by the B+'s, but there is no such counterbalance for A vs A-.

Hmmm....that's interesting. I didn't know that there were schools out there that only gave "whole" letter grades. I do know some give AB or BC instead of A-/B+ or B-/C+. This all actually makes me feel better, because although my post-bacc grades rock, my undergrad grades suck, and maybe with all this rounding, the adcoms just have to take grades with a grain (or a box) of salt?

 

[da8s0859q]

SO glad that my undergrad was a straight letter system - no +/- about it.

OP, I think L2D took care of your answer.

 

[schismal]

With the grade standardization, some people will always feel disadvantaged. So I won't complain about the GPA recalculation, where schools on a +/- scale are punished (at least the A's are). But I will complain when AMCAS changes the grades on my transcript and decides not report my A+'s to med schools, yet keeps the A-'s. They don't have to count it in their calculations, but at least be honest about the grade I earned.

 

[cystapharm]

seriously...the question was longer than it needed to be.

simply ask...is A+ same as A-?

like someone said...get a hobby.

 

[harposnarpo]

With the grade standardization, some people will always feel disadvantaged. So I won't complain about the GPA recalculation, where schools on a +/- scale are punished (at least the A's are). But I will complain when AMCAS changes the grades on my transcript and decides not report my A+'s to med schools, yet keeps the A-'s. They don't have to count it in their calculations, but at least be honest about the grade I earned.

Wait, A+'s aren't reported or aren't entered in to the GPA calculation?

 

[schismal]

Wait, A+'s aren't reported or aren't entered in to the GPA calculation?

They're calculated in AMCAS GPA as a 4.0 rather than 4.3.
Also, it seems like there's a 50/50 chance that AMCAS will change all your A+'s to A's. It doesn't happen to everyone, which of course only makes it look worse if they decide to edit your grades.

 

[wanttogohome]

So will med schools I apply to never know I received an A+? I understand that in calculation an A and A+ are equivalent, but I also thought schools could see it was an A+.

Can anyone who has earned an A+ please confirm or deny this? Thanks.

 

[harposnarpo]

They're calculated in AMCAS GPA as a 4.0 rather than 4.3.
Also, it seems like there's a 50/50 chance that AMCAS will change all your A+'s to A's. It doesn't happen to everyone, which of course only makes it look worse if they decide to edit your grades.

Yuck, sounds like a mess.

 

[cystapharm]

So will med schools I apply to never know I received an A+? I understand that in calculation an A and A+ are equivalent, but I also thought schools could see it was an A+.

Can anyone who has earned an A+ please confirm or deny this? Thanks.

they willl see it when they view your transcript but as far as it reflecting on your GPA it will just be calculuated as A so for schools that go by the point system your A+ is given points no more than A.

But having a string of A+s will indeed be very impressive and stand out on your transcript.