A+s to boost gpa?

[doc3232]

Does it look bad if your gpa was raised through A+s rather than As?
Not asking if an A+ is better than an A.
What do you think?

I hope this doesn't turn into an Schools with A+ vs Schools without thread.
Thanks

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[Brownstain]

When you do your application through adsas they calculate your grade so your A+'s in fact don't count. You will get an adjusted gpa which is distributed to schools. The adjustments are there for that very reason, and some schools work in different systems (4.0 etc.)

 

[Brownstain]

When you do your application through adsas they calculate your grade so your A+'s in fact don't count. You will get an adjusted gpa which is distributed to schools. The adjustments are there for that very reason, and some schools work in different systems (4.0 etc.)

Can't hurt to have them on there though

Screwed up the edit, sorry for the double post

 

[doc3232]

ADSAS calculates A+ as a 4.3...
Just read it in their manual.

 

[Hysteria24]

You guys are both correct.

The regular GPA will calculate A+'s as 4.3
The GPA w/o will calculate them as 4.0 or the equivalent to an A

 

[Aceofspades]

You guys are both correct.

The regular GPA will calculate A+'s as 4.3
The GPA w/o will calculate them as 4.0 or the equivalent to an A

Actually, I believe +'s are calculated as +.333 and -'s as -.333. As such, an A+ would be 4.333.

 

[Hysteria24]

Actually, I believe +'s are calculated as +.333 and -'s as -.333. As such, an A+ would be 4.333.

Whoops... I was rounding.

 

[Brownstain]

So wow I was way off on that one, it's been a few years since I applied. Apparently you are getting a boost. Sorry for the poor guidance.

 

[jigabodo]

Does it look bad if your gpa was raised through A+s rather than As?
Not asking if an A+ is better than an A.
What do you think?

I hope this doesn't turn into an Schools with A+ vs Schools without thread.
Thanks

I think it looks better.

I have 27 units of A+ when I applied to dental schools. I knew I had to get those since I messed up badly freshmen year. Adcomms were quite impressed by them, in fact.

 

[Matty44]

.

 

[doc3232]

I guess judging by Doc's comment at the end of his first post i assume there have been debates on this before, but it's all kinda of new to me so.......I was just thinking about this whole A+ business, and it seems pretty messed up. Consider the following scenario. One students gets B's (all 85%)in half of his classes and A's (all 100%) in the other half. His GPA would be 3.5. Now, another student at a school that grants A+s for 97% and up gets half B's (all 85%) and half A+'s (all 98%). His GPA would be 3.65. Now how is that not completely messed up that the kid who scored the same or better in all of his classes than that other kid did, now ends up with a lower GPA?!? Significantly lower in fact. Just seems wrong to me. Why can't every school just be forced to stick to the same grading scale? And think about this, how would you all feel if students in Iowa were able to take the DAT just like everyone else, but whatever score they received in each section, they got an extra 2 points added to it. That would cause rioting somewhere.....I just don't get it.

Not arguing with you because that is not at all what I want to do. But my school gives A+s as you know, but usually only 1 student gets it, top score. I think your Canadian because you go by %s and hence your assuming that more than 1 person can get it, in which case it would be completely unfair. But it is only 1 student, that isn't a big deal. Top score is tough anyway.

 

[jigabodo]

I guess judging by Doc's comment at the end of his first post i assume there have been debates on this before, but it's all kinda of new to me so.......I was just thinking about this whole A+ business, and it seems pretty messed up. Consider the following scenario. One students gets B's (all 85%)in half of his classes and A's (all 100%) in the other half. His GPA would be 3.5. Now, another student at a school that grants A+s for 97% and up gets half B's (all 85%) and half A+'s (all 98%). His GPA would be 3.65. Now how is that not completely messed up that the kid who scored the same or better in all of his classes than that other kid did, now ends up with a lower GPA?!? Significantly lower in fact. Just seems wrong to me. Why can't every school just be forced to stick to the same grading scale? And think about this, how would you all feel if students in Iowa were able to take the DAT just like everyone else, but whatever score they received in each section, they got an extra 2 points added to it. That would cause rioting somewhere.....I just don't get it.

Quite a few schools CAN give out A+, it's just a matter of whether professors decide to give them out or not.

About half of my professors opted not to give A+, and the other half who do, set extremely high standards for it.

For example, A+ is only awarded to one person in my entire physio class, and the class had 500+ people.

 

[murff05]

Oh I wish I had A+s at my school then maybe my GPA would be higher.

 

[Hysteria24]

Oh I wish I had A+s at my school then maybe my GPA would be higher.

I hear ya. All of my schools can technically give out an A+, but no professor would ever dare.

 

[murff05]

I hear ya. All of my schools can technically give out an A+, but no professor would ever dare.

Yah, none at my school. My teachers get yelled at if they give out too many A's. My biblical theology teacher was really easy when I had her then got yelled at by the school and needless to say her class got a lot harder.

 

[Matty44]

.

 

[Matty44]

anyone?

 

[Aceofspades]

anyone?

Yea, I hear ya.

 

[Andrew324]

Grades are up to the teacher anyway, it doesnt matter, the DAT is there to be standardized. The plus/minus system if everyone had to use it would just play it in there favor, the profs who want to use it still would and the ones who dont would just make the grade such to not get any. Lots of profs only do plus grades and dont do minus. Its there system they can do it however they want. And when you sign up for the class you know the system they will use.

 

[sarah_bellum]

I think it looks better.

I have 27 units of A+ when I applied to dental schools. I knew I had to get those since I messed up badly freshmen year. Adcomms were quite impressed by them, in fact.

Me too. I had 40 hours of A+ work, 37 of which were in sciences. For someone who's first undergrad degree brought him a 2.5, it was important to make a clear distinction between the student I was and the student I am. Several schools made it very clear that they were impressed with my recent work, and one even mentioned that my amount of A+'s was a bit off-putting.

In courses where I had a 100% average, I made it a point to ask the professor if they offered the A+. I wanted them to know it had a tangible affect on my application beyond how the university self-calculated GPA's. If the prof wasn't into it, no big deal. If he/she was, I wanted them to know that I wanted to do everything in my power to attain it. Most of them were totally cool with it, and actually liked having a bigger, more delicious carrot to dangle in front of the hungriest students.

 

[Amalgam4U]

Well, so perhaps the A+ thing isn't as big of a conspiracy as i originally thought but the problem still remains with the +/- system in general. Lets just look at my original scenario and bump the grades down a bit. Lets say Student X gets half A's (all 95%) and half B's (all 80%) so his GPA would be 3.5. Now Student Y goes to a school where all the classes are +/- and gets half A's (95%) and half B's (82%) so unfortunately he gets a GPA of 3.33. Student Y now has to do a lot better on his DAT than Student X does just to have the same chances of admission to dental school, even though Student Y had the same or a better grade in every single class. Still seems pretty messed up to me, and I know TONS of people who have gotten B-s or B+s, thats usually just a set grading scale (80-82 = B- 83-86 = B and 87-89 = B+).

Also, its not like there is a discrepancy just between different schools. I went to a college where each teacher could choose their own grading system. No standard policy. So look at this scenario (which happens to be a real one that I took part in and hence part of my bitterness towards +/-)....

I take a class with one professor who uses +/- while my friend takes the SAME class with a professor who uses a straight scale. I get a 92% in the course and get an A- and my friend BARELY pulls an A with a 89.8%.

Result: My GPA = 3.67
His GPA = 4.0

Why should someone who took the same class, at the same school, with the same curriculum, get a better grade than someone who actually got a higher % in the class than him solely based on which grading scale the prof decided to use???

That same semester we both took another course, but the scenario is flipped, my prof was straight scale, and his used +/-. So I pull a 89% and get a B and he gets a 87% and gets a B+.

Result: My GPA = 3.0
His GPA = 3.33

I know of plenty of other circumstances where something similar has happend, and it just aint right. Just think if someone got all 89% in every class they ever took and they ended up with a 3.0 GPA overall. This means that they need a KILLER DAT to even get a shot at acceptance. Now someone else gets 87% in every class ever, but due to +/- grading they end up with a 3.33 GPA. This student now has a decent GPA and still needs to do well on the DAT, but his odds are WAY better than the 3.0 guy, and the 3.0 guy did better than him in EVERY class they ever took.

So yeah, anyone still think the +/- system shouldn't be banned? or at least make whatever grading system used universal.....thoughts?

That is indeed a very sad predicament to be in. But from my perspective, everything balances out. I guess I was lucky to go to a big school with at least some guidelines (i.e. quotas for grades 17% get lower than a d, 17% get an A etc) but in terms of overall scoring, it's highly unlikely that you will always be in a class with an 89% that doesn't round up and doesn't hand out +'s and minuses.

And also, think about it this way. There are just as many people getting a 4.0 instead of a 3.7, or a 3.0 instead of a 2.7 as there are getting a 3.0 instead of a 3.3. You can't just pick out two students, X and Y, assign them situations, and draw conclusions about a whole grading scale based on that single situation. There will always be student Z, who gets half A's (95%) and half B+'s (87%) who gets a 3.65 who would be happier than your student X. When it comes to individual circumstances, the INDIVIDUAL is responsible, not the system. Overall, the bell curve of scores in a non +/- class will end up with the same (or higher, if the teacher's nice) average GPA as one with a +/- distribution.

Scores are very important to me, and I get to know how things are graded before I take any tests for any class. I.E. I know that certain classes are +/-, some are curved, some are straight scale and I know how those grades are assigned. While it's sad that you got the short end of it that time, you can't just outright blame the grading system because in the end, it is at least partially your responsibility to know the system, and if you had gotten a 94%, you would be safe from all uncertainty. Be happy for your friend!

If anything is unfair, it's if you use a +/- scale and you don't give A+'s out (to deserving students).

And, I feel like the question is a little crazy. Why would it look bad to get an A+? That seems ridiculous...I think raising your GPA using any grade is a good way but A's and A+'s more so, since they work better.

 

[LuckyMiner]

 

[ADentalHopeful]

aha! ugh.. u guys make me so lost...
and i agree with that guy that says u guys must be american

i like my school, i got 2 A+'s last semester and it shocks me that u think teachers wouldnt dare. I would seriously hate to be in your school.
well.. my school is % system i guess..
they give you an A+ for anything above 90%


now if thats how other schools do it, i dont know, but im really content with it haha!

 

[Andrew324]

aha! ugh.. u guys make me so lost...
and i agree with that guy that says u guys must be american

i like my school, i got 2 A+'s last semester and it shocks me that u think teachers wouldnt dare. I would seriously hate to be in your school.
well.. my school is % system i guess..
they give you an A+ for anything above 90%


now if thats how other schools do it, i dont know, but im really content with it haha!

My school generally does A+ 97% or above, but the teachers can choose to do that or not. I know one class I got 99% but he didnt do plus/minus. Others do +'s for only the top student. Its totally up to the prof, but generally its 97%.

 

[Simiam]

My school doesn't give A+'s which sucks because I had 97% or better in 50credits of my 120ish credits in college. my GPA would be so much higher.

It's almost a disadvantage if your school doesn't offer them.

 

[Andrew324]

My school doesn't give A+'s which sucks because I had 97% or better in 50credits of my 120ish credits in college. my GPA would be so much higher.

It's almost a disadvantage if your school doesn't offer them.

It depends, does your school do minus grades? B- A-? Many at my school say the system is unfair because they get docked on a 90% and at other schools they would have a full A and not an A-

 

[Chrishawk4]

Its ashame that there can't be a standardized system or at least the schools could convert all grades to be the same so that someone with A+ won't have the advantage when someone else had earned the exact same percent average.

Chris

 

[doc3232]

Its ashame that there can't be a standardized system or at least the schools could convert all grades to be the same so that someone with A+ won't have the advantage when someone else had earned the exact same percent average.

Chris

Hence the DAT

 

[Chrishawk4]

Hence the DAT

True true. Which I haven't taken yet

Chris