A vs. A+

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Sorry i'm not really sure if i'm posting this in the right place, but here goes:

Does an A+ (especially in a BCPM class) look any different to an adcom than an A? My school treats both an A and an A+ as a 4, and I know that AMCAS does the same.

But nevertheless, if there are several A+'s sprinkled on a transcript, do adcoms view this favorably? Do they even look at actual transcripts sent from colleges?

 

[brooklynblunder]

no difference. i think they like to look at your overall GPA first (which, by AMCAS, says no difference b/w A or A+). if its pretty good, they probably will just quick skim through the classes and not pay great attention to the details

 

[Poliscidoc]

No

 

[bobsmith]

They don't look at transcripts -- they just have what's there on the AMCAS application (which makes sense, for standardization purposes)

The only way I could think of any attention being drawn to it is if you got a LOR from the professor in that course and that writer brought special attention to it. Even then, I would guess that any bump that it gives you in the adcom's eyes is relatively small compared to other parts of your application

 

[Web MD]

My school doesn't give A+'s, and it seems pointless if other schools do since you can't have a 4.2 or something. That being said, I did have a philosophy prof tell me I got an A+ in his class and when I told him that grade didn't exist he gave me a Chili's gift card instead 👍

 

[bigslick]

fwiw, one of my friends had a bunch of A+'s on his transcript, and one of his interviewers commented on the shear number of A+'s he's received. I don't think a couple will make a difference, but when you have a lot, it just shows that you are consistently at the very top of the class. Of course, his GPA already spoke well for itself, but you can't say that it makes absolutely no difference, and adcoms are able to see the A+'s.

 

[anfleisch]

But most schools don't ask for a transcript, just the AMCAS. So they won't even see A+s. Most undergrad schools don't show A+s anyway, so it wouldn't be quite fair. In some ways, having A+s hurts people. They see their GPA is a 3.8 and they think they are in good shape; then, they input their grades into AMCAS and it shows up as a 3.6 without the scattered A+s and they are not happy.

 

[JoshuaGuit]

I don't see how allowing A+'s would be fair for the majority of applicants.

Most schools do not give anything over an A. Student A could receive an A+ (100%) in differential equations, student B could receive an A (100%) in differential equations at another school. Why should student (A) have an advantage in grad school applications when both received the exact same numerical grade?

 

[ker68]

Yeah A+s don't count anymore than an A. Really, it has to be that way. Many schools (mine included) do not give more than an A so it would be a real unfair disadvantage for people who can't get A+s just because of the school they go to!

A+ = A = 4.0

 

[loveoforganic]

A+'s do show up on AMCAS - they just don't count as 4.33's, FWIW.

 

[Ischemic]

Sorry i'm not really sure if i'm posting this in the right place, but here goes:

Does an A+ (especially in a BCPM class) look any different to an adcom than an A? My school treats both an A and an A+ as a 4, and I know that AMCAS does the same.

But nevertheless, if there are several A+'s sprinkled on a transcript, do adcoms view this favorably? Do they even look at actual transcripts sent from colleges?

get the **** out of here ... are you serious?

 

[confusedchild]

Even thought I understand why the poster above blasted you for this question, I'll still answer it. I do agree with the poster above tho; posting a question like this will only get you blasted on SDN.

In general, the adcoms won't care about your A+'s because they get converted to As in the GPA calculations; however your original grades do show up on the transcript and your application nevertheless so from that perspective, it can make a minor difference. If you look at the AMCAS app, your there's a column for your transcript grade and a column that shows your AMCAS grade which gets rid of the + of A+'s.

As one of the previous posters said, I have friends who got more A+'s than As throughout their undergrad career and were praised during the interview. So yes, they do see it and some may notice it, others may not. At that stage, it's all dependent on who looks at your app but honestly just treat it like it doesn't matter because it's completely out of your control and technically they are treated as a 4.0. I'm assuming it's treated the same as someone who got an S or a T on the MCAT writing section. They'll look at it and think "oooo...good job" but beyond that it probably matters little. How much that "ooo....good job" factors into your admissions, I don't know but if it does, it's very little just like the MCAT writing score.

 

[HolySmokes]

My school doesn't give A+'s, and it seems pointless if other schools do since you can't have a 4.2 or something. That being said, I did have a philosophy prof tell me I got an A+ in his class and when I told him that grade didn't exist he gave me a Chili's gift card instead 👍

I don't know why, but this made my day.

 

[TaxRate]

get the **** out of here ... are you serious?

???

don't really get it, i'm kind of new at this. too braggy? my cGPA was sub-3.50, if that makes you feel any better. Hence the reason I'm hoping the few A+'s will count for something.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with some informative tidbits.

 

[ThaliaNox]

???

don't really get it, i'm kind of new at this. too braggy? my cGPA was sub-3.50, if that makes you feel any better. Hence the reason I'm hoping the few A+'s will count for something.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with some informative tidbits.

The general consensus seems to be that only if you're already really impressive will a bunch of A+ grades count for anything. It certainly won't make up for subpar grades.

 

[Frazier]

The general consensus seems to be that only if you're already really impressive will a bunch of A+ grades count for anything. It certainly won't make up for subpar grades.

I have about 15 thus far, yet my GPA [comparatively] blows.

What a paradoxical conundrum.