AMCAS gpa

[Pete Sampras]

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My school has the +/- gpa system. I was wondering how the AMCAS calculates their gpa. Do they use this system: A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3 B=3.0......? From what I read it seems like this is the case, but how is fair when some schools only hand out just As, Bs, Cs and no +/-.

 

[student1799]

Yes, they do it the way you said. I think a lot of other things AMCAS does are unfair (such as not giving full credit for A+ grades--they're only counted as A's), but this seems kind of straightforward to me. (After all, it's the SCHOOL that decides whether or not to give +/-, not AMCAS.)

If you want to see their exact grade conversion system, there is a document on the AMCAS website called AMCAS Grade Conversion Guide which gives the exact numerical equivalents under various grading systems.

 

[schismal]

No, it isn't fair. But neither is life.

 

[Lacheln]

My school has the +/- gpa system. I was wondering how the AMCAS calculates their gpa. Do they use this system: A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3 B=3.0......? From what I read it seems like this is the case, but how is fair when some schools only hand out just As, Bs, Cs and no +/-.

They give credit for +/-. My school doesn't, which kind of sucked for me since most of my B's would have been B+'s, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. A+'s have always seemed a little ridiculous to me though - kind of violates the principle of an A. Grade inflation...

 

[Pete Sampras]

darn 👎...i hope they take into account my school's grading system. mine doesnt give A+s but gives out As and A-s, which sucks for me personally cuz I have a bunch of A-s. oh well, its all good. all i need to do is get into ONE frigin school....

 

[schismal]

They give credit for +/-. My school doesn't, which kind of sucked for me since most of my B's would have been B+'s, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. A+'s have always seemed a little ridiculous to me though - kind of violates the principle of an A. Grade inflation...

Using that logic, it kinda sucks that my school used the +/- system, since all my A-'s would've been counted as a 4.0 otherwise. The grade inflation accusation is ridiculous at best.

 

[Pete Sampras]

ya i dont get why they do it either... most premeds are going to be in the A/B range for grades anyways, so schools that use A/A-/B+/B/B- put their kids at a pretty big disadvantage. Both A- and B- hurt us, while only B+ helps us.

 

[deleted74029]

My school doesn't use the +/- system. An A is a 4.0 rather its a 90 or 100. It can hurt or help you in alot of ways.

 

[student1799]

A+'s have always seemed a little ridiculous to me though - kind of violates the principle of an A. Grade inflation...

My postbacc school (an Ivy with really tough grading in premed classes) has A+, but it's not given very often. Some profs don't use it at all, and the ones that do may give out 1-2 A+'s per semester, so I wouldn't really call that grade inflation.

Besides, I got 2 of them, and I really want my GPA to be as high as possible! I need it to take away the sting of some of my less stellar grades (like the B- from my hag of a bio prof, who gave B- and below to 40% of the class.)

 

[brucecanbeatyou]

I need it to take away the sting of some of my less stellar grades (like the B- from my hag of a bio prof, who gave B- and below to 40% of the class.)

I didn't get the best grades by any means, but 40% of the class getting a B- or below was pretty standard at my school...

 

[Begaster]

My postbacc school (an Ivy with really tough grading in premed classes) has A+, but it's not given very often. Some profs don't use it at all, and the ones that do may give out 1-2 A+'s per semester, so I wouldn't really call that grade inflation.

Besides, I got 2 of them, and I really want my GPA to be as high as possible! I need it to take away the sting of some of my less stellar grades (like the B- from my hag of a bio prof, who gave B- and below to 40% of the class.)

What? The average for almost every class I took during my undergrad was a C or C+. How can you complain about a B- and, in the same breath, pretend there's no grade inflation?

 

[Lacheln]

My postbacc school (an Ivy with really tough grading in premed classes) has A+, but it's not given very often. Some profs don't use it at all, and the ones that do may give out 1-2 A+'s per semester, so I wouldn't really call that grade inflation.

Besides, I got 2 of them, and I really want my GPA to be as high as possible! I need it to take away the sting of some of my less stellar grades (like the B- from my hag of a bio prof, who gave B- and below to 40% of the class.)

I dunno. I figure getting more than a 100% is kind of silly. I mean, the standards are either there or not, you either have to do the work or don't. Despite the saying, you can't actually give 110%. I hear you about wanting anything that helps. I agree with the other poster, though, that if B- and below was only given to 40% of the class then there's grade inflation going on. C is supposed to be average, that's why it's in the middle. 🙂

 

[Lynkeus]

I may be misinterpreting some of the above posts (and please correct me if so), but though the AMCAS counts most +/-, A+ counts the same as just a plain old regular A, i.e. weight of 4.0. So schools on the A+/A/A-/B+/B/B-/... system are AMCAS equivalent to A/A-/B+/B/B-/... [reference: 2009 AMCAS Grade Conversion Guide]

Of course, that says nothing to the "fairness" with regards to comparing systems with or without the +/- system period.

Now, on the other hand, if you happen to go to a school that does give out A+ grades, you could always look into law school. They do count A+ as 4.33 😉

Just my two cents.

 

[schismal]

I dunno. I figure getting more than a 100% is kind of silly. I mean, the standards are either there or not, you either have to do the work or don't. Despite the saying, you can't actually give 110%. I hear you about wanting anything that helps. I agree with the other poster, though, that if B- and below was only given to 40% of the class then there's grade inflation going on. C is supposed to be average, that's why it's in the middle. 🙂

That said, there's a huge difference between a 90 and a 99. I can sleep through classes and pull a 90, while the same class would require me to work my tail off for an A+.

However, your transcript grade *is* listed on your primary app. So even if the AMCAS GPA doesn't take A+'s into account, they are at least visible to med schools.

 

[Lacheln]

That said, there's a huge difference between a 90 and a 99. I can sleep through classes and pull a 90, while the same class would require me to work my tail off for an A+.

However, your transcript grade *is* listed on your primary app. So even if the AMCAS GPA doesn't take A+'s into account, they are at least visible to med schools.

So are you saying that a 99 is an A+ and not an A?

 

[schismal]

So are you saying that a 99 is an A+ and not an A?

At my school, yes.

 

[Lacheln]

At my school, yes.

So what's the spread? Ie. what's an A-?

 

[JDOC13]

I think at my school an A+ is like a 99%, but it's only given to 1-2 students per semester (max). So you have to be the best in the class AND get a 99%. Also, some profs are too lazy to even award an A+...of course, they don't usually tell you advance whether or not they give them out.

 

[Lacheln]

I think at my school an A+ is like a 99%, but it's only given to 1-2 students per semester (max). So you have to be the best in the class AND get a 99%. Also, some profs are too lazy to even award an A+...of course, they don't usually tell you advance whether or not they give them out.

Interesting. I can't relate at all since my school has such a different grading approach. I got a 38 on one exam in an applied programming algorithms class, which was a B. Suffice to say, 99s were not in abundance.

 

[schismal]

So what's the spread? Ie. what's an A-?

Depends on the college. Here are the breakdowns I've encountered:
A+ = 98/99-100
A = 92/93-97/98
A- = 90-91/92

Eliminating the +/- system would do nothing but help my AMCAS GPA.

 

[Lacheln]

Depends on the college. Here are the breakdowns I've encountered:
A+ = 98/99-100
A = 92/93-97/98
A- = 90-91/92

Eliminating the +/- system would do nothing but help my AMCAS GPA.

Different everywhere I guess.