+/- as a GPA killer. And URMs/mcats

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Eaglefan

Eaglefan

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Not really sure why someone getting an A- average at a plus/minus school applies with a 3.7 rather than a 4.0. Whereas the same grades at a different school are a huge GPA boost. Doesn't seem fair, ultimately.

Is there really not that much difference between 3.7 and 4.0? Sure seems like there would be. A 93.9 is only worth an A- vs a 90.0 being a 4.0.

Such is life. Discuss?

[Disregard URMs/MCATs, put that in titel to rustle jimmies and get some thread views]
 
Don't matter. Just how there is a disadvatage for A-, theres an advantage for a B+. So it cancels out in the end.
 
I'll gladly take my 3.7 with a 91% if I don't have to worry about a 89% being a 3.0.
 
It really depends what grades you get. If you get mostly A-'s, a non +/- system would obviously greatly benefit you. If you have a decent amount of B+'s, it the opposite would be true. It really just depends on the distribution of grades. I had a lot more A-'s than B+'s, so a non +/- system would have benefited me.

Not that I care, I'm already in suckas.

Get back to work OP. More studying, less starting new threads.
 
Doesn't matter to AAMC. They calculate with +/-'s for all applicants anyway.
 
sinombre said:
It really depends what grades you get. If you get mostly A-'s, a non +/- system would obviously greatly benefit you. If you have a decent amount of B+'s, it the opposite would be true. It really just depends on the distribution of grades. I had a lot more A-'s than B+'s, so a non +/- system would have benefited me.

Not that I care, I'm already in suckas.

Get back to work OP. More studying, less starting new threads.
Click to expand...

This is my study break, man. And this is the only thread I've made in weeks lol

But yeah, I agree that both benefit different types of students. But what I'm saying is why does AMCAS not control for this? A non plus-minus system would be easy to implement (B+ would just become 3.0 and A- would go to 4)
 
sinombre said:
It still matters... if you don't go to a +/- school, you can't get a +/- grade for AMCAS to calculate. amirite?
Click to expand...

this. your school reports letter grade in that case, not percent earned in the class
 
Eaglefan said:
This is my study break, man. And this is the only thread I've made in weeks lol

But yeah, I agree that both benefit different types of students. But what I'm saying is why does AMCAS not control for this? A non plus-minus system would be easy to implement (B+ would just become 3.0 and A- would go to 4)
Click to expand...

Haha fair enough. Yeah, it is frustrating at times. Luckily an A- average is a 3.7, and that GPA won't keep you out of any school.
 
On the +/- grading system I come out with a 3.77

Without +/- I come out with a 3.79

I'm sure most people see a similar change... Do you really think 0.02 points is going to make a difference?
 
Eaglefan said:
Not really sure why someone getting an A- average at a plus/minus school applies with a 3.7 rather than a 4.0. Whereas the same grades at a different school are a huge GPA boost. Doesn't seem fair, ultimately.

Is there really not that much difference between 3.7 and 4.0? Sure seems like there would be. A 93.9 is only worth an A- vs a 90.0 being a 4.0.

Such is life. Discuss?

[Disregard URMs/MCATs, put that in titel to rustle jimmies and get some thread views]
Click to expand...

I attended an UG that used the following grading scale:
A AB B BC C D E

Typically the AB and BC ranges were very small percentages of the class (2-4% each). What that resulted in was higher percentage of students getting As, and also higher percentages getting Bs and Cs. Because of this, someone who received a very high B in a class could easily have been a B+ or A- at +/- schools. They could also receive a low A in a class that could have been an A- or B+ at +/- schools. It all averages out in the end. You get screwed over in some classes and bonuses in others.

No grading system offer an advantage unless they have grade inflation (*cough* Harvard *cough*).
 
sinombre said:
Haha fair enough. Yeah, it is frustrating at times. Luckily an A- average is a 3.7, and that GPA won't keep you out of any school.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. It's frustrating, but just one of the casualties of letting schools freelance how they assign grades. Thankfully the differences aren't typically that drastic, and even still, the MCAT can help in low GPA situations.
 
My o.chem was 85% for A. Only 3 people got an A. Guess it was unfair and super easy, right? Most professors make difficulty according to their grading scale and many curve.
 
TriagePreMed said:
My o.chem was 85% for A. Only 3 people got an A. Guess it was unfair and super easy, right? Most professors make difficulty according to their grading scale and many curve.
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no need to be rustled, when did i say anything was easier? I'm saying make it less about the professor/school's policies and make it more comparable across the board. Won't happen, but it at least merits discussion
 
Eaglefan said:
no need to be rustled, when did i say anything was easier? I'm saying make it less about the professor/school's policies and make it more comparable across the board. Won't happen, but it at least merits discussion
Click to expand...

In 1966, 22% of Harvard undergraduate students earned A's. By 1996, that figure rose to 46%. That same year, 82% of Harvard seniors graduated with honors.
In 1973, 31% of all grades at Princeton were A's. By 1997 that rose to 43%. In 1997, only 12% of all grades given at Princeton were below the B range. (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/02/08/edtwof2.htm)
Click to expand...

If I were you I would be more concerned about my school skewing grades either direction than whether they use +/- or not.
 
Last edited:
Eaglefan said:
Not really sure why someone getting an A- average at a plus/minus school applies with a 3.7 rather than a 4.0. Whereas the same grades at a different school are a huge GPA boost. Doesn't seem fair, ultimately.

Is there really not that much difference between 3.7 and 4.0? Sure seems like there would be. A 93.9 is only worth an A- vs a 90.0 being a 4.0.

Such is life. Discuss?

[Disregard URMs/MCATs, put that in titel to rustle jimmies and get some thread views]
Click to expand...

Hahahahaha....
 
Most science classes don't even assign grades like 90%+ is an A etc.
 
BlueCircle said:
Don't matter. Just how there is a disadvatage for A-, theres an advantage for a B+. So it cancels out in the end.
Click to expand...

I hate this argument so much. It's only true for students for whom A's are the exception, not the norm. For a student who gets mostly 90%+ in their classes, It fails to cancel out for two reasons. First, there is no 4.3 grade at most schools (and even if you school does have the A+, it still doesn't cancel out because AMCAS ignores A+ grades). Second, if you're the kind of student who consistently scores in the typical A range (90-100%), you're not going to see much benefit from the +/- system because you rarely ever dip into the B range, but you may very well see a lot of harm from the +/- system if you often find yourself near that 93% threshold (which I'd imagine most A students do since it's very difficult to score more than 95% in any class since such a grade requires you to make almost no mistakes on any assignment or test throughout the whole semester).
 
OCDOCDOCD said:
I hate this argument so much. It's only true for students for whom A's are the exception, not the norm. For a student who gets mostly 90%+ in their classes, It fails to cancel out for two reasons. First, there is no 4.3 grade at most schools (and even if you school does have the A+, it still doesn't cancel out because AMCAS ignores A+ grades). Second, if you're the kind of student who consistently scores in the typical A range (90-100%), you're not going to see much benefit from the +/- system because you rarely ever dip into the B range, but you may very well see a lot of harm from the +/- system if you often find yourself near that 93% threshold (which I'd imagine most A students do since it's very difficult to score more than 95% in any class since such a grade requires you to make almost no mistakes on any assignment or test throughout the whole semester).
Click to expand...

If a student is only straddling the A/A- mark and never worrying about the A-/B+ situation, I think they're ~3.9 GPA will be just fine.

Also, props for your username matching the intensity of this post :laugh:
 
sinombre said:
It still matters... if you don't go to a +/- school, you can't get a +/- grade for AMCAS to calculate. amirite?
Click to expand...

Are there schools that don't give +/-'s? My school doesn't use the +/- system for GPA calculation but still gives them out.
 
Meh, I think grade inflation SHOULD exist at these elite schools. These are the brightest students in the country, they would excel at almost any University. Why should they be penalized for choosing say Harvard when they could of gone to their state school and likely received a 3.8+ anyways.
 
Eaglefan said:
Not really sure why someone getting an A- average at a plus/minus school applies with a 3.7 rather than a 4.0. Whereas the same grades at a different school are a huge GPA boost. Doesn't seem fair, ultimately.

Is there really not that much difference between 3.7 and 4.0? Sure seems like there would be. A 93.9 is only worth an A- vs a 90.0 being a 4.0.

Such is life. Discuss?

[Disregard URMs/MCATs, put that in titel to rustle jimmies and get some thread views]
Click to expand...

Shhh no tears only dreams now

And it won't make a difference like someone above mentioned
 
If you're someone trying to fix their GPA through brute force means, the A- hurts, especially when professors don't know what the % cut off will be for a A vs A-. (90% is not an A, it's now 95% or something). This makes it MUCH more difficult to create schedules and overload classes because you have a tougher time estimating the work load.
 
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