BCPM confusion

[EETTOMD]

Hello again. Hope all is well. I am a little bit confused on the BCPM calculation in the way some grades are presented on my transcript. My high school was completed under the University of London (GCE 'A' Level). When I started college, they gave me credit (actual grade letters) for mathematics (Pre calculus,Calculus I and a 2000 level Stat class) and college physics I and II (Algebra based). However, these classes did not count towards my degree, hence, did not add to the number of credit hours I completed nor toward my cGPA.
The college gave me 'A' for all the aforementioned math classes and B for physics. I took Calculus based physics in college (Engineering major and got A in both physics I and II).
So when I calculate my BCPM, should I include these classes? Including them will hurt the BCPM gpa (although I got A in the harder physics classes)?
At present without Bio and Orgo my BCPM is 3.68 and I hope with A in both bio and orgo it will come upto the vicinity of 3.75.

Thanks a lot for your help. Appreciate it.

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[EETTOMD]

Have I posted this in the wrong forum board? Should this have been on the MCAT forum? I appreciate your help. Thank you.

 

[mauberley]

Hello again. Hope all is well. I am a little bit confused on the BCPM calculation in the way some grades are presented on my transcript. My high school was completed under the University of London (GCE 'A' Level). When I started college, they gave me credit (actual grade letters) for mathematics (Pre calculus,Calculus I and a 2000 level Stat class) and college physics I and II (Algebra based). However, these classes did not count towards my degree, hence, did not add to the number of credit hours I completed nor toward my cGPA.
The college gave me 'A' for all the aforementioned math classes and B for physics. I took Calculus based physics in college (Engineering major and got A in both physics I and II).
So when I calculate my BCPM, should I include these classes? Including them will hurt the BCPM gpa (although I got A in the harder physics classes)?
At present without Bio and Orgo my BCPM is 3.68 and I hope with A in both bio and orgo it will come upto the vicinity of 3.75.

Thanks a lot for your help. Appreciate it.

Yes, you should include those classes.

 

[EETTOMD]

Hey mauberley! Thanks for the reply. But these classes were not used by my university in calculating my cGPA and the number of credit hours I completed for graduation. They are just mentioned there on my transcript but haven't been taken into account anywhere.
Since every university uses their own way of translating the grades from GCE 'A' level to actual university grades, I have no way of knowing why they gave me 'B' in college physics whereas I have earned 'A'(s) in the harder calculus based physics required for engineering. What I am saying is, the college physics grades will go against me although I have never taken the class at the university. It just seems unfair to me. Thanks for your help though.

 

[mauberley]

Hey mauberley! Thanks for the reply. But these classes were not used by my university in calculating my cGPA and the number of credit hours I completed for graduation. They are just mentioned there on my transcript but haven't been taken into account anywhere.
Since every university uses their own way of translating the grades from GCE 'A' level to actual university grades, I have no way of knowing why they gave me 'B' in college physics whereas I have earned 'A'(s) in the harder calculus based physics required for engineering. What I am saying is, the college physics grades will go against me although I have never taken the class at the university. It just seems unfair to me. Thanks for your help though.

Life is rarely fair.

I'm including the relevant excerpts from the AMCAS instruction manual below (emphasis mostly mine):

Page 8:

AMCAS GPAs are almost always different from those calculated by the school(s) you have attended. Therefore, AMCAS does not in any way attempt to compare our calculations with those appearing on your official transcripts.

Page 47:

Independent Attendance, Credits Transferred

Courses attempted independently (not through a study abroad program) at a foreign institution must be listed if the credit has been transferred to a U.S. or Canadian institution using a credit hour system convertible to semester hours.

• Include the foreign institution and the U.S. or Canadian institution accepting transfer credit in Schools Attended.
• Request a transcript exception for the foreign institution.
• Indicate the U.S. or Canadian institution on whose transcript these transfer credits will appear.
• List foreign course work under the foreign institution at which it was attempted.
• If transfer credits are not assigned to individual courses, subdivide the credit hour total as appropriate and assign credit hours to each course.
• If the U.S. or Canadian institution awarding transfer credit provides letter grades (e.g., A, B, C, etc.) and credit hours convertible to semester hours for each course on their transcript (or on an official letter attached to their transcript):
  • Enter all required course data.
  • AMCAS will include this course work in AMCAS GPAs, regardless of institutional policies.
• If the U.S. or Canadian institution does not provide letter grades other than Pass/Fail:
  • Indicate Pass/Fail as the Special Course Type and provide all other required course data, entering the transcript grade exactly as it appears on your official transcript.
  • AMCAS will not include this course work in AMCAS GPAs; however, AMCAS will include this course work in cumulative Pass/Fail - Pass and Pass/Fail - Fail credit hour totals.

 

[EETTOMD]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Life indeed isn't always fair. I am glad to see a former EE. I hope when the schools look at my transcript, they will see the discrepancy and give me the benefit of the doubt. I guess time to move on and not dwell on this anymore.
Thank you again.

 

[mauberley]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Life indeed isn't always fair. I am glad to see a former EE. I hope when the schools look at my transcript, they will see the discrepancy and give me the benefit of the doubt. I guess time to move on and not dwell on this anymore.
Thank you again.

Sure thing.

Just to complicate things , this might also be of interest to you:

Courses Taken While in High School

Many students attempt college-level courses while still in high school for a variety of reasons. These primarily fall into the following categories:

1. AP Prep Courses/Exams
Unless credit has been granted by a U.S. or Canadian institution or university for an AP prep course or an AP exam, such information should not be listed on the application. If credit has been granted, courses/exams should be listed according to the instructions for AP credit. Do not send high school transcripts or AP test score reports to AMCAS.

2. Other Courses
Many high school students take other types of college-level courses either independently or through special programs offered by their high school. Courses may be physically taken at the high school or at a college, depending on the program, but should be listed on the application under the name of the college.

You must contact the college involved to determine transcript availability prior to submitting the application. If a transcript from the college is available, it must be forwarded to AMCAS and courses must be listed in the Course Work section of your application. If letter grades and credit hours are listed on the college transcript, these courses will be included in AMCAS GPA calculations, even if they have not been transferred to the primary undergraduate school or used towards a degree. These courses do not require any Special Course Type, unless otherwise appropriate. The Year in School for such courses is “High School.”

If a transcript is not available from the college, do not send high school transcripts to AMCAS. Instead, the registrar's office of the college must forward an official letter, with an AMCAS Transcript Request Form attached, indicating that no transcript is available due to institutional policies. The Transcript Request Form can be found in the Transcript Requests section of the application.

Designating your courses as "high school" for your Year in School would at least separate those classes from your undergraduate classes, although they would still count towards your cumulative undergraduate GPA.

 

[EETTOMD]

Thank you again mauberley for all the great information. I guess that is what I will have to do and hope that adcoms will see the high school vs the actual university classes. Is there any official AMCAS gpa calculator? The one I have does not have the option for indicating "high school" classes. Or should I just include them generally (and will give me the same result?)

 

[mauberley]

Thank you again mauberley for all the great information. I guess that is what I will have to do and hope that adcoms will see the high school vs the actual university classes. Is there any official AMCAS gpa calculator? The one I have does not have the option for indicating "high school" classes. Or should I just include them generally (and will give me the same result?)

I assume the one you have is the spreadsheet that separates things by year in school and whatnot? That should be fine to get your overall GPA. You could then remove them if you want to see your non-high school GPA breakdown by year. (Incidentally, this is the closest AMCAS provides to an "official" calculator.) Good luck!

 

[EETTOMD]

Thanks again mauberley. Actually my approximate bcpm gpa went up . Does everyone apply based on this approximately calculated gpa? Did you take any classes at a CC or were they taken at a 4-year institution?

 

[mauberley]

Thanks again mauberley. Actually my approximate bcpm gpa went up . Does everyone apply based on this approximately calculated gpa? Did you take any classes at a CC or were they taken at a 4-year institution?

You're welcome.

Everyone should be using that approximately-calculated GPA when determining their chances, yes. And no, I did not take any CC classes; they were all at a four-year institution. I did take my remaining prerequisites as a post-bacc at a separate four-year institution, however.