Canadian GPA vs USA GPA

[Dordy]

I'm not trying to offend anyone in the states schools when I ask this but I heard

US optometry schools bump up a canadian GPA a little because it is harder to get A's in university over here.

Does anyone know anything about this?

I have emailed a few admissions offices at US schools and they have confirmed that they do bump up the Canadian gap so a 3.2 is pretty competitive here.

Lemme know!
Cheers

PS this is in NO WAY a troll post, I am genuinely curious.

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[drumstix]

i personally have never heard this, but i think you're probably referring specifically to the conversion system used in OptomCAS, correct? i don't know the history of that scale, but when i was doing mine, there were plenty of classes for which i got a grade that actually fell in a range BELOW what was stated in my actual gpa, it felt like that was "hurting me" (e.g., let's say i got a 3.2, it fell in the 3.0-3.2 scale -- this is just an example, not an actual one in the system, i just made it up right now to highlight the point) and then there were other situations where my grade fell in the next range ABOVE, thereby "helping me". I think in the end, it all balances out.

if what you said is true, then good for canada lol, if not, then it's a cute theory and i would hang on to it dearly, oh canada. 🙄

 

[BrandNewSpaces]

I'm not trying to offend anyone in the states schools when I ask this but I heard

US optometry schools bump up a canadian GPA a little because it is harder to get A's in university over here.

Does anyone know anything about this?

I have emailed a few admissions offices at US schools and they have confirmed that they do bump up the Canadian gap so a 3.2 is pretty competitive here.

Lemme know!
Cheers

PS this is in NO WAY a troll post, I am genuinely curious.

I don't know if there is an "official" grade boost, but reps from different optometry schools definitely mentioned it during pre-optometry info sessions at my school. They said that Canadian GPA is usually considered differently because of the difference in curriculum/grading between some Canadian and American universities.

 

[Rain Clouds]

It's true. US GPAs and Canadian GPAs are not comparable at all, and schools do take that into account. I don't think there is a particular conversion factor, you are probably compared against other Canadian applicants though.

 

[Squint]

I'm not trying to offend anyone in the states schools when I ask this but I heard

US optometry schools bump up a canadian GPA a little because it is harder to get A's in university over here.

Does anyone know anything about this?

I have emailed a few admissions offices at US schools and they have confirmed that they do bump up the Canadian gap so a 3.2 is pretty competitive here.

Lemme know!
Cheers

PS this is in NO WAY a troll post, I am genuinely curious.

Absolutely true. I know that NECO does this adjustment. I would say you are quite competitive.

 

[contactspecs2020]

Absolutely true. I know that NECO does this adjustment. I would say you are quite competitive.

I am curious - is this adjustment significant? can you possibly (or anyone else for that matter) elaborate on this?

 

[contactspecs2020]

Someone I know NECO and they said the adjustment is only based on OptomCAS verification. They said that Canadian students typically get their grades bumped up a letter grade but it depends on the institution they attended.

 

[Dordy]

Awesome thanks so much!

I just heard the testing and curriculum is more intense in Canada and at certain schools (McMaster, U ofT etc..) maintaining a high cGPA is more challenging than certain colleges in the states. I am in no means chirping the states AT ALL, it's just what I heard.

Any other Canadians heard of this slight GPA boost when applying to American optometry Schools?

 

[LVOD20]

Awesome thanks so much!

I just heard the testing and curriculum is more intense in Canada and at certain schools (McMaster, U ofT etc..) maintaining a high cGPA is more challenging than certain colleges in the states. I am in no means chirping the states AT ALL, it's just what I heard.

Any other Canadians heard of this slight GPA boost when applying to American optometry Schools?

Hey!
I currently attend a Canadian University and have heard the same thing from American optometry school visitors!

 

[mooncak3]

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[LVOD20]

woop woop.

Is the adjustment going to show up through optomCAS?

That, I'm not completely sure about. I'm thinking individual schools would make this adjustment on their own.

 

[OptomStudent2018]

well let's fine out easily by comparing...

Where I attended my undergrad (Toronto) on a 4.0 scale:

typical class averages are C to C+ (60s) which amount to a GPA of 1.70 to 2.00

an 80 would amount to 3.70 and an 85 would amount to a 4.00 (rumor has it the prof must limit below 20% of class to achieve 80+)

How does that compare to American schools?

 

[Dordy]

optomstudent2018 its the same where I attend at McMaster! Rediculous.

The class average for the first midterm in physics was a %58 (about a 1.4 ish), which is exactly where the professor wanted the average to be.

As you can see this makes it extremely hard to get anywhere near a 3.7 (80%) when they set the average so low on purpose. Obviously a bell curve is applied after the course to even everything out.

Can any american students elaborate on the average in their classes?

 

[Hofner500/1]

optomstudent2018 its the same where I attend at McMaster! Rediculous.

The class average for the first midterm in physics was a %58 (about a 1.4 ish), which is exactly where the professor wanted the average to be.

As you can see this makes it extremely hard to get anywhere near a 3.7 (80%) when they set the average so low on purpose. Obviously a bell curve is applied after the course to even everything out.

Can any american students elaborate on the average in their classes?

I'm wondering the same thing. I just want to say that at U of T, the first year organic chem averages were around 48% through the first 2 midterms. And for second year organic chem the class average ended up around a 65. Pretty much the same for physics. I don't know if it's just Canadian schools that try for the course average to be around 63-67, but I doubt it.

 

[LVOD20]

I go to Western and it's the same deal! I guess it's comforting knowing that Western isn't the only school with ridiculously low class averages.

 

[OptomStudent2018]

I'm wondering the same thing. I just want to say that at U of T, the first year organic chem averages were around 48% through the first 2 midterms. And for second year organic chem the class average ended up around a 65. Pretty much the same for physics. I don't know if it's just Canadian schools that try for the course average to be around 63-67, but I doubt it.

The acceptable class averages for large classes are typically C+ and below. If class averages are consistently too high, the chair of the department will flag the professor... Ever wonder why the "bell curve" (not a bell curve but the prof just adds __ amount of marks to up avg) always only adds enough percent to hit the mid to high 60%'s?

Personally, I've seen a D+ average for organic chemistry I (year 2) and the prof refused to edit marks simply because the students did not show up to class/office hours and I've also seen an A average but that was a 4th year course with like 13 people in class. First year courses have always hit that cruddy 60-69% avg.

PS: Take advantage of this by trying hard and not "riding the bell curve"

 

[Dordy]

exactly !

but do they do this in the states swell?