Check AMCAS Calculated Data!

[mooshika]

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Never realized that the high and almighty AMCAS app service could or would make a mistake. Turns out that they calculated my first BA GPA incorrectly because they translated the credit hours wrong. My first BA used .5 credits for a one semester class meeting three hours a week, and 1.0 for a 2 semester class meeting three hours a week.

After reading another thread about AMCAS GPA's and how they can sometimes be different, and sometimes they can make mistakes, I just went and looked carefully at my application that was submitted in June '09 and found that they translated the .5 to 4 credit hours and 1.0 to 8 credit hours when they should have been 3 and 6 respectively. That means that my cGPA will turn out to be a full three tenths of a point higher than it is currently reported.

When I first saw the cGPA that AMCAS calculated on my app, it struck me as being on the low side since I earned a very decent GPA post-bac with a good amount of credits getting A's, but I also knew that AMCAS doesn't count A+ as 4.3 and sometimes the GPA comes out lower than what the colleges figure, but since they use the same "formula" for everyone it never occurred to me to double check their work.

I looked and based on their incorrect assignment of credit hours to my first undergrad degree, it would appear that I was taking 16 to 20 credits or more every semester, and I can promise you, it was only ever 12, maybe 14. This made a big difference when calculating the cumulative GPA, but not in calculating the first uGPA because of the weight of the credit hours falling heavily on the first undergrad where I had many more C's that I would like to admit now.

Not sure if I need to re-apply but I am planning on it just in case. I am going to have to call them and straighten this out as it could have made a difference for me in some cases. Three tenths is a big difference looking at medical school. Given the price they charge for processing these applications I expect that they ought to get this right.

Just beware!

 

[Latuza]

Yeah, 0.3 is a big difference in GPA. For some schools, it equals 3 points on the MCAT. You should definitely inform your schools of new GPA.

Good thing my college calculate GPA exactly the same way as AMCAS. And I got the exact same GPA.

Thanks for your tip!

 

[flip26]

Never realized that the high and almighty AMCAS app service could or would make a mistake. Turns out that they calculated my first BA GPA incorrectly because they translated the credit hours wrong. My first BA used .5 credits for a one semester class meeting three hours a week, and 1.0 for a 2 semester class meeting three hours a week.

After reading another thread about AMCAS GPA's and how they can sometimes be different, and sometimes they can make mistakes, I just went and looked carefully at my application that was submitted in June '09 and found that they translated the .5 to 4 credit hours and 1.0 to 8 credit hours when they should have been 3 and 6 respectively. That means that my cGPA will turn out to be a full three tenths of a point higher than it is currently reported.

When I first saw the cGPA that AMCAS calculated on my app, it struck me as being on the low side since I earned a very decent GPA post-bac with a good amount of credits getting A's, but I also knew that AMCAS doesn't count A+ as 4.3 and sometimes the GPA comes out lower than what the colleges figure, but since they use the same "formula" for everyone it never occurred to me to double check their work.

I looked and based on their incorrect assignment of credit hours to my first undergrad degree, it would appear that I was taking 16 to 20 credits or more every semester, and I can promise you, it was only ever 12, maybe 14. This made a big difference when calculating the cumulative GPA, but not in calculating the first uGPA because of the weight of the credit hours falling heavily on the first undergrad where I had many more C's that I would like to admit now.

Not sure if I need to re-apply but I am planning on it just in case. I am going to have to call them and straighten this out as it could have made a difference for me in some cases. Three tenths is a big difference looking at medical school. Given the price they charge for processing these applications I expect that they ought to get this right.

Just beware!

Never mind - see post below...

 

[gman33]

Some school use systems that are not the normal credit hour scheme.
I school I attended used course hours (or something like that).
1 course hour = 3 credits. What most would think of as a 4 credit course, like a science with a lab, was 1 1/2 course hours.

The way AMCAS translated that stuff was to make that 1 1/2 course hour = 4.5 credits. That's how it showed up on my app.

I'd call AMCAS and ask them to explain how the courses were translated. Most likely they have dealt with this issue at your school before.

 

[flip26]

Some school use systems that are not the normal credit hour scheme.
I school I attended used course hours (or something like that).
1 course hour = 3 credits. What most would think of as a 4 credit course, like a science with a lab, was 1 1/2 course hours.

The way AMCAS translated that stuff was to make that 1 1/2 course hour = 4.5 credits. That's how it showed up on my app.

I'd call AMCAS and ask them to explain how the courses were translated. Most likely they have dealt with this issue at your school before.

Gotcha. So this does sound like the situation the OP described, the need to adjust "course hours" to semester equivalent "credit hours." I thought the OP was talking about a couple of specific classes, not all of their classes, needing to be adjusted to semester hours.