Cornell Grading

[JIMMYJOHNivy]

Taken word for word from the Intro Bio syllabus at Cornell:

"This approach to grading has been in place for introductory biology courses at Cornell for many years and medical school admissions personnel are well aware of this policy in their interpretation of your grades. Thus a B+ in an intro bio course at Cornell may be equivalent to an A at some of our peer institutions."

Adcoms, is this true? Or are the faculty in charge of the bio pre-reqs at Cornell full of crap?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[LizzyM]

I’ve long heard “easy to get in, hard to stay in” with regard to Cornell. The committee letter is very good about putting an applicant’s record in context.

 

[DrFortiusNatando]

Taken word for word from the Intro Bio syllabus at Cornell:

"This approach to grading has been in place for introductory biology courses at Cornell for many years and medical school admissions personnel are well aware of this policy in their interpretation of your grades. Thus a B+ in an intro bio course at Cornell may be equivalent to an A at some of our peer institutions."

Adcoms, is this true? Or are the faculty in charge of the bio pre-reqs at Cornell full of crap?

There is some "crap" in this. ADCOM staff - by which I mean people who interview for the admissions committee - changes somewhat year to year and they are not always familiar with the grading in any specific course in any specific school. It is true that long-term interviewers eventually may become familiar with a good number of these intricacies, but if a Cornell undergrad applicant gets assigned to a newish interviewer at our school, they may look at their relatively lower grades without understanding the context. A couple years ago, I was less than enthusiastic about a Cornell student who had more than a few lowish grades in science courses, and I did not weigh the fact that the student was from Cornell.

That said, there are plenty of top students attending T20 med schools who got some grades that were not A's. But, someone with a lot of B's and B+'s, is going to have trouble applying to medical school, even if they are from Cornell.

It is true that the committee letter does help place the students in context relative to their peers.

 

[Goro]

There is some "crap" in this. ADCOM staff - by which I mean people who interview for the admissions committee - changes somewhat year to year and they are not always familiar with the grading in any specific course in any specific school. It is true that long-term interviewers eventually may become familiar with a good number of these intricacies, but if a Cornell undergrad applicant gets assigned to a newish interviewer at our school, they may look at their relatively lower grades without understanding the context. A couple years ago, I was less than enthusiastic about a Cornell student who had more than a few lowish grades in science courses, and I did not weigh the fact that the student was from Cornell.

That said, there are plenty of top students attending T20 med schools who got some grades that were not A's. But, someone with a lot of B's and B+'s, is going to have trouble applying to medical school, even if they are from Cornell.

It is true that the committee letter does help place the students in context relative to their peers.

Agree 100% with my learned colleague. I expect a candidate to do well, whether it's at Cornell or Kutztown State.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

@Goro: would a 3.1/525 from a place like Caltech or Cornell be viewed any differently from the same GPA from a Kutztown State student?

 

[Goro]

@Goro: would a 3.1/525 from a place like Caltech or Cornell be viewed any differently from the same GPA from a Kutztown State student?

Not in my book, and my school gets Caltech students. 3.1 is below our floor.

Do not engage int he pre-med delusion that a high MCAT remediates weak GPAs. The only people who might bite at such an applicant would be Cornell, or other med schools that Cornell is a major feeder to.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

@Goro: this individual would be DOA at your school, even if he had otherwise-stellar ECs like Peace Corps and a couple first-author pubs? What would happen if our hero did a year of DIY postbacc at a state school and got a 4.0?

 

[Goro]

@Goro: this individual would be DOA at your school, even if he had otherwise-stellar ECs like Peace Corps and a couple first-author pubs? What would happen if our hero did a year of DIY postbacc at a state school and got a 4.0?

It's the 4.0 post-bac that would salvage such a candidate


But really Walt, please stop with the questions on "insane ECs and super high MCAT but one major flaw?"

You know my answer

If you continue to waste my time, I'll have to put you back on Ignore.

 

[toot_poot]

with ivy inflation, is a B+ = A at peer institutions? probably (at least an A-)

Do med schools care? no

 

[Goro]

with ivy inflation, is a B+ = A at peer institutions? probably (at least an A-)

Do med schools care? no

But this also ignores the concept of the "Gentlemens B" at the Ivy's.

 

[toot_poot]

But this also ignores the concept of the "Gentlemens B" at the Ivy's.

yea its more like gentlemen's C at Cornell

 

[meronebib]

.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

The professors at my school - a private Podunk College, essentially - sought to make the median grade 2.0. Grade deflation at work!

 

[LizzyM]

The professors at my school - a private Podunk College, essentially - sought to make the median grade 2.0. Grade deflation at work!

That's serious "old school".

 

[DameJulie]

It's the 4.0 post-bac that would salvage such a candidate

Can confirm this from an applicant's stand-point who has been through this. If you don't have good grades (and MCAT), even superb EC/life stories won't compensate for it. The first hurdle (aka the first page of your app) in getting someone to seriously read your app is GPA/MCAT.

 

[Dr. Let 'er Buck]

The professors at my school - a private Podunk College, essentially - sought to make the median grade 2.0. Grade deflation at work!

That is the MO for a number of the professors at my university. They curve everything so that the average is a C, which kinda bites for those who are aiming for med school.

However, I can somewhat commiserate with their status. When I was a young pup (I'm considerably older than the average med school matriculant), a C meant average work. B was for above average. A was exemplary work. So the idea was that getting a C meant you understood the material to the normal degree.

Something changed throughout the time when I first went to college (Approaching 20 years ago now) and when I returned to shoot for med school. Now, a C is something to be reviled and feared. Even a B is explained away as "I was sick that semester" or "That professor sucks". The only acceptable grade is an A at this point.

So, either the caliber of student has climbed to such dizzying heights that almost everyone will earn an A, or this constant drive from professional schools for 4.0gpa applicants has put more pressure on students and professors to "earn an A", regardless of material taught/retained.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

That's serious "old school".

Agreed. My alma mater accepted almost anyone; it was said that it was easy to get in and hard to stay in. We had someone get accepted to an American MD school once every two or three years, on average.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Grade inflation isn't necessarily a problem unless there are students that are passing that should not have. As long as this grade inflation is uniform! I once heard that at Italian universities at one time, everyone passed with a 99. 99.9 meant an A, 99.8 a B, and so on! Graduate schools and employers knew this and admitted accordingly.

 

[LukaDoncicLuk]

I can confirm (n = 1) that a sky-high MCAT with a very low gpa <3.4 can find you success if you play your cards right. In addition to the MCAT, I had a strong upward trend with many A's in upper division cell/microbio courses. One interviewer commented on my alma mater and said "they have a great program" so I think prestige matters somewhat (it's a public school somewhere in the top 20).

 

[JIMMYJOHNivy]

I can confirm (n = 1) that a sky-high MCAT with a very low gpa <3.4 can find you success if you play your cards right. In addition to the MCAT, I had a strong upward trend with many A's in upper division cell/microbio courses. One interviewer commented on my alma mater and said "they have a great program" so I think prestige matters somewhat (it's a public school somewhere in the top 20).

So you went to Berkeley.