Cum. vs. BCPM GPA

[53948]

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which one is weighed more heavily? i heard BCPM and if it's true, is it weighed that much more heavily?

 

[vikaskoth]

what is BCPM?

 

[45408]

what is BCPM?

biology, chemistry, physics, mmmmmm, I dunno

 

[bbaek]

bio chem physic math??

 

[rayzer]

Supposedly, the BCPM gpa is an indicator of how you will do in medical school courses. Therefore, the BCPM is weighed a bit more than the cumm. Med schools vary on how much they weigh this BCPM gpa.

 

[DrJohnSez]

yup bio chem physics math... any answers out there to my question?

 

[txguy]

There's a rumor that NYU screens pre-secondary according to BCPM gpa....So I guess it could be a slightly better indicator than overall GPA.

-tx

 

[bbaek]

yup bio chem physics math... any answers out there to my question?

what question are you talking about?

 

[Elastase]

YO!

What if you took your "BCPM" at a community college? I rocked these classes coming it at a 3.8-3.9.

My overall at cc was 3.95, but my UCB was at a lowly 3.24, they add up to a 3.5ish.

I am guess that they take it into consideration....what do you guys think?

 

[bbaek]

i thought once you transferred, your gpa is set to zero no? or do they average it out anyway?

 

[dhoonlee]

.

 

[AppalachiaGrrl]

Do non-lab bio courses designed for non-science people count in the BCPM? I took a class about sexually transmitted diseases. I'm thinking I can't include it...

 

[Ypo.]

i thought once you transferred, your gpa is set to zero no? or do they average it out anyway?

The AMCAS considers all your grades-this means even if your school erases a bad grade because you retake-the AMCAS factors it into your GPA. They average the two scores.

 

[TexPre-Med]

Although I am not an admissions director, I have heard numerous talks saying your BCPM should be within about .1 g.p.a. points from your overall. This is because they want a well rounded student that is good in sciences. If your numbers are heavily skewed, it will probably be looked down upon. While a 3.9 overall and a 3.5 BCPM is not so bad, you should reaaaaaallllllly work on your sciences if your skew is 3.7 overall and 3.2 science. Just my 2 cents.

 

[fpr85]

YO!

What if you took your "BCPM" at a community college? I rocked these classes coming it at a 3.8-3.9.

My overall at cc was 3.95, but my UCB was at a lowly 3.24, they add up to a 3.5ish.

I am guess that they take it into consideration....what do you guys think?

Careful, some med schools don't count community college science courses, you better find out because you may have to retake them in that instance

 

[Ypo.]

Although I am not an admissions director, I have heard numerous talks saying your BCPM should be within about .1 g.p.a. points from your overall. This is because they want a well rounded student that is good in sciences. If your numbers are heavily skewed, it will probably be looked down upon. While a 3.9 overall and a 3.5 BCPM is not so bad, you should reaaaaaallllllly work on your sciences if your skew is 3.7 overall and 3.2 science. Just my 2 cents.

What about if you have a 3.95 BCPM and a 3.5 nonscience?

 

[lorelei]

Do non-lab bio courses designed for non-science people count in the BCPM? I took a class about sexually transmitted diseases. I'm thinking I can't include it...

If it's a bio course, it counts. (If it were an anthro course, it might not.)

 

[SailCrazy]

The AMCAS considers all your grades-this means even if your school erases a bad grade because you retake-the AMCAS factors it into your GPA. They average the two scores.

They do not average the two classes. They both count as if they were separate classes with no relation to each other.

Example: A "C" in a 3 credit BIO 1 and a re-take "A" in a 3 credit Bio 1 WILL NOT be counted as a 3 credit "B" in Bio 1.

AMCAS will list one 3 credit C and one 3 credit A. As far as you AMCAS gpa goes, retaking a class is no better than taking a different class (worth the same credit.)

It is a subtle difference, but it does make a difference in your GPA calculation, and can make a difference in what classes you take.

Going back to my previous example, it is probably better to take an upper level bio class and get and A than to retake BIO 1 again.

There are a ton of old threads around about this, I'll see if I can dig up any...

 

[SailCrazy]

Now that we're talking about AMCAS GPA, you might want to know how different school's grading systems are factored in.

If so, this is for you: AMCAS Grad Conversion Guide

Here's a related thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=151046



How about the question "Which classes count in my BCPM GPA?"

Check out this link, pages 28-32. AMCAS Instruction book * SEE PAGE 28 - 32

Here is a related thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=118788



That should cover many of the obvious quesiton... I hope!

 

[Ypo.]

They do not average the two classes. They both count as if they were separate classes with no relation to each other.

Example: A "C" in a 3 credit BIO 1 and a re-take "A" in a 3 credit Bio 1 WILL NOT be counted as a 3 credit "B" in Bio 1.

AMCAS will list one 3 credit C and one 3 credit A. As far as you AMCAS gpa goes, retaking a class is no better than taking a different class (worth the same credit.)

It is a subtle difference, but it does make a difference in your GPA calculation, and can make a difference in what classes you take.

Going back to my previous example, it is probably better to take an upper level bio class and get and A than to retake BIO 1 again.

There are a ton of old threads around about this, I'll see if I can dig up any...

Whoops-sorry, you are correct-I don't know why I said they average the two scores-I meant that they incorporate all grades you have ever recieved in all classes into your GPA.

 

[CanIMakeIt]

YO!

What if you took your "BCPM" at a community college? I rocked these classes coming it at a 3.8-3.9.

My overall at cc was 3.95, but my UCB was at a lowly 3.24, they add up to a 3.5ish.

I am guess that they take it into consideration....what do you guys think?

Wake Forest especially mentions that it will not consider any pre-reqs taken at a CC ........ just FYI ...... so look into all the schools you are applying to and talk to the admissions Office staff to find out how they will take that ...

 

[Ypo.]

I don't believe that. How can they do that? Thats so discriminatory! Show me the link!

 

[vmc303]

Do non-lab bio courses designed for non-science people count in the BCPM? I took a class about sexually transmitted diseases. I'm thinking I can't include it...

Anyone know the answer to this? I took a course on the history of time, intended for non-science majors. It was actually a lot more science and math heavy than I thought it would be, getting into special relativity and quantum mechanics at the end. I still wouldn't really consider it a "physics" course though, but I'm not sure what to count it as. I got a mediocre grade in it, so I'd like to keep it out if I can.

 

[fpr85]

I don't believe that. How can they do that? Thats so discriminatory! Show me the link!

I don't have a link, but I copied this out of a book I have.

An additional thing to consider is that many admissions committees do not consider grades earned from community colleges when evaluating your composite GPA. If you have taken all of your science courses at a community college and you apply to a medical school that does not consider community college grades, you could find yourself without a science GPA for the purposes of that particular medical school.

Here's the URL:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=153498