GPA calculation question

[Nasem]

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I am trying to underestand exactly how to do the GPA calculations...

The typical way of most undergrad colleges calculate your GPA based on what grade you earned (or pts based on a 0.0 to 4.0) AND how many credits.

Example, if you get an A (4.0) in a 4 credit class, the "quality points" are 16.
However, if you get, say an A (4.0) in a 3 credit class, the "quality points" are only 12.......

Is this also taken into consideration when your doing the AAMC GPA ?
Or its soley based on however many grades you have achieved divided by the total number of classes taken all together....

Main reason I am asking this question is, I have a low Undergrad GPA (3.0), and one fast and sweet way to raise it during my current post-bacc studies is to take 4 credit classes and do really well in them (3.7 and higher)

One more thing, I honestly tried to do a few searches for this specific topic and found nothing, so please don't yell at me if this has been talked about in the past

 

[154241]

Yes, they calculate it by taking # of credits/class into account, just like your undergrad. So it is to your advantage to have as many credits with good grades as possible. Keep in mind that first attempts at repeated classes also factor into your AMCAS GPA; I didn't know that starting out.

 

[Bacchus]

Use this spreadsheet that is attached to calculate it. I forget who made it, but all credit goes to him or her.🙄

 

[Chargers]

Yes, they calculate it by taking # of credits/class into account, just like your undergrad. So it is to your advantage to have as many credits with good grades as possible. Keep in mind that first attempts at repeated classes also factor into your AMCAS GPA; I didn't know that starting out.

Do they give the repeated class its the earned units or they just put down 0 for it?? You know what I'm talking about?

For example, a normal 3 unit class with a A gives you 4x3=12 earn units. IF a repeated 3 unit class with a D and a B second time, the school transcript only counts that B and gives you 3x3=9 earn units. But what about the D??? The school at which you took the class at the first time does NOT give you any earn unit because you already repeated that class and got the earn unit from the second grade. So it's a 0 next to the D on the transcript.

What does the AAMC give you for that D?? Is it a 1x3=3 earn units OR 0x3=0 earn unit ?????
because if it' 0, that 's not fair at all.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Do they give the repeated class its the earned units or they just put down 0 for it?? You know what I'm talking about?

Repeated classes are treated like separate classes. If you took Organic Chem 1 a total of 3 times, and got a C, B, and A at 4 credits each, then they'd treat them like 3 separate science courses...

Organic 1 (1st time): C * 4 = 2 * 4 = 8
Organic 1 (2nd time): B * 4 = 3 * 4 = 12
Organic 1 (3rd time): A * 4 = 4 * 4 = 16
Add up Quality Points: 8 + 12 + 16 = 36
Add up Credit Hours: 4 + 4 + 4 = 12
Calculate GPA: 36 / 12 = 3.0

For example, a normal 3 unit class with a A gives you 4x3=12 earn units. IF a repeated 3 unit class with a D and a B second time, the school transcript only counts that B and gives you 3x3=9 earn units. But what about the D??? The school at which you took the class at the first time does NOT give you any earn unit because you already repeated that class and got the earn unit from the second grade. So it's a 0 next to the D on the transcript.

The calculation would look like this...

Organic 1 (1st time): A * 4 = 4 * 4 = 16
Organic 1 (2nd time): D * 4 = 1 * 4 = 4
Organic 1 (3rd time): B * 4 = 3 * 4 = 12
Add up Quality Points: 16 + 4 + 12 = 32
Add up Credit Hours: 4 + 4 + 4 = 12
Calculate GPA: 32 / 12 = 2.67

What does the AAMC give you for that D?? Is it a 1x3=3 earn units OR 0x3=0 earn unit ?????
because if it' 0, that 's not fair at all.

The D is treated like a separate class, with the D translated to a 1. F's are translated to 0.

If your school erases the old grade for a repeated class or does something to hide the old grade (like gives a grade of RPT), the AAMC will assume you got an F (because they can't see the grade) and will enter a 0 for that class...

Organic 1 (1st time): RPT * 4 = 0 * 4 = 0
Organic 1 (2nd time): A * 4 = 4 * 4 = 16
Add up Quality Points: 0 + 16 = 16
Add up Credit Hours: 4 + 4 = 8
Calculate GPA: 16 / 8 = 2.0

And again when they fixed my transcript...

Organic 1 (1st time): C * 4 = 2 * 4 = 8
Organic 1 (2nd time): A * 4 = 4 * 4 = 16
Add up Quality Points: 8 + 16 = 24
Add up Credit Hours: 4 + 4 = 8
Calculate GPA: 24 / 8 = 3.0

That happened to me, and I had to get my school to fix the problem!

Here is one of the grade lookup table from the AAMC (included in the spreadsheet) for standard letter +/- grading...

Grade Lookup Table (Type 1)
a+ A 4.00
a A 4.00
a- A- 3.70
b+ B+ 3.30
b B 3.00
b- B- 2.70
c+ C+ 2.30
c C 2.00
c- C- 1.70
d+ D+ 1.30
d D 1.00
d- D- 0.70
f F 0.00

Use this spreadsheet that is attached to calculate it. I forget who made it, but all credit goes to him or her.🙄

I made it last year and it's gone through several upgrades. Here is an updated version of that spreadsheet: