GPA Inflation

[deleted1051250]

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Hello,

First off, I hope everyone is doing well during these unprecedented times.

I wanted to ask if people think GPAs(science, cum, last 25-30 credit) are going to be inflated due to the majority of classes being online during the pandemic? In my opinion, hybrid/online classes are much easier compared to 100% in person. Veterinary school GPAs are already very competitive, and now I feel as if GPAs will be even higher. Thoughts?

 

[EngrSC]

Hello,

First off, I hope everyone is doing well during these unprecedented times.

I wanted to ask if people think GPAs(science, cum, last 25-30 credit) are going to be inflated due to the majority of classes being online during the pandemic? In my opinion, hybrid/online classes are much easier compared to 100% in person. Veterinary school GPAs are already very competitive, and now I feel as if GPAs will be even higher. Thoughts?

Does it matter either way? For those applying this cycle it's only 1 semester of grades ... not enough to significantly improve a GPA if you've got enough credits to be applying to vet school. I also think a lot of schools are reviewing applicants more holistically so I can't imagine a GPA of 3.60 vs 3.65 will make much of a difference if the rest of your application is strong (or weak).

It's going to be fine ... no sense in stressing about things you can't control 🙂

 

[britzen]

Too complicated to really get a sense of it, honestly.
Grade inflation has been happening at many schools for a long time anyway.
Lots of a schools went to Pass/Fail models during the duration of the pandemic.
Plenty of people do worse in an online environment - some of my classmates really floundered in the spring semester.
Some academic committees may be unconsciously biased against applicants with online coursework, even if they say it won't count against you.
Many schools look at you holistically as an applicant - your grades only get you so far.
Etc.

Will it push a few students over the edge and knock a few down? Maybe, but I think you're probably talking about a really narrow window of potential applicants who were on the bubble for interviews (like 5% of the pool or less).

Even if it weren't the coronapocalypse, the best advice to anyone applying is always to do the best that you can and not compare yourself to anyone else. Focus on developing skills to be a lifelong learner who learns for the sake of curiosity and exploration, not grades, because it will make you better at any field you choose to do (and probably a better human too).

I probably learned the most in some of the classes I got the worst grades in during undergrad because they were outside of my comfort zone and I took them because I wanted to learn about the subject, not because I had to or because I wanted an easy A. I have zero regrets about taking them even if they pulled my GPA down because I got a lot out of them.

 

[PetVet23]

I have to agree with what's already been mentioned, I think there are too many other factors for just one or two semesters of online classes to make that much of a difference overall. I know that I personally struggled A LOT when we had to transition to online classes in the spring, and I wasn't the only one.

Keep in mind that they are going to be looking at your essays/experiences/etc. as well, so don't focus so much on grades that everything else starts slipping. There's a lot more to life than grades, and yes I realize that a strong GPA helps make a strong application, but who you are as a person and what you're willing to put in is just as important (if not more).

That said, just do your best, and good luck!!

 

[LetItSnow]

I think this is one of those things that students exert a lot of emotional energy worrying about, and then 5 years later you look back and are like "why the heck did I spend time worrying about something like grade inflation instead of just focusing on learning the material and doing a good job and not worrying about stuff I can't control?"

🙂

I remember people being super concerned over things like grade inflation.

I can't even tell you my GPA from vet school. I know it was higher than 3.0 and less than 4.0, and if you told me anything in between I'd believe you.

 

[battie]

Grad inflation/deflation has always been a thing due to the vast difference between undergrad institutions. Coronavirus has affected so many different things that the chances of it negatively or positively affecting the average GPA is going to be a wash. How easy/hard online vs in person classes are is completely subjective and I can think of 40%+ of my vet school class strongly disagreeing with you (since we did online clinics, where we don't even get grades any more). More over, people will have other effects from losing jobs to being forced to move out of dorms to suffering significant mental health crises to losing a loved one. For every person who flourished with the online classes and just sitting back with lectures at home, there was a person who really struggled to make it through a single lecture a day.

As easy as it is to say, this is a non-thing that applicants will have to let go. Like STL said, there are a lot of heavy emotions with applying to vet school. Thinking about non-issues like this just makes everything worse. Try to distract yourself with your fall semester classes, work, hobbies, whatever. If you're super worried about being negatively affected due to an improved pool of applicants, then continue to improve your application (which is my advice for people during normal times with normal application jitters). You're essentially rejected until you get an acceptance letter. Keep getting hours, improving your academics, adding leadership opportunities, whatever. Those will have a far greater effect on your success than how well someone did online during coronavirus semesters.