Grades obtained abroad included in GPA?

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dimebag darrell

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Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone who has studied abroad at a university that does not grade on an A, B, C, ... scale knows if the grades are somehow factored into your GPA. I will be studying in Spain next semester and I don't know how grades at the university work, but I have a hunch it's not the same as here. I obviously don't intend to go there and do poorly, but I'm curious since if those grades don't factor in, then my GPA at the end of this semester will "complete" in that it will be what med schools see when I apply.

Cheers

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Howdy. Regardless of the grading system used, grades you get at a university abroad DO NOT count towards your GPA for med school, unless there is a reciprocity arrangement with your home school or another. In other words, they'll only count if you're doing an education abroad program where you get academic credits and grades from a US institution.

The only exception that I know of are a select few colleges abroad that are technically considered American institutions, like AUC in Cairo. I don't think any were in Spain. Hope this helps...
 
Notdeadyet, dimebag is right. I'm a living example. I took my intro Bio and Phy abroad and my Undergrad. institution accepted the credits. However, my transcript just shows pass even though I was awarded grades at the foreign institution. When it came to applying into med school, those didn't factor into my GPA and when asked, they said same thing that dimebag explained.

Some US MED schools are really picky on this and won't accept credits taken abroad especially to satisfy their MED school requirements.
 
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I got screwed in by this. I am 27 and I am just now applying to med schools. When I studied abroad I didn't care about my grades becaues I didn't plan on attending graduate school. I ended up getting 2 Bs and 2 Cs by studing through a Butler University program; I went to UT Austin. The grades didn't transfer to UT, and didn't show up on my UT transcript. HOWEVER, my Butler trasncript shows my grades, but just doesn't show any grade points. The AAMC people counted those grades towards my average; I submitted a request for a change on that, and they denied me. So my grades did count, and lowered my GPA considerably.

So the moral is, don't screw around too much. Don't leave a 15 page paper to write in 1 day, like I did! lol.
 
dimebag darrell said:
Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone who has studied abroad at a university that does not grade on an A, B, C, ... scale knows if the grades are somehow factored into your GPA. I will be studying in Spain next semester and I don't know how grades at the university work, but I have a hunch it's not the same as here. I obviously don't intend to go there and do poorly, but I'm curious since if those grades don't factor in, then my GPA at the end of this semester will "complete" in that it will be what med schools see when I apply.

Cheers
I studied abroad in Spain and my grades were included in my AMCAS GPA. Although the grades in Spain were not A, B, C, they had a way of converting them to these grades. I took most of my classes through a program based in Chicago, however, so it may be different for you.
 
wildcat05 said:
I studied abroad in Spain and my grades were included in my AMCAS GPA. Although the grades in Spain were not A, B, C, they had a way of converting them to these grades. I took most of my classes through a program based in Chicago, however, so it may be different for you.

i, too, studied abroad in spain (BCA-barcelona), as well as australia (IES-adelaide). i received "grades" on my abroad university transcripts (Aus: high distinctions, distinctions; Spain: percent) which were converted by my programs into letter grades. credits AND grades were listed on my home college transcript, but my college only factored in the credits. AMCAS required that i send the two program transcripts with grades (BUT they were NOT included in the AMCAS GPA)...the randomness of this process continues...to the OP, enjoy SPAIN!!! i'm hoping to go back next summer :)
 
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