+/- grading system

[pbehzad]

now im wondering if med schools realize that students that go to schools w/ +/- grading systems, tend to get screwed over. well i know you can get a b+, but im more concerned about the A-'s. i know this is stupid thread, but i just wanted to know if med schools take into account whether your school is just the traditional grading system (A=4.0, B=3.0,etc.) or if it uses the +/- system. i mean if students w/A- got to be considered w/those students that go to schoos w/traditional grading systems they would have a 4.0, instead of a 3.7. it seems like my undergrad school is screwing alot of students w/its grading system. i know that the +/- system gives med schools a better understanding of where you stand as far as class average.
now please dont think im some ultra-competitve premed here, im just a little bitter right now that im getting screwed w/the minuses, but im very grateful for the grades.
thanks for hearing me out.

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[Wrigleyville]

That you are able to achieve nearly perfect grades at your school despite the mind-numbingly poor quality of your writing speaks volumes about the grading system at your school.

But I wouldn't worry too much about it: adcoms won't begrudge you a couple of A- grades. Just back it up with a good MCAT score and you'll be fine.

Wrigley

 

[surfdevl02]

Are you kidding me.....

 

[The Chronic MD]

Seriously...you remind me of the dude I (should have) kicked the crap out of in college, who cried because he got an 87 on his organic chemistry test (which was the highest grade in my class). Quit your whining, and shove your 3.999999999998 GPA up your arse. ****in gunner. People like you suck and are the reason I hung out with business majors as an undergrad.

 

[The Chronic MD]

Originally posted by The Chronic MD
Seriously...you remind me of the dude I kicked the crap out of in college, who cried because he got an 87 on his organic chemistry test (which was the highest grade in my class). Quit your whining, and shove your 3.999999999998 GPA up your arse. ****in gunner. People like you suck and are the reason I hung out with business majors as an undergrad.

I know this is harsh, but you deserve it.

 

[Moskeeto]

yeah, that post was harsh, but kicking the crap out of someone for getting an 87 and not being happy, thats REALLY harsh!

 

[The Chronic MD]

Originally posted by Moskeeto
yeah, that post was harsh, but kicking the crap out of someone for getting an 87 and not being happy, thats REALLY harsh!

I didn't really kick the crap out of him...I just told him he was a tool and a dork and a loser and a joneser. Basically, that was better than anything I should have done with my own two hands.

 

[pbehzad]

i just wanted to know if med schools take into account that the +/- system seems to hurt most students that go to a school that have that type of grading system. i figured id be seen as a "gunner" or the guy you shouldve kicked the crap out of, cause my original post was pretty uptight. hey believe me i hate those competitive premeds just as much anyone, i just wanted to know about the damn grading system thats all. sorry for coming off as an uptight, ultra-competitive premed.

 

[The Chronic MD]

i just wanted to give you a hard time...schools know what the grading scales are everywhere, so you shouldn't fret. i was a little harsh, but if you haven't noticed, i love to talk **** on SDN...it's more fun than actually working at work. plus, if you look at it like i do, you get paid for talking trash. good luck...gunner.

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by pbehzad
well im getting screwed over by this stupid +/- grading system. i would've had a 4.0 if it wasnt for 2 A-'s (physiology and organic 2). now im wondering if med schools realize that students that go to schools w/ +/- grading systems, tend to get screwed over. well i know you can get a b+, but im more concerned about the A-'s. i know this is stupid thread, but i just wanted to know if med schools take into account whether your school is just the traditional grading system (A=4.0, B=3.0,etc.) or if it uses the +/- system. i mean if students w/A- got to be considered w/those students that go to schoos w/traditional grading systems they would have a 4.0, instead of a 3.7. it seems like my undergrad school is screwing alot of students w/its grading system. i know that the +/- system gives med schools a better understanding of where you stand as far as class average.
now please dont think im some ultra-competitve premed here, im just a little bitter right now that im getting screwed w/the minuses, but im very grateful for the grades.
thanks for hearing me out. [/QUOTE
]

Yeah it happens to everyone who is part of the +/- system... live with it. And you DO sound like a complete gunner. You didnt have to say you would have a 4.0 except for some A-'s, you could have just said you disliked the system because it lowered your GPA.

Instead, you have to brag about your grades to a bunch of random people on a messageboard. You're not even asking a question, you just want people to know that username " pbehzad" has a high GPA.

Whoopdee friggn doo. No one cares about your GPA, and there are plenty of people with high GPAs who dont brag about it and are way cooler than you are. Hopefully those are the people that end up as my classmates, not gunners like you.

 

[chocolate-e]

Doesn't Amcas figure out your GPA its own way, anyway? That should remove any discrepancies in the ways individual schools calculate GPA. Somebody who's actually done Amcas (which I haven't) could probably settle the question ...

 

[vixenell]

I don't know... I prefer the +/- system. a 89 isn't the same as an 80, and GPAs should reflect that. So what if your GPA is a few hundredths of a decimal place lower than another applicant? Odds are that med schools will compare your scores with other applicants from your school first, then schools with similar courses and grading systems. Bottom line is, at your school, you didn't earn a 4.0. If you don't like it, you should've transferred or studied harder.

 

[vixenell]

Originally posted by chocolate-e
Doesn't Amcas figure out your GPA its own way, anyway? That should remove any discrepancies in the ways individual schools calculate GPA. Somebody who's actually done Amcas (which I haven't) could probably settle the question ...

Yes, they have their own scale (its +/- i think... there's a previous post on it)

 

[UCSBMed1]

Why are you being so harsh on this guy?

I don't think he was bragging, but I can see where it came off like that. I hate that system too, but you just have to deal with it, and AMCAS recalculates your grades anyway.

 

[pbehzad]

gleevac, i changed the original post just for you, hope your happy . sorry for offending you so much, i never intended to come off as a gunner, but i have already admitted that my original post sounded like i was. i totally agree w/you and everyone else that there was no need to write my gpa.

 

[LUBDUBB]

pbehzad,

To answer your question:

Any gpa points you lose with an A-, will probably be balanced by points you gain with a B+.

So I don't think there really is a difference in the two grading systems.

~Lubdubb

P.S. If it's really bothering you that much, send me your unofficial transcript and I will do a linear regression analysis and construct a poisson-distribution graph to ease your worries.

j/k

 

[IndyZX]

LUBDUB, thank you for bringing up the one point that should've neutralilzed this thread. In the long run, it should even out for the majority of people.

 

[quideam]

In pbehzad's defense...

First off, I don't think there's anything wrong with being a bit of a "gunner". Certainly, crying over getting the highest grade in a class or complaining about a 3.999 is silly... but I don't see anything wrong with being annoyed that your peers are getting a 4.0 for a class that you're recieving a 3.7 for just because of a difference in grading systems.

Furthermore, I don't think that B+'s will balance out the A minueses. I'm pretty sure that a B+ is converted to a 3.5 for those without a minus system, and it's definetly not converted to more than that for minus systems. Therefore, the A minuses will still hurt.

It's not fair, and I do think that those of us without minus grades have a bit of an advantage when it comes to converting grades into the AMCAS system. I don't think there's anything wrong with being annoyed about it; we all know how tough it is to get into med schools, especially the top ten, so the difference between a 4.0 and a 3.7 could be significant. I think most of us would complain.

Just my two cents

- Quideam