how AMCAS calculates GPA

[hihihihi]

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Hi all,

I was looking through the forums for how to calculate your current gpa and target gpa. I found some posts with excel sheets, but didn't understand it too well.

Can someone help explain how AMCAS calculates undergrad gpa and post bacc courses, so that I can calculate it? Thanks.

 

[235788]

A : 4.0
A- : 3.7
B+: 3.3
B : 3.0
B- : 2.7

See the trend.

To calculate:
Its credit hours X Letter Grade (Number) = Quality points

Total quality points / credit hours = GPA

BCPM gpa = science GPA = biology/chemistry/physics/math

cum GPA = Everything

Its not difficult...

 

[mauberley]

Hi all,

I was looking through the forums for how to calculate your current gpa and target gpa. I found some posts with excel sheets, but didn't understand it too well.

Can someone help explain how AMCAS calculates undergrad gpa and post bacc courses, so that I can calculate it? Thanks.

Start with this, then if you have specific questions come back and ask them.

 

[hihihihi]

Hi all,

I was looking through the forums for how to calculate your current and target gpa. I found some posts explaining about what AMCAS considers to count towards GPA and a few posts with an excel sheet, but didn't understand it too well or came out with a lower GPA calculation. (Is this accurate?)

Can someone help explain how AMCAS calculates undergrad gpa and post bacc courses, so that I can calculate it? Thanks.

 

[rexxx]

use this:
http://www.gsu.edu/es/gpa_calculator.html

don't worry that its not your school on the website - not mine either. doesn't matter at all, its just a standard GPA calculator.

I use it like crazy in calculating stuff like "well if i take this many classes worth this many credits and make As in this many of them..." and figuring out what my GPA will be then.

if its BCMP GPA you're trying to figure out (aka sGPA), use this to figure out which of your classes qualify.. then just enter THOSE only into the GPA calculator, along with their appropriate number of credits, and voila.

 

[sector9]

...and now you started a new thread, OP?

 

[golgiapparatus88]

Hi all,

I was looking through the forums for how to calculate your current and target gpa. I found some posts explaining about what AMCAS considers to count towards GPA and a few posts with an excel sheet, but didn't understand it too well or came out with a lower GPA calculation. (Is this accurate?)

Can someone help explain how AMCAS calculates undergrad gpa and post bacc courses, so that I can calculate it? Thanks.

It could be accurate if you haven't taken a few things into account:
1. If your college gives you a 4.0 for an A-, AMCAS will give you a 3.7. This works for all grades with +/- other than an A+
2. Retakes will be averaged. Some colleges will only count your final try as the grade calculated in your transcript.

That's all I can think of now.

 

[Doubtnichts]

It could be accurate if you haven't taken a few things into account:
1. If your college gives you a 4.0 for an A-, AMCAS will give you a 3.7. This works for all grades with +/- other than an A+

My college doesn't do the +/-. They give out only an A/B/C/.... My transcripts don't show the percentages only the final grade. How does AMCAS take this into account?? I'm sure that it's been mentioned before, but I could find it using the search tool 😳

 

[paul411]

AMCAS Grade Conversion Guide: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/181676/data/amcas_grade_conversion_guide.pdf

 

[Doubtnichts]

AMCAS Grade Conversion Guide: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/181676/data/amcas_grade_conversion_guide.pdf

So according to this the ABCD system with no +/- makes no difference between the AMCAS and the school gpa?? My school gpa will be the same as my AMCAS? Forgive me for being dense....

 

[mauberley]

So according to this the ABCD system with no +/- makes no difference between the AMCAS and the school gpa?? My school gpa will be the same as my AMCAS? Forgive me for being dense....

Assuming A, B, C, and D are all passing grades, then that is correct.

 

[JJMrK]

Merging threads. Please don't cross post.

 

[itsallgood19]

I have a similar question concerning how about GPA itself. When you are applying to med school, do they basically care/see the GPA ONLY with classes that were taken at your undergrad (so basically undergrad gpa) OR will they see/care about a GPA altered after considering and factoring in all CC classes and courses and grades taken at other inst. along with your baseline undergrad GPA?

Do you get a chance to factor in all the courses taken from other inst. bc i know you have to send all transcripts from every inst.?

 

[impulse462]

I have a similar question concerning how about GPA itself. When you are applying to med school, do they basically care/see the GPA ONLY with classes that were taken at your undergrad (so basically undergrad gpa) OR will they see/care about a GPA altered after considering and factoring in all CC classes and courses and grades taken at other inst. along with your baseline undergrad GPA?

Do you get a chance to factor in all the courses taken from other inst. bc i know you have to send all transcripts from every inst.?

All the classes you've taken from every institution will be considered from what I've read.

 

[sector9]

I have a similar question concerning how about GPA itself. When you are applying to med school, do they basically care/see the GPA ONLY with classes that were taken at your undergrad (so basically undergrad gpa) OR will they see/care about a GPA altered after considering and factoring in all CC classes and courses and grades taken at other inst. along with your baseline undergrad GPA?

Do you get a chance to factor in all the courses taken from other inst. bc i know you have to send all transcripts from every inst.?

All the classes you've taken from every institution will be considered from what I've read.

Go to your application, select "Print Application" and look at the PDF. It shows you how your GPAs will be reported (it won't list your GPAs until you're verified). Your "Cumulative Undergraduate" GPAs are the most important for medical school admissions. This GPA includes everything you've ever taken EXCEPT graduate school courses taken in pursuit of a graduate degree.

So community college classes, classes taken at a different institution, post-bacc courses, and classes taken in a masters or phd program that weren't part of your degree all will count toward "cumulative undergraduate"

 

[itsallgood19]

Does the same go for the BCPM gpa? Like say you took physics I at a CC and you wanted to factor in that to your undergrad BCPM gpa would the same apply?

 

[sector9]

Does the same go for the BCPM gpa? Like say you took physics I at a CC and you wanted to factor in that to your undergrad BCPM gpa would the same apply?

Yup

 

[itsallgood19]

Correct me if I am wrong but med school admissions does evaluate the strength and credibility of the corrected gpa depending on how many were taken away from the home institution right bc people could highly inflate gpas by just doing prereqs and such at CCs...not busting on them but it could hold true.

 

[NYRN]

Correct me if I am wrong but med school admissions does evaluate the strength and credibility of the corrected gpa depending on how many were taken away from the home institution right bc people could highly inflate gpas by just doing prereqs and such at CCs...not busting on them but it could hold true.

I don't think this is true. There is also the widely held assumption that Ivy schools grade inflate. Would it be fair for adcoms to assume that everyone applying from those schools have an unfair advantage because of this rumor?

People do get into med school taking prereqs at CC, its the entire application that matters plus the interview. I can't see an adcom looking at someones application who has great EC's, good grades, a good MCAT score and a kick ass PS saying "Oh no, we can't take him/her, she took chem at CC".

 

[Alejandro]

Not sure if this will help anyone out...but if you're coming from a school that does the whole .1 grading system (4.0, 3.9, 3.8, 3.7, 3.6, etc), it is my understanding that they first convert your grades to a letter grade, and then convert the letter grade into an AMCAS grade. So, for example...if you get a 3.5 at the school I was at, that translates to an A- (look at your school's grading system), which then turns into a 3.7 on the amcas since A-'s are given a 3.7 numerical value. From my school, that means your 3.9's are 4.0's, while your 3.8's are 3.7s.

I know nobody was asking for this, but I was surely confused when i was thinking about GPAs, so just putting it out there in a thread that sounds somewhat relevant 😛

Mods, apologies for the randomness.

 

[MrJ]

I was a transfer student. My first school used +/- grades and my second school only used + grades. Would a B+ from my second school count as a 3.5 or a 3.3?

Whenever I see these threads everyone posts the +/- score conversion chart so I'm never sure, but the amcas page says to pick the conversion that most accurately represents that of your school (in this case, giving .5 scores to + grades).

 

[mauberley]

I was a transfer student. My first school used +/- grades and my second school only used + grades. Would a B+ from my second school count as a 3.5 or a 3.3?

Whenever I see these threads everyone posts the +/- score conversion chart so I'm never sure, but the amcas page says to pick the conversion that most accurately represents that of your school (in this case, giving .5 scores to + grades).

My guess is that it's a 3.5, but the AMCAS GPA table lists your system under both the +/- and the half-step tables, so I understand your confusion.

 

[Ligamentriosum]

Not sure if this will help anyone out...but if you're coming from a school that does the whole .1 grading system (4.0, 3.9, 3.8, 3.7, 3.6, etc), it is my understanding that they first convert your grades to a letter grade, and then convert the letter grade into an AMCAS grade. So, for example...if you get a 3.5 at the school I was at, that translates to an A- (look at your school's grading system), which then turns into a 3.7 on the amcas since A-'s are given a 3.7 numerical value. From my school, that means your 3.9's are 4.0's, while your 3.8's are 3.7s.

I know nobody was asking for this, but I was surely confused when i was thinking about GPAs, so just putting it out there in a thread that sounds somewhat relevant 😛

Mods, apologies for the randomness.

My school uses this whole 0.1 grading system(4.0,3.9,3.8...etc). So when you look at the AMCAS conversion guide to convert your GPA to AMCAS GPA. Which chart did you use for finding the AMCAS weight and grade???

 

[BluMist]

Do you have a letter grade next to each?

My school uses this whole 0.1 grading system(4.0,3.9,3.8...etc). So when you look at the AMCAS conversion guide to convert your GPA to AMCAS GPA. Which chart did you use for finding the AMCAS weight and grade???

 

[Ligamentriosum]

I found this on the school website. There are letters for each range of GPAs

 

[Ligamentriosum]

Do you have a letter grade next to each?

I found this on the school website. There are letters for each range of GPAs

 

[BluMist]

So yeah, AMCAS will most likely convert according to the letter grades.
3.9 - 4.0 to 4.0
3.5 - 3.8 to 3.7
3.2 - 3.4 to 3.3
and so on...

I found this on the school website. There are letters for each range of GPAs