General Admissions & OTCAS How do OT schools calculate cumulative GPA if more than one school?

[trep]

Hey everyone.

So I was wondering how OT schools calculate your cumulative GPA if you have courses at multiple institutions. For instance, my cumulative GPA at the college where I got my degree was a 3.288, but I have about a 3.5 cumulative GPA at a community college where I took courses as well. Do they simply average the GPAs or do they base it on credit hours, etc?

Thanks

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[Emily722]

To my knowledge it'll always be by credit hours, and grades earned at all institution attended toward your undergrad degree will count.
So if someone has a 3.8 their first two semesters (30 credits), and a 3.0 average for there next 3 years (90 credits). The 3.0 will be weighed in much heavier.

 

[trep]

To my knowledge it'll always be by credit hours, and grades earned at all institution attended toward your undergrad degree will count.
So if someone has a 3.8 their first two semesters (30 credits), and a 3.0 average for there next 3 years (90 credits). The 3.0 will be weighed in much heavier.

Thanks for the response Emily. Your post seemed to imply that credits only count before your undergrad degree is conferred, so does that mean that courses taken after you have been awarded your degree don't count toward your cumulative GPA, even if the courses are taken at the institution that you did not acquire your degree from?

 

[Emily722]

Thanks for the response Emily. Your post seemed to imply that credits only count before your undergrad degree is conferred, so does that mean that courses taken after you have been awarded your degree don't count toward your cumulative GPA, even if the courses are taken at the institution that you did not acquire your degree from?

No, sorry that is not what I meant.
I never really paid much attention to this because it didn't apply to me, but if I remember correctly a lot of schools do not count credits earned in any type of graduate program when calculating your cumulative. I'm guessing that is because a bachelors degree is required to apply to OT programs, nothing higher. And this applies more to career changers, but anyway that is what I was getting at.

But if you take extra classes after earning for your undergrad degree to help boost your GPA or fulfill prerequisites, those definitely count.

 

[ExceptionalSea]

OTCAS calculates ALL of the undergraduate-level classes you have taken, whether they are before or after your bachelor's degree, into your undergraduate cumulative GPA. this includes any and all institutions you have attended, whether it was before you earned your degree or after. (master's level classes have a separate calculation).

they do not average your undergrad GPA and your post-bac GPA (example: if you have a 3.0 from undergrad and a 4.0 from post-bac classes that does not necessarily mean your cumulative GPA will be a 3.5). they calculate based on total grade points earned/total credit hours attempted.

does that make sense to you? essentially they calculate any additional classes you have taken past your bachelor's into your cumulative GPA just the same way your GPA was re-calculated every time you took another semester in undergrad.

 

[CurlyHairedGirl]

Yeah, what they said. I was rather disappointed that only the 15 or so undergraduate level classes I took in recent years averaged back into my undergrad GPA. High masters degree GPA of 3.8 didn't count. One reason for doing it this way may be because graduate level courses don't tend to give out many grades below a B.

In contrast, a the lowest grade I got in the 15 newer undergrad level classes was a B- . The prof said she didn't curve, but she was happy the class made a C average. And we all studied our asses off.

 

[Makingmoves2014]

Yeah, what they said. I was rather disappointed that only the 15 or so undergraduate level classes I took in recent years averaged back into my undergrad GPA. High masters degree GPA of 3.8 didn't count. One reason for doing it this way may be because graduate level courses don't tend to give out many grades below a B.

In contrast, a the lowest grade I got in the 15 newer undergrad level classes was a B- . The prof said she didn't curve, but she was happy the class made a C average. And we all studied our asses off.

I have a question how does otcas calculate classes that you have taken after your bachelors degree. I've taken 17 credits since then and I received A's in. I'm taking 18 credit hours this summer and 18 credit hours this fall. Otcas calculated my gpa at a 2.77 last cycle. If I've taken 35 credit hours since then and receive A's in the classes will my cumulative gpa be higher. I just don't want to be blind sided when applying again this year. Someone please help…….I need my gpa to be a 3.0 or above. I'm getting a second bachelors it will be completed in December.

 

[ExceptionalSea]

yes if you've received all A's since then it will raise your cumulative GPA. again, they will calculate your GPA by taking total grade points earned divided by total credit hours attempted for ALL of your undergraduate level classes.

you can calculate your GPA on your own. each letter grade corresponds with a number
A = 4
B = 3
C = 2
D=1
there are some nuances with pluses and minuses but i don't know those. i'm sure you can look up a standard scale to find those. after you convert your grades into a number add up all of your grades from every single class. then separately add up all your credit hours (typically each class is worth 3 credit hours, you can find out how many credits your classes were worth by looking at your transcripts or grade reports). then you divide your total grade points by the total number of credit hours you took.

hope that helps!