How is a 3.5 viewed...

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americanpierg

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The difference (in the amount of effort put forth) between a 4.0 and a 3.5 at my school is insane. A 3.5 can be said as being "guareenteed" but a 4.0 you actually have to put work into. How will the admission committee look at my transcript if I have 3.5s all down the line with a couple 4.0s here and there? Maybe even a 2.5 sprinkled into the mix.

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3.5 is certainly competitive. you should be fine as long as you do well on dat's and don't have serious personality shortcomings.
 
A 3.5 is terrible, you should be ashamed. A 4.0 is considered mediocore.
 
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wtf.. ur school guarantees at least a 3.5? that's bull****. i hope the dental schools kno that cuz in real colleges u gotta work ur ass off for ur 3.5
 
what a joker
 
rchuloholla said:
wtf.. ur school guarantees at least a 3.5? that's bull****. i hope the dental schools kno that cuz in real colleges u gotta work ur ass off for ur 3.5

its ridiculous that some schools even have a 3.5. I cant tell you how many times I was on the B+/A- border and got the B+. Huuuuge difference between a 3.3 and 3.7. Its was really frustrating to bust your ass for a whole semester only to miss the 3.7 by a few points and end up with a 3.3 for the class.
 
at my school we were allowed to grade ourselves. every other year i would give myself an A- just to keep myself honest :laugh:
 
Are you talking about Canadian GPA?
 
B+ = kick in the face.
 
BallDontLie said:
its ridiculous that some schools even have a 3.5. I cant tell you how many times I was on the B+/A- border and got the B+. Huuuuge difference between a 3.3 and 3.7. Its was really frustrating to bust your ass for a whole semester only to miss the 3.7 by a few points and end up with a 3.3 for the class.

Story of my life.
 
Are you freakin serious? I went to Berkeley where a 3.5 in the sciences was considered amazing. I hear the adcom really doesnt consider which school an applicant went to, but according to what the OP stated, I sure hope they do.

One last question. Where is this school you went to Americanpierg? I'll tell all my friends and family to go there. Woulda saved me a lot of headache.
 
As long as everything else in your app is in order, a 3.5 is great. I had a 3.2.
 
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dnguyen said:
Are you freakin serious? I went to Berkeley where a 3.5 in the sciences was considered amazing. I hear the adcom really doesnt consider which school an applicant went to, but according to what the OP stated, I sure hope they do.

One last question. Where is this school you went to Americanpierg? I'll tell all my friends and family to go there. Woulda saved me a lot of headache.

Michigan State University, So what if USA today ranks it 74th in the nation, they still consider it top tier. The class averages here are still in the 60s like any university out there (lower in the intro sciences as with 7,000 incoming freshmen every year theres ~2000 guaranteed "not so bright" students). Most of the time I cant even benefit from other people's failures like you guys because most of my damn classes wont curve any grades even if only one freakin person out of 40 gets a 4.0. Might not be top public university #20 berkely but I'm sure adcom wont bitch at me for attending there since I've seen MANY people from here get in from small tier 3 colleges and CC. And I don't know what you're all bitching about, it's "guaranteed" as in I myself find it quite easy to fall within that percentage range (86-92, depending on the class) while performing within the "average" range in schoolwork that requires not as much work from me, having had parents who forced me to overachieve all through grade school. I can study for a couple hours and come through with 44/50 questions right on my exam every 2-3 weeks, or I can work my ass off and get a 50/50 every time. I just find that its MUCH easier for me to get 88% in a class than it is to get a 93+%. Half of these science classes are just simple brute memmorization courses with very little application of the material, but then they place a couple IMPOSSIBLE questions on the exams to trick you and that makes getting a perfect score so freakin hard.

And from what i hear an 88-91 = 3.7 in many of the more traditionally grading systems (A-/B+) The way my grades keep falling on this scale, I'd kill to have that system implemented here.
 
BallDontLie said:
its ridiculous that some schools even have a 3.5. I cant tell you how many times I was on the B+/A- border and got the B+. Huuuuge difference between a 3.3 and 3.7. Its was really frustrating to bust your ass for a whole semester only to miss the 3.7 by a few points and end up with a 3.3 for the class.

....or how bout ALWAYS missing that 4.0 by a percent and ending up with a 3.5 for the class? Yea ... where the hell is my jump to 3.7? How come i have to have my gpa dropped down to a 3.5 instead? Theres advantages and disadvantages to both systems depending on the tendencies on which your grades keep falling on the grading scale. id rather take that 3.7 than a 3.5 anyday of the week because that low 90 high 80 is my sweet spot.
 
americanpierg said:
....or how bout ALWAYS missing that 4.0 by a percent and ending up with a 3.5 for the class? Yea ... where the hell is my jump to 3.7? How come i have to have my gpa dropped down to a 3.5 instead? Theres advantages and disadvantages to both systems depending on the tendencies on which your grades keep falling on the grading scale. id rather take that 3.7 than a 3.5 anyday of the week because that low 90 high 80 is my sweet spot.

Be happy. an 89.4% at my school = 3.0
 
I am from University of Toronto. Here is the grades breakdown:
A+ = 90 - 100 (4.0 GPA)
A = 85 - 89 (4.0 GPA)
A- = 80-84 (3.7)
B+ = 77-79 (3.3)
B = 74-76 (3.0)
B- = 70-73 (2.7)
THe average mark at U of T (in most courses is C to C +)
and so on.........
I wonder how US dental/med and other professional schools will look at my marks. I mean will they give me a 3 if I get 85 on my transcript depending on the school I apply to? Using the above guide I have 3.7. Does anyone know what GPA scheme they apply to the Canadian students?Thanks.
 
Chakshu said:
I am from University of Toronto. Here is the grades breakdown:
A+ = 90 - 100 (4.0 GPA)
A = 85 - 89 (4.0 GPA)
A- = 80-84 (3.7)
B+ = 77-79 (3.3)
B = 74-76 (3.0)
B- = 70-73 (2.7)
THe average mark at U of T (in most courses is C to C +)
and so on.........
I wonder how US dental/med and other professional schools will look at my marks. I mean will they give me a 3 if I get 85 on my transcript depending on the school I apply to? Using the above guide I have 3.7. Does anyone know what GPA scheme they apply to the Canadian students?Thanks.
Check the AADSAS page. Most likely, your GPA will be boosted by 0.1 at least as it did for mine since.... (AADSAS scheme: A+ = 4.333, A = 4, A- = 3.667, B+ = 3.333, B = 3, B- = 2.667 etc)
 
americanpierg said:
Michigan State University, So what if USA today ranks it 74th in the nation, they still consider it top tier. The class averages here are still in the 60s like any university out there (lower in the intro sciences as with 7,000 incoming freshmen every year theres ~2000 guaranteed "not so bright" students). Most of the time I cant even benefit from other people's failures like you guys because most of my damn classes wont curve any grades even if only one freakin person out of 40 gets a 4.0. Might not be top public university #20 berkely but I'm sure adcom wont bitch at me for attending there since I've seen MANY people from here get in from small tier 3 colleges and CC. And I don't know what you're all bitching about, it's "guaranteed" as in I myself find it quite easy to fall within that percentage range (86-92, depending on the class) while performing within the "average" range in schoolwork that requires not as much work from me, having had parents who forced me to overachieve all through grade school. I can study for a couple hours and come through with 44/50 questions right on my exam every 2-3 weeks, or I can work my ass off and get a 50/50 every time. I just find that its MUCH easier for me to get 88% in a class than it is to get a 93+%. Half of these science classes are just simple brute memmorization courses with very little application of the material, but then they place a couple IMPOSSIBLE questions on the exams to trick you and that makes getting a perfect score so freakin hard.

And from what i hear an 88-91 = 3.7 in many of the more traditionally grading systems (A-/B+) The way my grades keep falling on this scale, I'd kill to have that system implemented here.

I dont know who is the one bitchin here. If I'm not mistaken, you were the one that made the implication that your school was easy on their students. A 3.5 is "guaranteed", and now you're changing your statement to mean that you were explicitly referring to yourself? I can tell you, at most colleges, a 3.5 is not "guaranteed". Your original question was how a 3.5 was viewed by the Adcom committee. I can say without a doubt, it looks pretty good.

If you think a class of 60 people is big, try 700-1000 in one class, and that was the norm for a science class. I'm not even complaining about the class size, it taught me a lot about individualism and really fighting for a grade. Attention at a big institution was something you really had to pursue to receive. Anyways, a 3.5 is nothing to be complaining about. By your latter comment, I can tell you're a real smart person. I mean, you dont even have to work hard to fall in the A-/B+ range. I hope you know, that sounds pretty condescending to others who do have to work hard. Godspeed.
 
dnguyen said:
If you think a class of 60 people is big, try 700-1000 in one class, and that was the norm for a science class. I'm not even complaining about the class size, it taught me a lot about individualism and really fighting for a grade. Attention at a big institution was something you really had to pursue to receive. .

... theres 35,000 undergrads here. we have to compete just to sign UP for a class. Kinda hard sucking up to a professor so that you'll get a good letter of recommendation with so many people. I gave 60 because those were the sizes of my non lecture classes. Our lectures can range up to 4,000 people split up into two sections (ie gchem/bio)
 
americanpierg said:
... theres 35,000 undergrads here. we have to compete just to sign UP for a class. Kinda hard sucking up to a professor so that you'll get a good letter of recommendation with so many people. I gave 60 because those were the sizes of my non lecture classes. Our lectures can range up to 4,000 people split up into two sections (ie gchem/bio)
:sleep:
 
americanpierg said:
... theres 35,000 undergrads here. we have to compete just to sign UP for a class. Kinda hard sucking up to a professor so that you'll get a good letter of recommendation with so many people. I gave 60 because those were the sizes of my non lecture classes. Our lectures can range up to 4,000 people split up into two sections (ie gchem/bio)

I think Chris Farley said it best:
"Well lah-de-freakin-da"
 
Chakshu said:
I am from University of Toronto. Here is the grades breakdown:
A+ = 90 - 100 (4.0 GPA)
A = 85 - 89 (4.0 GPA)
A- = 80-84 (3.7)
B+ = 77-79 (3.3)
B = 74-76 (3.0)
B- = 70-73 (2.7)
THe average mark at U of T (in most courses is C to C +)
and so on.........
I wonder how US dental/med and other professional schools will look at my marks. I mean will they give me a 3 if I get 85 on my transcript depending on the school I apply to? Using the above guide I have 3.7. Does anyone know what GPA scheme they apply to the Canadian students?Thanks.

they don't look at percentages, they only look at your letter grades and your marks will go up from .1 to .15 on the gpa scale.
 
at my school, if you get a question wrong they whip you real hard and it really hurts...but i kinda like it.
 
maksidaa said:
at my school, if you get a question wrong they whip you real hard and it really hurts...but i kinda like it.
hahaha :laugh:
 
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