Overall GPA vs. Science GPA

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tkhan180

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How much emphasis do med schools put on the science GPA? Mine is lower than my overall GPA, but I was wondering if it was a big deal or not, it would really help in deciding which schools to apply to. Thanks!
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Science GPA is highly valued.

Some schools I know will look at that before anything else.
If your sGPA is much much lower, consider taking some upper level biology classes to prove you can handle a meds curriculum.
 
oh ok thanks! do you know if social sci. count as part of a sci. gpa or is it strictly math, bio, chem, and physics courses?
 
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CodeBlu said:
Social Science does definitely NOT count.
Anything that is BCPM. There's a thread on this subject. Do a search to be sure.
Click to expand...

BCPM means Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math, correct?
 
tkhan180 said:
How much emphasis do med schools put on the science GPA? Mine is lower than my overall GPA, but I was wondering if it was a big deal or not, it would really help in deciding which schools to apply to. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Unless your sGPA = cGPA then sGPA HAS to be lower. This is just basic math.

Now, if you mean significantly lower it can be a serious issue. How much difference are we talking about here and what was your major in? And yes, that's what BCPM means.
 
cGPA= 3.74, sGPA=3.67. i don't think that's drastically different.
 
NightGod said:
Unless your sGPA = cGPA then sGPA HAS to be lower. This is just basic math.
Click to expand...

Not really sure what you mean here. My sGPA is 4.00 and my cGPA is 3.95...
 
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NightGod said:
Unless your sGPA = cGPA then sGPA HAS to be lower. This is just basic math.
Click to expand...

..If you do better in BCPM than in humanities and social sciences, which some people do, wouldn't you have a higher sGPA?

Or am I missing some really basic math here :lame:
 
NightGod said:
Unless your sGPA = cGPA then sGPA HAS to be lower. This is just basic math.

Now, if you mean significantly lower it can be a serious issue. How much difference are we talking about here and what was your major in? And yes, that's what BCPM means.
Click to expand...
you must suck at math
 
FattySlug said:
A- is 3.7 and B+ is 3.3.
So does it help you if your science GPA is higher than your overall?
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Gotcha. They most definitely do as some A-'s resulted in less than a 4.00 (and they explicitly state that they do :p)
 
Ya I think science GPA and MCAT are the first 2 things schools look at


a little off topic, but do schools consider senior year GPA? ( I am a rising senior).
 
My pre-med advisor said schools base it off of your first 3 years...so probably not. I'm not totally sure on that though.
This whole cGPA vs. sGPA has gotten me confused about what schools to apply to now...I thought I had it figured out, but now I'm not sure if I should apply to a school if my cGPA meets their standards but my sGPA doesn't. Anyone have advice on this?
 
sector9 said:
NightGod also just said in another thread that AMCAS doesn't factor in +/- into the GPA calculations...
Click to expand...

NightGod also said something about having to explain vaccination to people that are going to be doctors and how this surprised him/her.

For real? haha
 
medschool2016 said:
Ya I think science GPA and MCAT are the first 2 things schools look at


a little off topic, but do schools consider senior year GPA? ( I am a rising senior).
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in knowing this--there are some classes in my major with a reputation for being difficult and I would MUCH rather avoid them given the chance.
 
CodeBlu said:
NightGod also said something about having to explain vaccination to people that are going to be doctors and how this surprised him/her.

For real? haha
Click to expand...

He could make a business out of the signatures s/he's making for others.
 
Soulstice said:
I'd be interested in knowing this--there are some classes in my major with a reputation for being difficult and I would MUCH rather avoid them given the chance.
Click to expand...

If you're applying before your senior year, those grades won't be on there. If you apply later, they will. Adcoms look at all grades they have, and the only separations they make have to do with grad work, which they still look at, but separately.
 
medschool2016 said:
Ya I think science GPA and MCAT are the first 2 things schools look at


a little off topic, but do schools consider senior year GPA? ( I am a rising senior).
Click to expand...

They're mostly going to be looking at whatever your grades/GPA are when you submit your application. You'll be able to update schools with your fall semester grades once you get them, but that's fairly late in the cycle. That said, if you did well, it may help you get an interview if you're still waiting for one or help you if you're post-interview waiting on a decision or on a waitlist. I can't comment on how MUCH it helps, but many schools are welcome to updates and displays of continued interest.

You'll also have to submit final transcripts to the school where you decide to matriculate, but just don't completely let your grades go that last semester and you'll be fine.
 
Geekchick921 said:
They're mostly going to be looking at whatever your grades/GPA are when you submit your application.
Click to expand...

+1. Many schools explicitly state that they will not recalculate your GPA based on fall grades, but they will 'consider them' if you submit them as an update anyway, so I guess it couldn't hurt.
 
aSagacious said:
+1. Many schools explicitly state that they will not recalculate your GPA based on fall grades, but they will 'consider them' if you submit them as an update anyway, so I guess it couldn't hurt.
Click to expand...

What if you choose not to update :p
 
Does AMCAS recalculate one's GPA or use the one on the college transcript?
For example, lets sat Student X got a A- in Biology.

If AMCAS doesn't count the +/-, then would that grade translate into just an A (4.0) or would it remain a 3.7 (this is how the college calculates it)?
 
justadream said:
Does AMCAS recalculate one's GPA or use the one on the college transcript?
For example, lets sat Student X got a A- in Biology.

If AMCAS doesn't count the +/-, then would that grade translate into just an A (4.0) or would it remain a 3.7 (this is how the college calculates it)?
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that pluses and minuses count--just not A+'s. Right?
 
justadream said:
Does AMCAS recalculate one's GPA or use the one on the college transcript?
For example, lets sat Student X got a A- in Biology.

If AMCAS doesn't count the +/-, then would that grade translate into just an A (4.0) or would it remain a 3.7 (this is how the college calculates it)?
Click to expand...

They calculate their own GPA. Yes, they consider an A- a 3.7 (and compensate accordingly for the rest of the +/- grades).


Soulstice said:
I was under the impression that pluses and minuses count--just not A+'s. Right?
Click to expand...
Correct.
 
Soulstice said:
I was under the impression that pluses and minuses count--just not A+'s. Right?
Click to expand...

Correct. Also, the AMCAS will calculate your GPA itself. It may be the same as what's on your transcript or not, but it will probably be pretty close. There have been posts here about how the AMCAS's GPA calculation screwed someone, but occasionally there are posts that the AMCAS raised their GPA slightly. :shrug:
 
Geekchick921 said:
Correct. Also, the AMCAS will calculate your GPA itself. It may be the same as what's on your transcript or not, but it will probably be pretty close. There have been posts here about how the AMCAS's GPA calculation screwed someone, but occasionally there are posts that the AMCAS raised their GPA slightly. :shrug:
Click to expand...

Some schools have -'s equal 0.66 repeating and +'s equal 0.33 repeating instead of 0.7 and 0.3 respectively for AMCAS. So conceivably if you have more -'s than +'s you will get a slight bump.
 
NightGod said:
Unless your sGPA = cGPA then sGPA HAS to be lower. This is just basic math.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know that there are about 10 other posts that point out how incorrect this is, but I just had to weigh in.

My cGPA is 3.04, my sGPA is 3.77. Holy mathematics!
 
What if AMCAS screws up your GPA from what it is on your transcript? Which one do med schools actually consider the 'real' GPA?
 
tkhan180 said:
What if AMCAS screws up your GPA from what it is on your transcript? Which one do med schools actually consider the 'real' GPA?
Click to expand...

Whatever AMCAS say. It's not a screw-up, AMCAS has conversions for different schools/grading systems.

Schools never see your transcript, so it is whatever AMCAS goes with.
 
tkhan180 said:
What if AMCAS screws up your GPA from what it is on your transcript? Which one do med schools actually consider the 'real' GPA?
Click to expand...

AMCAS does not "screw up" your GPA from your transcript. It is expected that your GPA will differ from your transcript; this fact is rather heavily pointed out to you in the manual. Your AMCAS GPA is the one considered by med schools.
 
Geekchick921 said:
They're mostly going to be looking at whatever your grades/GPA are when you submit your application. You'll be able to update schools with your fall semester grades once you get them, but that's fairly late in the cycle. That said, if you did well, it may help you get an interview if you're still waiting for one or help you if you're post-interview waiting on a decision or on a waitlist. I can't comment on how MUCH it helps, but many schools are welcome to updates and displays of continued interest.

You'll also have to submit final transcripts to the school where you decide to matriculate, but just don't completely let your grades go that last semester and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...


Thanks! Gee should have left all the hard classes till senior year :p
 
There is an amcas GPA calculator online just google it. It's the first one that comes up. Mine come out exactly as the calculator said.
 
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