School GPA

[oar2386]

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I was just wondering if the ADCOM commitees consider the school in which the students went to in making their decision. I went to one of the toughest schools in my state. Every single one of my pre-reqs were weed out classes at my college, in which my professors curved the class based on comparison with others students not your actual grade. Just as an example my physics professor had a test average of a 60% on a test and said it was way too high and made the next test harder. My point is that not all schools are the same. A person graduating from a prestigious school is not the same as one from a community college. Anyone know if they take this into consideration?

 

[pyropig]

I was just wondering if the ADCOM commitees consider the school in which the students went to in making their decision. I went to one of the toughest schools in my state. Every single one of my pre-reqs were weed out classes at my college, in which my professors curved the class based on comparison with others students not your actual grade. Just as an example my physics professor had a test average of a 60% on a test and said it was way too high and made the next test harder. My point is that not all schools are the same. A person graduating from a prestigious school is not the same as one from a community college. Anyone know if they take this into consideration?

Toughness of your school is not taken into consideration (in most cases). It's just a crappy luck of the draw man. Some schools give A+'s and award them freely. Others don't award +'s and are exceedingly difficult. The only times difficulty of schools would be considered are in extreme instances. Example, Harvard>University of Nevada Las Vegas. It just is what it is.

 

[christina30]

Basically it has to be a school that they recognize as difficult or as having a sort of draconian inflation policy. But for the most part, you're out of luck.

FYI, most of the ivy schools have pretty hideous grade inflation.

 

[istunn]

That's where you can shine on the MCAT. By going to a prestigious school, are you not better prepared for the MCAT than your CC counterparts?

 

[Skippygonenuts]

That's where you can shine on the MCAT. By going to a prestigious school, are you not better prepared for the MCAT than your CC counterparts?

👍

also many schools tell u to take ur prereqs at a 4yr university instead of a community college in order to be more competitive.

Now this may not mean much to u since u don't go to a community college, however those that do go are at a disadvantage compared to others in 4 yr universities even if they get good grades.

However that still doesn't mean it's impossible for community college students, they're just disadvantaged

 

[Igor4sugry]

I would say that the committee would not take into consideration how tough the program is at your school. All that is looked at is the GPA.

It is a known fact that grade inflation at Private colleges has been much higher than other institutions.

Read this NY Times article: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2...-g-p-a-go-to-a-private-college/?ref=education

 

[pyropig]

👍

also many schools tell u to take ur prereqs at a 4yr university instead of a community college in order to be more competitive.

Now this may not mean much to u since u don't go to a community college, however those that do go are at a disadvantage compared to others in 4 yr universities even if they get good grades.

However that still doesn't mean it's impossible for community college students, they're just disadvantaged

That's one of the few consistencies. Community Colleges are almost ALWAYS substantially easier than 4 year Universities. I said almost.

 

[mspeedwagon]

To answer the OPs question, for the most part toughness is not considered.

As for Ivy League schools having grade inflation, it isn't any worse than anywhere else. Having attended 5 different schools aside from my Ivy League undergrad, I still think my original coursework was much harder than any other schools I have attended.

I agree if you went to Swathmore or MIT then you might get slight consideration for your place (I don't think any state schools in the country have a similar reputation).

Basically it has to be a school that they recognize as difficult or as having a sort of draconian inflation policy. But for the most part, you're out of luck.

FYI, most of the ivy schools have pretty hideous grade inflation.

 

[AlabamaPop]

I went to Hunter College in New York City, and the intro courses = weed out courses. My Physics 2 professor told me that he couldn't give extra credit because he was limited in the amount of As and Bs he could give out.

On the first test, the average was a 40. I received a 26 which was equivalent to a "D." It was horrible.

In any case, no they probably won't care for names of schools. Which is why I would give you words of encouragement that I gave myself. Graduate and go to another 4-year institution, enroll as a 2nd degree or Non-degree, and simply re-take your sciences, and prove to the US schools that you're capable of achieving great grades, aside from your hopefully great MCAT score.

 

[istunn]

Yeah, I agree with everyone here, although I do believe if you get a high mcat score, the thought could cross their minds that you went to a tough undergrad college. Anyway, just kill the mcat baby!

 

[christina30]

To answer the OPs question, for the most part toughness is not considered.

As for Ivy League schools having grade inflation, it isn't any worse than anywhere else. Having attended 5 different schools aside from my Ivy League undergrad, I still think my original coursework was much harder than any other schools I have attended.

I agree if you went to Swathmore or MIT then you might get slight consideration for your place (I don't think any state schools in the country have a similar reputation).

Well, I wouldn't agree with that - I understand OP's frustration when it comes to havign a "low" GPA even though you've more than likely put in the same amount of work as those with 4.0s from other schools. I went to Fordham University, a Jesuit university with a very serious grade inflation policy, and A's were hard to come by. I don't know if OP's problem was the same, but I don't buy the fact that the material is somehow more difficult there than Fordham or any other tier 1 school, though.

 

[pyropig]

Well, I wouldn't agree with that - I understand OP's frustration when it comes to havign a "low" GPA even though you've more than likely put in the same amount of work as those with 4.0s from other schools. I went to Fordham University, a Jesuit university with a very serious grade inflation policy, and A's were hard to come by. I don't know if OP's problem was the same, but I don't buy the fact that the material is somehow more difficult there than Fordham or any other tier 1 school, though.

+1 to that. My UG decided to crack down on grade inflation. Now in ochem lab they only give the top 5% A's the next 10% B's etc.etc. It's a crock of **** if you ask me. You put in the work and kick butt you should get an A, period. Not this BS where someone did slightly better than your awesomness so you get a B.

 

[oar2386]

Thanks for all the help guys. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but at least I know. It just really stinks knowing that I busted me butt to get into my prestigous school, just to find out I could have gone to a easier and cheaper school with the same results. But I guess thats my fault. Ill be applying in July, best of luck to every1 else applying!!!!!

 

[mechanictodr]

+1 to that. My UG decided to crack down on grade inflation. Now in ochem lab they only give the top 5% A's the next 10% B's etc.etc. It's a crock of **** if you ask me. You put in the work and kick butt you should get an A, period. Not this BS where someone did slightly better than your awesomness so you get a B.

I feel ya here. I had a few courses where this was done and got absolutely killed by them at times. I had two courses where the average was well below 50% and in each if you were in that category you got a straight up F. I also had some that did a strict bell curve and even if you had a great percentage it was all put on a curve at the end where average was a C (one of these had a class average of 91%... damn vector calc, I had a 93% and that was good for a B-.) This was only done during my first year of engineering school and it was done to get rid of those who just couldn't take it. Each college of engineering would take as many freshman that made the minimum requirements of the university, but there were only so many seats for 3rd and 4th year students per program so they thinned the herd and collected a lot of tuition.

The fact of the matter is that friends of mine that studied something much easier and took their time in school with an extra year or two have gotten into top medical schools much easier because they've had the numbers. You have to have the numbers to end up on top of that excel spreadsheet that I imagine most of us are entered on. People with the highest marks get the most looks. Everyone else better have something else worth a second look for that interview.

Out of my little entering class there were 25 of us, 10 finished all 4 years, 3 of us on time. Of the 10, two made Hopkins Med, one Harvard, one Ohio State, one UCSF, one at OHSU, and me (I will not be at one of these schools) Numbers, it's almost all about the numbers in this game. Get the best you can.

 

[radhika]

ahhh!! same problem!😳 that's why i transferred. lol,
from a private 4 -yr to a state 4-yr in Florida...HUGE difference. Hopefully my mcat and the jump to getting mostly As in my new school will illustrate just how difficult my old school was...good luck!!🙂

 

[mspeedwagon]

At my undergrad As in science classes were pretty hard to come by as well. The material is not any harder, I meant the grading. Out of the 5 schools I attended after my undergrad, the grading seemed much easier than it did at my undergrad. I'd post the five other institutions here, but I'm going to get a lot of crap for it... I'll be general, a UC, a school in Cambridge, MA, another in Boston, MA and two others in CA.

Well, I wouldn't agree with that - I understand OP's frustration when it comes to havign a "low" GPA even though you've more than likely put in the same amount of work as those with 4.0s from other schools. I went to Fordham University, a Jesuit university with a very serious grade inflation policy, and A's were hard to come by. I don't know if OP's problem was the same, but I don't buy the fact that the material is somehow more difficult there than Fordham or any other tier 1 school, though.