should I mention my school's harsh grading scale in secondary?

[futuredoc0307]

one of the questions asks for any challenges that may explain any gaps in my candidacy. I have none, other than the language barrier when i first moved which I hit on in the personal statement. However, my school uses very tough grading scales in most of the classes. for example, I had a 96% in psychology and I received a 3.8 (A- per amcas). I'm afraid mentioning this would in some way backfire and give an unintended bad impression. should I just leave the essay blank?

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[deleted480308]

one of the questions asks for any challenges that may explain any gaps in my candidacy. I have none, other than the language barrier when i first moved which I hit on in the personal statement. However, my school uses very tough grading scales in most of the classes. for example, I had a 96% in psychology and I received a 3.8 (A- per amcas). I'm afraid mentioning this would in some way backfire and give an unintended bad impression. should I just leave the essay blank?

It sounds whiny to me, don’t know how adcoms feel

 

[661874]

No, just hope for the best that they know of your school and know how difficult the grading can be. If you do, it might just sound like you're making excuses for yourself, and this isn't really the equivalent of having gone under mental or physical injury

 

[futuredoc0307]

No, just hope for the best that they know of your school and know how difficult the grading can be. If you do, it might just sound like you're making excuses for yourself, and this isn't really the equivalent of having gone under mental or physical injury

It sounds whiny to me, don’t know how adcoms feel

that's what i was thinking too lol

 

[911389]

it's whiny; there will be thousands of applicants who went to better schools and did better. leave it blank

 

[gyngyn]

No good can come of it.

 

[trobinsonmd]

Bad idea... don't blame extrinsic factors for your grades... sure it is unfair that your school has grading procedures like that, but medical schools want people who can step up, take responsibility (even if not all the fault is theirs) and learn from their mistakes/move on. never complain in essays

 

[Dagrimsta1]

LMAO, bruh
Word of advice, life ain't about grades. This will NOT be a deciding factor in any way.

 

[mdphdNYC]

The adversity essay is without a doubt the wrong place to talk about grades. I was in a similar situation - my GPA was quite high within my undergraduate college, but because I went to a school that discouraged professors from giving out too many A grades, it was on the lower-middle end of applicants overall. The right place for this would be in your committee letter: you should reach out to your committee to see if they would be willing to include a short, informational summary of your school's grading policies as well as where you fall within them in their letter (this was standard practice at my school).
However, note that the committee letter can be a double-edged sword: in order to maintain a good reputation with medical schools (and for their support to mean something when it comes to applicants they want to get admitted), committees have to be frank in their assessment of each student they write a letter for. I doubt they often say openly that they do not recommend someone for admission, but they will indicate if your grades are lower than most applicants from your school, or most applicants in the applicant pool in general.

 

[Astharia]

A general rule of thumb: when it comes to MCAT, Grades, etc. Always take responsibility and never blame anything else.

E.g. my water broke at 2am on a Tuesday, the day that I was supposed to have a micro midterm. I was only given until Friday to make it up. 3 days. I got it done, but scored poorly and my overall grade went to a C+. Ultimately though it was MY decision to enroll in classes during my third trimester, not the professors for only giving me a few days.

And that's how I view it as well. Anytime I have lunch with a candidate for our master's program and I hear something about harsh grading, hard teachers, bad accents, etc... I internally roll my eyes.

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[futuredoc0307]

thanks everybody. I was hesitant for the same reasons you all mentioned. So i was just curious if it was only me or if that is the general impression from mentioning such thing. I'll just leave it blank

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Maybe you could get away with it if you came from an elite, grade-deflating school like MIT, Caltech, or Princeton. Otherwise, it's pure whining and will shoot you in the foot.

 

[Goro]

one of the questions asks for any challenges that may explain any gaps in my candidacy. I have none, other than the language barrier when i first moved which I hit on in the personal statement. However, my school uses very tough grading scales in most of the classes. for example, I had a 96% in psychology and I received a 3.8 (A- per amcas). I'm afraid mentioning this would in some way backfire and give an unintended bad impression. should I just leave the essay blank?

It would make you sound like a grade-grubbing pre-med. We despise this demographic.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

It would make you sound like a grade-grubbing pre-med. We despise this demographic.

Why do you despise this demographic so strongly?

 

[ndafife]

Why do you despise this demographic so strongly?

Someone is complaining about not getting a grade they didn't earn, and you need to ask why people despise that demographic?

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Someone is complaining about not getting a grade they didn't earn, and you need to ask why people despise that demographic?

LOL very true.

 

[Unlimited Apps]

Maybe you could get away with it if you came from an elite, grade-deflating school like MIT, Caltech, or Princeton. Otherwise, it's pure whining and will shoot you in the foot.

Lol in that case, an explanation/statement wouldn't even be needed. Those schools graduate many premeds every year that make it into medical schools. You can bet that medical schools atleast have some idea of the grading policies in the so-called "grade deflation" schools.

 

[Goro]

Why do you despise this demographic so strongly?

You've never, ever taught before, have you?

 

[Goro]

Lol in that case, an explanation/statement wouldn't even be needed. Those schools graduate many premeds every year that make it into medical schools. You can bet that medical schools atleast have some idea of the grading policies in the so-called "grade deflation" schools.

This is especially true of med schools that have feeder schools. The Admissions Deans know the programs at the UG schools.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

You've never, ever taught before, have you?

No. I've been an MCAT tutor, but that's different. Grade grubbing was not possible there.