What do you think when you hear....

[Kiroro]

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Hi everyone. I just want to here your guys thoughts about this 😕

Typical applicant's profile:

Premed from Harvard: GPA:3.40 MCAT:36

Premed from University of Florida: GPA:3.80 MCAT:30

(here, "Harvard" just represents top schools.)

what I'm trying to say is that by comparing the GPA and MCAT don't you think UF's GPA has a lot of "water" in it? I mean how can a student with better GPA cannot do better in MCAT?
I'm a student from UF (don't get me wrong I'm not saying this because I hate my college) every time when I notice that some students from my school have top GPA but do poorly in MCAT, it makes me feel like "no wonder med schools have GPA conversion factor according to different universities."
Somehow I feel like UF is one of those school whose GPA will get converted to lower values...
Please be honest, can you tell me what do you think about when you hear "University of Florida"?

 

[BigRedPingpong]

Harvard should be in the list of grade inflated schools. Bad example. Use U Chi or Hopkins or Cornell

 

[i77ac]

Harvard should be in the list of grade inflated schools. Bad example. Use U Chi or Hopkins or Cornell

or berkeley 🙂

 

[Code Brown]

Hi everyone. I just want to here your guys thoughts about this 😕

Typical applicant's profile:

Premed from Harvard: GPA:3.40 MCAT:36

Premed from University of Florida: GPA:3.80 MCAT:30

(here, "Harvard" just represents top schools.)

Both going to medical school, so don't sweat it.

 

[constructor]

Harvard should be in the list of grade inflated schools. Bad example. Use U Chi or Hopkins or Cornell

chicago? cornell? are you kidding me? cornell's the easiest ivy to get into by far and there are state schools that are way better (berkeley). and chicago is not ranked on nearly the same level as harvard. even hopkins is not on the level of the harvard for undergrad.

i do agree that harvard's grade inflation is out of control because the mean is curved to an A- or A in many classes, but at least talk about schools that are on about the same level if you want to criticize them...

 

[crimsoncash]

chicago? cornell? are you kidding me? cornell's the easiest ivy to get into by far and there are state schools that are way better (berkeley). and chicago is not ranked on nearly the same level as harvard. even hopkins is not on the level of the harvard for undergrad.

i do agree that harvard's grade inflation is out of control because the mean is curved to an A- or A in many classes, but at least talk about schools that are on about the same level if you want to criticize them...

I know people who teach at Harvard, and i wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of the grading system. Grades are curved around a B. Inflation? Maybe 8 years ago, but certainly not today.

 

[constructor]

i know a ton of people there as well, and i have taken classes there during the summer when i was in high school. all of my friends there agree that it's inflated, so what's the big deal?

 

[crimsoncash]

i know a ton of people there as well, and i have taken classes there during the summer when i was in high school. all of my friends there agree that it's inflated, so what's the big deal?

i'm just saying i know for certain it's not the case, both from friends, and from first hand experience. Times have changed.

 

[Kiroro]

Um.. I was asking about how do you think about UF. Actually on USnews ranking UF is #50 and same rank with Penn State... So it's actually not that bad but when you imagine UF don't you feel it's not that good?


I guess people really have no thoughts about a state school huh...? 🙂

 

[BigRedPingpong]

chicago? cornell? are you kidding me? cornell's the easiest ivy to get into by far and there are state schools that are way better (berkeley). and chicago is not ranked on nearly the same level as harvard. even hopkins is not on the level of the harvard for undergrad.

i do agree that harvard's grade inflation is out of control because the mean is curved to an A- or A in many classes, but at least talk about schools that are on about the same level if you want to criticize them...

Ease of getting into doesn't equal Ease of getting good grades at.

By the way, maybe in YOUR imagination berkeley is "way better" than the above mentioned.

Edit: and no one is being critical. learn to read jackass

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Just let the MCAT be the index.

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

chicago? cornell? are you kidding me? cornell's the easiest ivy to get into by far and there are state schools that are way better (berkeley). and chicago is not ranked on nearly the same level as harvard. even hopkins is not on the level of the harvard for undergrad.

It maybe true that Cornell is the easiest IVY to get into, but getting good grades here is near impossible. Grades are inflated if you want to call it that so alot of people get about 3.0 GPA (flat B average), but getting A- and higher is near impossible.

Also, I do agree with you that Berkeley is an excellent institution. I contemplated about going there as well. But I wouldn't call Berkeley WAY above Cornell and U Chicago like the way you put it.

Just my two cents.

 

[constructor]

Ease of getting into doesn't equal Ease of getting good grades at.

you don't understand my point which is this... if you want to compare the fairness of the grading ("ease of getting good grades"), you better begin by talking about two schools that are on about the same level when it comes to the difficulty of getting in ("ease of getting in").

well berkeley has more nobel laureates and renown faculty members than cornell does, and i personally know a lot of idiots at cornell whom i just wonder about... 🙄

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

well berkeley has more nobel laureates and renown faculty members than cornell does, and i personally know a lot of idiots at cornell whom i just wonder about... 🙄

If that is your way of putting Berkeley before Cornell, then U Chicago should be on the same level or better than Berkeley. 😉

 

[constructor]

It maybe true that Cornell is the easiest IVY to get into, but getting good grades here is near impossible. Grades are inflated if you want to call it that so alot of people get about 3.0 GPA (flat B average), but getting A- and higher is near impossible.

Also, I do agree with you that Berkeley is an excellent institution. I contemplated about going there as well. But I wouldn't call Berkeley WAY above Cornell and U Chicago like the way you put it.

Just my two cents.

ok sorry, well it's not waaaay better... just by a little little little bit.

B-/B is about the mean where i go to school as well but it's not that hard to get A's at my school if you work hard. how can it be near impossible? statistically speaking, it is equally difficult to get A's at all schools that curve the mean to a B.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

If that is your way of putting Berkeley before Cornell, then U Chicago should be on the same level or better than Berkeley. 😉

Well U Chi has 7 Nobel Laureates, as does Berkeley. Most of U Chi's are in Econ tho.

 

[vikaskoth]

Pissing contest, Yaaay!

 

[constructor]

is that what you guys in new orleans call it?

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

ok sorry, well it's not waaaay better... just by a little little little bit.

B-/B is about the mean where i go to school as well but it's not that hard to get A's at my school if you work hard. how can it be near impossible? statistically speaking, it is equally difficult to get A's at all schools that curve the mean to a B.

If you have a perfect bell curve that is centered around B, you will have just as many people getting A's as people getting F's, balancing out everything and giving you a mean of B.

But at our school, I don't think we see a perfect bell curve. We just take the whole middle chunk and give them a grade that is very close to B, leaving extreme tail ends to receive A's and F's. I found it very difficult to fail a class at Cornell as well as get A's. One semester, I didn't go to Orgo lecture, not even once, and never opened my textbook and still managed to get a B for the course.

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

Well U Chi has 7 Nobel Laureates, as does Berkeley. Most of U Chi's are in Econ tho.

I retract my statement to "Then, U Chi should be on the same level as Berkeley." I should speak before I open my mouth. You Berkeley pees are on top of everything. 😀

 

[constructor]

I retract my statement to "Then, U Chi should be on the same level as Berkeley." I should speak before I open my mouth. You Berkeley pees are on top of everything. 😀

hey, i ain't a berkeley pee... in fact...

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

Please be honest, can you tell me what do you think about when you hear "University of Florida"?

Getting back to OP's question, I think just because you have an average MCAT score doesn't mean that med schools will discredit your high GPA at UF. Not at all! Go check out MD applicants. I see alot of different combinations from alot of different undergrads. 3.8 GPA from any undergrad is an accomplishment in itself, no need to worry.

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

hey, i ain't a berkeley pee... in fact...

tell...where are ya from???

 

[BigRedPingpong]

There is a nobel laureate at the Pasadena City College. I guess its also "way" better than those who don't.

Oh yeah, Berekely is really better, they put in a higher percentage of their premeds to medschools than Cornell.

Oh wait, that's bulls1t, they don't.

 

[Jack_Adam]

How does one define "ease of getting in" anyhow? It could just be that fewer students apply to Cornell, but they are in the top 1 or 2% of all college applicants, so statistically speaking, there are fewer applicants per one acceptance than at other schools - but it would only be because fewer and smarter students apply. That would mean "ease of getting in" is defined as percent admitted, but in all honestly, percent admitted does is not the same as the selectivity of a school, which IMO, is the clear factor dictating "ease of getting in."

Regarding grade inflation. I know sometime in the past four years (as that was the time in which I was an undergrad), Harvard was publicly criticized for grade inflation, where about 60% of the students were getting mostly As, and graduating with honors. This was not a thing of the past, and is very much a problem that Harvard is still working on resolving. BTW, their own campus newspaper has reported on this issue. It's clearly an issue that is still ringing in the minds of both Harvard administrators and students. 🙂

EDIT: I'd like to note, though, that this does not mean Harvard sucks or something. Obviously, this goes with the issue of selectivity again. How does one distinguish a group of students who were already top-notch in high school? They are all extremely intelligent, so are all expected (and they live up to this expectation) to do well. The problem, though, is that Harvard needs to determine the best way to distinguish these "top" students from one another better.

 

[Will Ferrell]

Cornell is tough ... http://www.sws.cornell.edu/our/Grades/MedianGradeFA03.pdf

But I imagine Berkeley and Hopkins are harder to get an A in.

 

[Darko]

I know people who teach at Harvard, and i wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of the grading system. Grades are curved around a B. Inflation?

That's still ass-high. I've been at Umich grad classes with mean curved to a B-. Ouch.

 

[dhoonlee]

your school sucks, mine rules. blah blah blah.

 

[BigRedPingpong]

http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/19992003seniors.stm

Oh no?...59% That's friggin pathetic.

http://www.career.cornell.edu/downloads/Health/accapp03.pdf

 

[Will Ferrell]

http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/19992003seniors.stm

Oh no?...59% That's friggin pathetic.

http://www.career.cornell.edu/downloads/Health/accapp03.pdf

The students at Cornell are more competitive, but it is harder to get an A at Berkeley. Your berkeley link proves this. If your MCAT is in the 30-34 range, but your GPA is under 3.4, then you're screwed. 8/47 for students with such high MCATs? That's pathetic. That school needs to loosen up their grading system.

 

[BigRedPingpong]

That school needs to loosen up their grading system.

Yeah, it's the school's fault. Uh-huh...sure... 🙄 Your dumbing down 4 years of hard work into an 8 hour test. Who cares if their GPAs are low and MCATs are high. ever thought of the possibility that someone wasn't cracking the books during rush?

 

[EvoDevo]

Just for the record:

This thread is the equivalent of arguing how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. Leave it alone, people. 👎

 

[Fusion]

Hi everyone. I just want to here your guys thoughts about this 😕

Typical applicant's profile:

Premed from Harvard: GPA:3.40 MCAT:36

Premed from University of Florida: GPA:3.80 MCAT:30

(here, "Harvard" just represents top schools.)

what I'm trying to say is that by comparing the GPA and MCAT don't you think UF's GPA has a lot of "water" in it? I mean how can a student with better GPA cannot do better in MCAT?
I'm a student from UF (don't get me wrong I'm not saying this because I hate my college) every time when I notice that some students from my school have top GPA but do poorly in MCAT, it makes me feel like "no wonder med schools have GPA conversion factor according to different universities."
Somehow I feel like UF is one of those school whose GPA will get converted to lower values...
Please be honest, can you tell me what do you think about when you hear "University of Florida"?

Although logic may suggest that someone with a high GPA should be able to score well on the MCAT, in reality so many factors go into earning a good MCAT score that it is virtually impossible to make any kind of connections between a solid undergrad performance and likelihood of doing well on the MCAT. I am a UF alum, and I seriously do not think that there is a grade inflation problem at UF at all. From what I remember (I graduated in '98), nearly all of the science classes were curved to a C or C+, meaning that a high C was usually the peak of the curve. Apparently at some other schools (top 10 universities), classes are curved to at least a B. This is not a totally unfair practice, however, because the great majority of Ivy league kids, etc are the cream of the crop and are naturally talented and hard working. At state schools, people need to work harder prove themselves in order to distinguish themselves from the bunch.

 

[Kiroro]

Although logic may suggest that someone with a high GPA should be able to score well on the MCAT, in reality so many factors go into earning a good MCAT score that it is virtually impossible to make any kind of connections between a solid undergrad performance and likelihood of doing well on the MCAT. I am a UF alum, and I seriously do not think that there is a grade inflation problem at UF at all. From what I remember (I graduated in '98), nearly all of the science classes were curved to a C or C+, meaning that a high C was usually the peak of the curve. Apparently at some other schools (top 10 universities), classes are curved to at least a B. This is not a totally unfair practice, however, because the great majority of Ivy league kids, etc are the cream of the crop and are naturally talented and hard working. At state schools, people need to work harder prove themselves in order to distinguish themselves from the bunch.

Thank you for actually replying my question.

Actually I felt the same way with you after reading other people?s posts (my school is better than yours?. thing). That is UF?s GPA may not be bad compared with top schools cause our school sure doesn?t curve each class to B or B+ average. It?s usually C+ for I know.

Originally I just wanted to know how other premeds think about UF but not about in which top school it is easier to get good grades. However, now I feel a little better because I realized that maybe the actual college classes are not that hard in those ?prestigious? universities compared with an ok public university. 😀

 

[Jeffy]

3.8 GPA from any undergrad is an accomplishment in itself, no need to worry.

No its not. Try talking to half of my ***** friends from high school that went to a cal state. 🙄

 

[crimsoncash]

That's still ass-high. I've been at Umich grad classes with mean curved to a B-. Ouch.

lol, do I smell a bitter bush? What's the difference between a B and a B-? 1 step on the grading scale. If a B is ass-high, then a B- is semi-ass high. 😉

 

[principessa]

Please be honest, can you tell me what do you think about when you hear "University of Florida"?

Gator Roast!!!

 

[Direct Laryngoscopy]

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[liverotcod]

Just for the record:

This thread is the equivalent of arguing how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. Leave it alone, people. 👎

666, if you must know.

 

[kalix]

Just let the MCAT be the index.

Bad idea.

The MCAT is overrated.

 

[MadameLULU]

Back to the OP's question!!!

I have talked to a competetive med school's dean about this, and he told me that they use the MCAT as an equalizer. It makes since, right? We all know that grades are inflated at certain schools. Just b/c one has a 3.8 from school A doesn't necessarily tell an adcom that the person is a better student than one with a 3.4 at school B.

 

[kalix]

Back to the OP's question!!!

I have talked to a competetive med school's dean about this, and he told me that they use the MCAT as an equalizer. It makes since, right? We all know that grades are inflated at certain schools. Just b/c one has a 3.8 from school A doesn't necessarily tell an adcom that the person is a better student than one with a 3.4 at school B.

Ehhh, true. At any rate, the MCAT is overrated. But I guess there needs to be some basis for admission. However, in my opinion, higher weight should be on undergraduate laboratory work in an anatomy class, for example. Hey, anyone that can fill in bubbles can learn to ace the mcat. Not everyone can learn to be dextrous and a critical thinker in live situations under pressure.

just my thoughts 👍

 

[Haybrant]

the only good thing we have going at berkeley is engineering and football; i graduated mcb like all other premeds and lets be honest, maybe 90% of the stuff we dont remember, and I was among the top of the class. Most of what i know is b.c of my research. But, if we dont know anything comming out of UCB im guessing people at different schools are fairly similar; undergrad is mostly about the interaction with other students and profs, how you function independently and the way you begin to think; so let's let this thread die....

 

[liverotcod]

Ehhh, true. At any rate, the MCAT is overrated. But I guess there needs to be some basis for admission. However, in my opinion, higher weight should be on undergraduate laboratory work in an anatomy class, for example. Hey, anyone that can fill in bubbles can learn to ace the mcat. Not everyone can learn to be dextrous and a critical thinker in live situations under pressure.

just my thoughts 👍

Anatomy isn't even a required pre-med class - in fact, I was told NOT to take it. I really think they're looking for aptitude, mostly.

 

[Haybrant]

Anatomy isn't even a reuired pre-med class - in fact, I was told NOT to take it. I really think they're looking for aptitude, mostly.

i agree; why do premeds take classes they are going to take again in med school; talk about a waste of time....

 

[kalix]

i agree; why do premeds take classes they are going to take again in med school; talk about a waste of time....

Well, I think because no matter who you are, you don't retain 100% of the information you learn the first time around. By taking an anatomy course in undergrad, and then again in med school, your foundation on the material is going to be much stronger than someone that is seeing anatomy for the first time. 😉

 

[BigRedPingpong]

i agree; why do premeds take classes they are going to take again in med school; talk about a waste of time....

Talk about riding the gravy train through first year. After taking biochem, a non-required course for med school, as an undergrad, I'm riding the gravy train in MGB. Anatomy, well, let me just say that there is a PA turned MD in our class who took Anatomy and knows his sh1t without studying, because he already studied it.

 

[Haybrant]

Well, I think because no matter who you are, you don't retain 100% of the information you learn the first time around. By taking an anatomy course in undergrad, and then again in med school, your foundation on the material is going to be much stronger than someone that is seeing anatomy for the first time. 😉

but i dont think you can be successful as an anatomist if you only take the class in med school; our system isn't suffering b.c premeds arent taking anatomy. You will remember as much as you need to based on your med training and then beyond...

 

[Haybrant]

Talk about riding the gravy train through first year. After taking biochem, a non-required course for med school, as an undergrad, I'm riding the gravy train in MGB. Anatomy, well, let me just say that there is a PA turned MD in our class who took Anatomy and knows his sh1t without studying, because he already studied it.

Im sure he knows his sh1t now but wouldnt he be better off researching in the time he has to go to class for anatomy; im just saying premeds waste so much time doing things for med school especially those of us in the biological sciences. Take bio classes that you cant take in med school like molec bio or structural bio. Learn something and expand your scope; this is something premeds should think about more of...

 

[wends]

well, some programs are very strict with what classes one can take, i had a certain classes that i had to take in order to graduate, and it left me with little room to fit in other classes that i wanted to take, but i see your point haybrant, im taking a lot of arts classes this year cause i have some options this year........its fun to sit around and "discuss issues" lol