What exactly is GPA/MCAT

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Purifyer

Dr. Funk
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2001
Messages
389
Reaction score
1
Hey, as you're probably aware from my complete ignorance of the aforementioned acronyms, I'm international [already in med] :) . I'm just curious from reading posts on these forums, what a GPA 'translates' into. IE, a 'GPA' of '4.0' is 'good', but what is it? An A average? What's the highest theoretical GPA? 5? Also slightly off topic I presume an A is a 86+ percent?

Also with the MCAT, what is an 'awesome' mark? I was gonna post this in the allopathic forum, but then I thought the pre-allopaths would probably be more mark conscious ;)

Members don't see this ad.
 
Hey, Dunedin's a pretty damn cool place. You guys still have couches out on the lawns all the time?
 
The 4.0 is out of a 4.0. Typically

A = 4.0 = 90%
B = 3.0 = 80%
C = 2.0 = 70%
D = 1.0 = 60%
F = 0.0 = < 60%

Some schools or classes have different grading schemes. Some schools add a +/- that adds or subtracts 0.5 (or some other fraction) from the grade point average (GPA).
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Originally posted by Purifyer:
•I'm just curious from reading posts on these forums, what a GPA 'translates' into. IE, a 'GPA' of '4.0' is 'good', but what is it? An A average? What's the highest theoretical GPA? 5? Also slightly off topic I presume an A is a 86+ percent?•••

Well, a GPA (with few exceptions) is calculated on a 4.0 scale. This makes an A = 4.0, B = 3.0, etc. So, calling a 4.0 "good" is like calling the sun "big". A 4.0 is pretty great, since it's perfect, and the sun isn't just "hot", it's supremely hot.

•Also with the MCAT, what is an 'awesome' mark?•••

15 in any one section is "awesome", meaning that's as high as you can get. Since there are 3 numerically scored sections, a 45 is the best, and it goes down from there. The verbal section's top score is a 13-15, so the highest actual MCAT possible right now is a 42-45.

What you percieve as an awesome score usually depends upon what score you have yourself. As I have a 32, I really don't consider 32's awesome. 36's, now that is rapidly approaching awesome levels.

Hope this helps.
 
Hello Purifyer (I hope that's not a reference to "purification by pain" as in Spanish Inquisition-style - that's what it made me think of for some reason), but anyway, I'll try to shed some light...

In the US, grades are generally assigned as follows, although there is considerable variation within colleges and between them.
A= 90-100%
B= 80-89
C= 70-79 and so on...
"Curving" is also practiced by some professors. This is a way of boosting people's grades up.

Anyway, GPA is based on grades, hence Grade Point Average. An A=4.0 points, B=3.0 points, C=2.0 points, and so on. A 4.0 GPA is the maximum at most schools. I say "some" because relatively few schools add +/- to grades, so that an A+ would be valued at say, 4.3 grade points...

MCAT maximum is 15 for each of the three sections for a total of 45. Writing sample is scored on an alphabetic scale from J to T with T being the max. A great score is generally though to be 36 or greater, although it depends on who you ask. Hope this helps...
 
Originally posted by BurgerEater:
•Hey, Dunedin's a pretty damn cool place. You guys still have couches out on the lawns all the time?•••

Dunedin is a great city. Any city with a statue of Robert Burns is cool..."Ode to a Haggis"
 
Yeah really! I thought mine was the first reply until I found 4 others had beaten be to it!
 
Originally posted by mpp:
•The 4.0 is out of a 4.0. Typically

A = 4.0 = 90%
B = 3.0 = 80%
C = 2.0 = 70%
D = 1.0 = 60%
F = 0.0 = < 60%•••

Also, many courses are curved, meaning that the teachers set the grade levels based on the performance of the class as a whole. There's loads of variance in this practice, so I won't even try to set some specific numbers down.
 
Top