Wierd Grading System and how it will appear on AMCAS

[iqq2much]

So the school i go to uses a point system to give out grades. Pretty much they can give grades at 0.1 increments so like (4.0, 3.9, 3.8, 3.7.... and so on). My school gives a rough number to letter grade equivalency in the link http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html.

I'm not sure how AMCAS will recalculate my grades, but I'm thinking that they would convert my numbers grades to the respective letter grades and calculate my GPA as such. Any thoughts on this?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[efle]

^ I actually don't think this is covered in the conversion doc.

OP, I'd contact AMCAS and ask. My expectation is that they will use the values given by your school and do a weighted average based on how many credits each class was. For example a 4 credit 3.8, 3 credit 3.6, and 2 credit 3.5 would likely come out as 3.67

 

[iqq2much]

I just contacted AMCAS, supposedly they will convert the number grades to the respective letter grades (A, A-, B+, ...) and then calculate the GPA from that.

 

[efle]

I just contacted AMCAS, supposedly they will convert the number grades to the respective letter grades (A, A-, B+, ...) and then calculate the GPA from that.

I'd try to find out exactly how conversions are drawn though - does a 3.8 for a class jump up to an A or down to an A- ? That kind of thing. Otherwise you'll be going into this pretty blind to how their system will calculate your GPA. See if you can confirm they'll use the breakdown your school states in that first pdf.

 

[iqq2much]

I'd try to find out exactly how conversions are drawn though - does a 3.8 for a class jump up to an A or down to an A- ? That kind of thing. Otherwise you'll be going into this pretty blind to how their system will calculate your GPA. See if you can confirm they'll use the breakdown your school states in that first pdf.

They said they will do conversions based on the link I provided in my original post. So a 3.8 will go down to an A-(3.7), but that will also mean a 3.5 will bump up to an A-(3.7) because my school defined an A- as (3.5 to 3.8).

 

[efle]

Hopefully you have more bumps than drops coming your way!

Surprised such a major state flagship campus is using a bizarre grading scheme like this

 

[purplefrog13]

Have you talked to your pre-health adviser? I'm sure they must be familiar with this, considering UW has it's own med school, and a significant proportion of pre-meds.

 

[freak7]

Sorry guys, most of this info is wrong (at least I'm 99% sure). I'm really surprised that AMCAS would tell you otherwise.

UW gives its grades as the numerical grades; the letter grade "equivalents" in the UW link are just rough approximations. UW never gives letter grades.

AMCAS will process your grade as it is presented on the transcript. They will convert the numerical grade into their lettering system (3.7=A-, 3.8=A etc.) but will not then recalculate your GPA based on their letter assignment. Why would they? They have the credits and hours (after conversion from UW's quarter system of course) so why wouldn't they just use the raw numbers which are more precise than letter grades in the first place?

And 3.5 is labeled "AB" 2.5 is labeled as "BC"

 

[freak7]

Have you talked to your pre-health adviser? I'm sure they must be familiar with this, considering UW has it's own med school, and a significant proportion of pre-meds.

UW does not have pre-health advisors. Also do not ask your departmental advisor about pre-med stuff, they're really bad at the admissions process.

 

[gamieg]

I'm sorry, I can't resist: weird* not wierd.

 

[MoDiddy]

I'm sorry, I can't resist: weird* not wierd.

Was about to say the same

 

[freak7]

I have found this tool really helpful: http://bemoacademicconsulting.com/amcas-gpa-conversion-calculator

That tool does not contain UW's numeric .1-stepwise grading system.

Seriously OP, see:

UW gives its grades as the numerical grades; the letter grade "equivalents" in the UW link are just rough approximations. UW never gives letter grades.

AMCAS will process your grade as it is presented on the transcript. They will convert the numerical grade into their lettering system (3.7=A-, 3.8=A etc.) but will not then recalculate your GPA based on their letter assignment. Why would they? They have the credits and hours (after conversion from UW's quarter system of course) so why wouldn't they just use the raw numbers which are more precise than letter grades in the first place?

And 3.5 is labeled "AB" 2.5 is labeled as "BC"

 

[JB50]

U due gud = amkas give gud gpeeay opie

 

[freak7]

U due gud = amkas give gud gpeeay opie

goobie pls

 

[studentdoctorpremed]

why don't they all just use the same grading system? I can't figure out my AMCAS GPA either

 

[prehealthadvisor55]

UW does not have pre-health advisors. Also do not ask your departmental advisor about pre-med stuff, they're really bad at the admissions process.

*starts writing letter to propose creation of pre-health advising office where I can create the office from scratch*
Oh what? Don't mind me.

 

[studentdoctorpremed]

did you figure out the uw AMCAS GPA grading?