Eligibility for wGPA

[zzhertz]

I completed my undergraduate degree at UCLA, CA, U.S.A. and our school applies quarter system.

 I entered UCLA as freshman in September, 2016 and graduated as a senior student in March 20th, 2020. Each regular quarter, I enrolled as a full-time student. 

UCLA requires 180 units to graduate and I completed 185 units by the time I graduated. However, I graduated one quarter early (I took 3 courses in the summer session in the summer of 2019 and then I graduated in Winter quarter of my senior year). Will I still be eligible for wGPA?

At UCLA, one courses has 4 credits on average and there are 3 regular quarters in each academic year. Based on what I calculated, 3 courses in our school is equivalent to 1 FCE.) To remove the lowest 4 FCEs, does that mean I can remove 12 course grades?

1.       If this is not correct and I am eligible for wGPA, to remove “the lowest four FCEs”, how many courses are removed?

2.      Also, will the grades from my summer session counts towards wGPA since they also count towards my 185 units completion?

[PequalsMD]

Since your school uses a different system than most Canadian universities which use semesters, and most of us are unqualified to tell you yes or no, I would suggest contacting admissions if you have not already.

Typically summer courses are not taken into consideration for wGPA eligibility and applicants must maintain a full course load in their regular school year. If by doing the summer session the course load in the normal academic year was reduced, then you might not be eligible. I can't tell based on this information if that is your situation, but admissions will be able to address your inquiry.

As for the FCE, I think your understanding is correct. Whatever adds up to a full course equivalent (full year course). In my case it was 2 half year courses (spanning the length of one semester) or one full year course per year of full-time study. I think for you that would mean 3 courses per year of full-time study for a total of 12.

I know that wasn't that helpful so hopefully uoft can get back to you soon.

[Medase]

Called UofT once a few months ago, they said only those that did their undergrad in Canada are considered for wGPA, even if it's from US. Might change in the future who knows. 

2. Grades from the summer do not count at all for wGPA. 

Based on wGPA from UofT, they only consider you for wGPA if you have taken a full course load during the fall and winter semesters only, doesn't matter what you took during the summer. Full course is relative to your university credit system. I don't know if you have taken a full course load during the first 3 years of undergrad, but if you did, then you would be considered to drop only 3 FCEs, as you did not complete your fourth year with a full course load for both fall and winter semesters.

Of course you can confirm with UofT directly to address this.

[happyiguana]

For Canadian students who did their undergrad in the US, does anyone know if UofT considers our cGPA from our institution, or do they just look at the OMSAS GPA? I think at most US schools, an A grade is considered a 4.0 but on OMSAS it's a 3.9. Just wondering bc this would mean that our OMSAS GPA would be a lot lower than our actual GPA....

[MedicineLCS]

Ontario medical schools do not care about what your undergrad cGPA is, they use only your OMSAS GPA (Which is why it exists). 

Does your institution have an A+? 

If it does you use the A+=4.0 and A=3.9 scale. If not, you use scale 8 and an A is a 4.0:

https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/omsas-conversion-table/

As far as your OMSAS grade being lower than your transcript grade, that is an intended effect of doing this. It lets them discriminate between A+ and A performance. When you consider the fact that most (3/5) schools are somewhere in between an A and A+ with wGPA weighting you can see why they do this. Those schools are Ottawa, Toronto, and Western. Even schools without wGPA (Mac) are very close to that straight A average. I go to a letter grade institution which gives A+s and my OMSAS GPA is a bit lower than my transcript grade. 

[DispIay Name]

4 hours ago, Medase said:

you would be considered to drop only 3 FCEs, as you did not complete your fourth year with a full course load for both fall and winter semesters

This is not the case. You lose wGPA entirely if you drop below a full load during any year.

[Medase]

16 hours ago, DispIay Name said:

This is not the case. You lose wGPA entirely if you drop below a full load during any year.

You're right. But not guaranteed, if you write about your situation in the academic explanation essay, you might be considered wGPA, who knows. Still the issue of you being in a US school is a problem of wGPA eligibility tho.