If your GPA was negatively affected because your winter 2020 grades were not counted/you were forced to take CR in lieu of grades, please post details here

[Ali-oop]

Many current med applicants were told that as a result of COVID, we would either not receive grades for the uni term January- April 2020, or, if we did, that they would not be considered during the assessment of our applications. Unis are now back to giving grades-despite COVID persisting. Why grades now but no grades then? If you know your GPA was negatively affected because you either weren't provided grades, or if you were awarded grades but they were not counted, feel free to comment. I am trying to get a sense of how many of us were negatively affected by this decision. 

[bearded frog]

You seriously can't understand why the spring semester, with an unexpected abrupt shut down of in-person classes, widespread lock-down, and general apprehension and stress in transitioning to largely online learning without being equipped or proper planning, would be different than the fall semester with all of these as known factors and online learning that was planned ahead of time with appropriate time for withdrawals? Would you also prefer they didn't grade the upcoming spring semester which will likely be in the same format, leaving some students planning to apply after 3 years with potentially half of their undergrad ungraded? How does that make any sense?

[Ali-oop]

On 12/29/2020 at 3:46 PM, bearded frog said:

You seriously can't understand why the spring semester, with an unexpected abrupt shut down of in-person classes, widespread lock-down, and general apprehension and stress in transitioning to largely online learning without being equipped or proper planning, would be different than the fall semester with all of these as known factors and online learning that was planned ahead of time with appropriate time for withdrawals? Would you also prefer they didn't grade the upcoming spring semester which will likely be in the same format, leaving some students planning to apply after 3 years with potentially half of their undergrad ungraded? How does that make any sense?

Perhaps unlike you, I 'seriously understand' that there are universities which continued to award grades in the spring of 2020, and that others offered the choice between grades, CR or NCR. Others yet awarded only pass/ fail. It is this inconsistency, and the fact that some programs are using spring 2020 grades (when they are available) for GPA calculations and others are not that forms the basis of the suit which some of you have DMd me about (thank you for that). Lastly, where did I suggest it would make sense, or that I'd 'prefer' that upcoming semesters not be graded? 

[bearded frog]

My bad, I thought your argument was that grades should continue to be not counted or stay pass fail. I didn't realize you were actually trying to go back in time and get compensation? for not having grades scored, which is even dumber. There are a million excellent reasons why that happened and why it was the fairest way to do things, feel free to google it.

[Pakoon]

On 12/29/2020 at 2:26 PM, Ali-oop said:

Many current med applicants were told that as a result of COVID, we would either not receive grades for the uni term January- April 2020, or, if we did, that they would not be considered during the assessment of our applications. Unis are now back to giving grades-despite COVID persisting. Why grades now but no grades then? If you know your GPA was negatively affected because you either weren't provided grades, or if you were awarded grades but they were not counted, feel free to comment. I am trying to get a sense of how many of us were negatively affected by this decision. 

Like any process of the premed game, some changes affected people for the good and some for the bad. Im sure some people bombed that semester due to the stress of a pandemic (either due to being out of a job, their families losing their job, a sick family member or any other number of reasons) and other fortunate enough to be unaffected or affected and still doing well, it makes sense to toss the semester. while it sucks for certain people , i'm going to assume most people are unaffected by this decision, because one semester being voided  would not break a competitive applicants application. no doubt it sucks, but just like an MCAT cutoff being raised the year one happens to apply, it does happen. I don't think any amount of noise will change the fact, and the best course of action for those who had their entire 4 years of medical school preparation shattered by one semester (of grades that will not impact the other 7 or so) is to try and figure out how to recover from their decision to do so.