I have a question with GPA converstion table.

[Guest archchivalry]

I was looking at the posts in this forum

and they showed me GPA conversion table at

www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/pdf/c_omsas_b.pdf

 

Does this show how universities mark?

(Like for western they mark it with number and

Mcmaster they mark it with alphabet.)

 

It looks easier to go university who marks with

column3 because if I get over 90, I'll get GPA of 4.0

Is it correct?

 

Thanks for lot of helps

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Yes, the OMSAS grading system conversion table lists all of the marking schemes used by Canadian universities. As to whether or not it is "easier" to score higher marks at schools that use scale 3, where 90% and above equates to a grade point score of 4.00, it's dependent on many more factors other than which scale the university uses, e.g., your work ethic, your professors' generosity with marks, your grasp of the material, etc.

 

Based on the other factors that play into the marks that you attain at university, and thus, your GPA, I don't condone attending a university for it's more generous grade point scale. However, all things being equal, a more generous scale can confer some advantages in some cases. For example, for graduate students, UofT uses scale 7--an alpha scale. Here, UofT have decided to divide "A" achievements into three categories. Thus, if your coursework garners you an 80-84 (A-) then you receive 3.70 grade points; if you come in at 85-89 (A) then you receive 3.90 grade points; and if you achieve 90+ (A+) only then will you receive the full 4.00 grade points. I received a couple of A+ marks in two of my graduate courses within the Epidemiology program here at UofT (which requires the completion of 8 half-courses that are generally not of the "research seminars" type). In my own experience within this UofT graduate program, and based on the experiences of some of my classmates, it was not easy to achieve these A+ marks.

 

McGill, on the other hand, offers graduate students a little advantage in attaining the same 4.00 GPA. At McGill, they only have two categories for "A" marks (as seen in the OMSAS scale 8): A- (3.70) and A (4.00). Therefore, a benefit from this scale, that I only realized after nearing completion of a couple of McGill courses last summer, was that I was afforded two doses of 4.00 grade points towards my graduate average, no matter where my course mark fell above 85%.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest strider2004]

The other assumption is that all of your marks will be above 90. Looking at the scales 3,4,5,6, I see no school which actually use the 5 or 6 scale. Only one school is on the 4 scale - Queen's engineering. All engineering programs are tough and Queen's is no exeption. It's a bit more idfficult to get a 4.00 but imagine if you got a slightly lower mark, like a 75. On the 3 scale, you'd be getting a much lower grade(3.00) point than the 4 scale(3.70). So, regardless of the school, your grade point is generally balanced out based on the overall difficulty of the program. Of course, this also varies depending on the subjects taken.

[Guest aneliz]

The entire point of having the different scales was to try and account for the different 'difficulty' levels at different schools...theoretically, the mark that gets you a 4.00 at one school, should be the equivalent 'difficulty' at another school on a different scale.