Guest jeffsimz Posted May 24, 2003 Report Share Posted May 24, 2003 I know I brought this up before but I just wanted to make sure. My GPA keeps showing up 0. If I enter letter grades instead of the actual percents, it works and shows a GPA. Should I enter letter grades or keep the actual % I got in the class? The AMCAS help line is always busy when I call but I'll keep trying. Thanks for the input. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chieka Posted May 24, 2003 Report Share Posted May 24, 2003 Hi Jeff, I would definitely enter percent and not letter grades. As I've said before, don't worry if your grades don't show up. They will show up after you've submitted your app and AMCAS gets your transcript. This is what happened to me. I wouldn't let this delay your app, as it did with me, because many American schools use the rolling admissions method. It is therefore to your advantage to get your app in asap! I say enter percent and not letter grades because the AMCAS scale works differently from the Canadian scale. Here, an 80 is an A-, but for them it is an A (and a 4.0 GPA!). So, I would definitely enter numerical values, and let AMCAS figure out the rest. Finally, try not to freak out. I know this is trite advice, especially as this is a crucial process, but I can't emphasize how important it is to keep calm. Best! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mala2003 Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 Hi Chieka, Where did you get the information about GPA conversions? Does an 80% really equal a 4.0 as opposed to 3.7? (This is good news! ) Do you know what the other grades convert to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 It depends on your undergraduate school, I think. My U of T grades of 80-84% translated to an A- on last year's AMCAS app (I don't know what that is out of 4). But my York grades of "A" (=80-89%, we don't have an "A-" or numerical grades on our transcripts) translated to an A (ie a 4.0). I agree with Chieka that you should enter whatever it says on your transcript - AMCAS will go through and figure out your GPA later when they get your transcripts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chieka Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 Peachy brings up an excellent point: the grade conversions depend on your school. I went to Western and grades of 80% and up were As on the AMCAS scale. An A is a 4.0. Just enter your percents, and let AMCAS do the rest - you pay them a decent amount of money for them to do so. Best! C. *Edited to add: my AMCAS application booklet from last year states that As range from 84-100 at most Canadian schools, and A-s can be anywhere from 75-86. An A is 4.0 on the AMCAS scale and an A- is a 3.7. I guess Western's scale falls at the extreme end of these ranges (which was good for me ). If you don't already have the booklet, I suggest downloading it from the site. It covers almost every possible aspect of the AMCAS application process. Here is the link: www.aamc.org/students/amc...onbook.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cause2003 Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 Why is Western on an "easier" scale? I wouldn't say it's a harder school than the one I went to. 15 out of the 20 courses I took I got between 80-86% which puts me around 3.7 GPA instead of something closer to 4. Man I should of went to school in my home town instead of leaving home, I blame my parents for being so intolerable:lol . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 LOL Cause2003! :lol I don't think it's an issue of anybody claiming that Western's courses are harder. I think it's more that there are a lot of schools, and AMCAS doesn't have the time to carefully put together a grading scheme for all of them, so we're left with the luck of the draw ... and UWO (and York!) students happen to be lucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mala2003 Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 I know I've asked this a million times but just to triple confirm: When you're filling out the course work section, would you pick S1 (and enter fall term courses only that was completed), S2 (spring term courses only) and SY (full year courses) IF you went to a semestered school like UofT? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thesaug Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Hi Mala, that's what i did. I go to Western, and we have the same thing, semester 1 courses, semester 2 courses and then full year. So all the courses I took in fall for a particular year, I entered under the s1 category and then so forth. Hope this helps you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeffbeene Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 I wonder if you can use SY for all your courses, and use 3 sem hours for 1/2 year, and 6 for full year courses? That's what I did so far... JB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Jeff, that's what I did and AMCAS didn't change it when they verified the grades later, so I assume it was okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 don't worry about entering things wrong. I entered letter grades instead of percents and AMCAS just converted everything for me after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest premed81 Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 Hello all, I know that a half-course is 3 semester hours and a full year-course is 6 semester hours. Is credit hours the same thing? Also, is a full year course WITH LAB counted as 8 semester hours (credit hours) from what I heard? How many hours is a half-course WITH LAB? I'd appreciate any help. At the moment, I'm filling out the OMSAS and AMCAS application at the same time. It was only recently that I realized I was willing to go to American schools. AND....I'm studying for the MCAT at the same time. :rollin Hope to hear from anyone soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mala2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 Hi PreMed81, I had the same questions about full and half year courses that had a lab component. Someone else answered this for me and said that we should put full year courses as 6 and half as 3 BUT you can specify in the secondary applications that certain courses had lab hours etc. Hope this helps and I'm going through the same process as you - AMCAS, OMSAS, MCAT, work...:eek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 premed81, that is very confusing I agree. Some schools say they want 8 graded credit hours (like Med Col of Wisconsin) and if it doesn't say 8 credits on your transcript then you are screwed unless you took some upper division courses (for me, i was Ok cuz I had a whole bunch of upper division physics, chem, and a couple bio courses). Most schools are understanding though. I think what I did was I put 3 semesters hours and then there was an option that said Lecture combined with lab. Then I went to my registrar and had them attach a letter to the transcript explaining that the courses included lab componenets. **This may not be necessary but I did it just to be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thesaug Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 Don't worry too much about the lab parts and requirements of 8 credit hours. If you tick the Lab and Lecture option, that should be good enough. Worse case is that if you get accepted to a certain school and they ask you for lab hours, you can show them at that point that you have already completed that part. Don't quote me, but many schools check the course completion section once they hand you an acceptance. But you should verify this first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest premed81 Posted July 9, 2003 Report Share Posted July 9, 2003 Hello, I'd appreciate a reponse from anyone who knows the answer. I am going into my 4th and last year of undergrd. I know that AMCAS wants you to include the courses that you WILL be taking. I'm guessing that you would input these future courses into the course work section, but can anyone confirm that for me? I haven't read the "help" for that yet. Secondly, it's ok that you obviously do not have grades for these courses yet since you are to still take them, and so leaving the grade box empty is ok? I know these may seem like trivial and probably obvious questions, but I just want to be sure. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted July 9, 2003 Report Share Posted July 9, 2003 yes that's right premed81. I think as long as you put in the right calendar year it'll give say something like "not yet taken" or something like that (don't remember exactly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest McCarey007 Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 Hi Everyone, I'm from UBC and our grading criteria is. A+ 90-100; A 85-59; A- 80-84; B+ 76-79; B 72-75; B- 68-71 etc,, I can't find a conversion scheme on AMCAS that matches up exactly with this. What should I do?? SHould I just choose the closest one? Will AMCAS sort it out? Many THanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thesaug Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 HiMcCarey, I think the best thing to do is call AMCAS. I know its a pain in the neck as its long distance and they put you on hold for a while, but do it, as they will tell you exactly what to do, saving you time and then them time in fixing your application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted July 17, 2003 Report Share Posted July 17, 2003 Just enter your percentage grades and let AMCAS do the rest. Don't fret... whatever you do wrong, AMCAS will just correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted July 17, 2003 Report Share Posted July 17, 2003 Hi there moo, My application is in the midst of being verified by AMCAS and to be truthful, I'm worried! What worries me is their wee caveat regarding applications that are incorrect which may be returned. How incorrect do these applications have to be to warrant a return? Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted July 17, 2003 Report Share Posted July 17, 2003 kirsteen, I'm not sure... I think things gotta be pretty messed up for them to return it. If there are minor mistakes they will correct it. I had put in all the incorrect grades from my transcript and they corrected it all. Don't worry too much... and if you're a little late, it's not the end of the world. I applied during the screwed up year of two years ago and it ended up fine, even tho transmission got delayed to numerous schools. Just keep calling (don't email) them regarding your transcripts... make sure they haven't lost em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted July 17, 2003 Report Share Posted July 17, 2003 Hi again moo, Thanks for your words. Well, I know that they're transmitting something now prior to verification. I just received word this morning from one of the schools that they've received my AMCAS info and need the secondary filled in. I wonder what information AMCAS shuttles over the schools prior to verification? Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thesaug Posted July 17, 2003 Report Share Posted July 17, 2003 Hi Kirsteen, I think AMCAS tells the schools you have selected that you intend to apply to them. Someone else said before, that there are those schools which want a secondary from everyone regardless of your primary application and then there are those who screen. Probably the schools that have contacted you (if your primary is still being verified) fall into the former case. Which secondary did you get??? I just got Connecticut's secondary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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