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confused about mcat wieghting


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how is the mcat actually weighted, i know its 15% weight, but is it linear with your mcat score (ie. 10's = 10/15, 11's = 11/15) or is there some minimum that is set zero (ie. 7's = 0/10, 8's= 2/15) becuase i saw on another thread this being the case for the writing score. And if it is the former, isn't that putting a lot more weighting for WS and not much on the other sections?

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so then 3 standard deviations higher on the composite score will give you 1 percent higher while 1 standard deviation higher on WS gives you 1 percent higher, that's not very fair (i got 32N :(). This would mean someone with 42N has the same score as 30R in alberta (both having 14/20 for mcat)

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so then 3 standard deviations higher on the composite score will give you 1 percent higher while 1 standard deviation higher on WS gives you 1 percent higher, that's not very fair (i got 32N :(). This would mean someone with 42N has the same score as 30R in alberta (both having 14/20 for mcat)

 

Yeah, that definitely isn't fair. Muchdutch confirmed in the other thread that it is indeed linear.

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because the scale is linear...UoA is probably not wanting the MCAT to make or break an application. Those 20% in the personal attributes and the 5% in WS are probably the biggest factors, given that everything else (GPA/MCAT) seem less variable.

 

Yes, I think the 20% in personal attributes can go a lot farther than gpa/mcat. Everybody has to write the mcat and get a certain 'standard' grade, but not everybody has to have research, volunteering, etc. So that is what can really make or break it in my opinion. (that, or a killer mcat - 44R :eek: yeah, right!)

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I agree. I had a conversation with Marlene a while back and she stated that they are moving towards a system where personal attirbutes have a much larger role in acceptance. Some other people I have talked to have suggested that admissions people were getting frustrated by people who had very little in terms of the personal attributes section but were still getting in because of perfect 4.0 GPA's. So yes, the MCAT and GPA are all linear, so one or two points in the P.A. section could be a big boost.

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i understand the weighting for more personal attributes. i'm more upset about the weighting of the WS compared to the rest of the mcat (it kind of sucks when you have an N:( hopefully my gpa makes up for it 3.98:D)

 

As for the gpa thing, there's another thread

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18567

it said that 0-15=3.3-4.0 in-prov, 0-15=3.5-4.0 oop. I don't know the validity but it would make sense otherwise people with a 3.6 and a 3.9 are virtually indistinguishable

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Either way with the GPA makes some sense really. If it's linear, then it creates HUGE gaps in between people with very similar GPAs ie 3.5 to 3.6 or 3.8 to 3.9. If it is linear on the other hand, then very small differences in overall "score" will make big differences in whether you get invited to interview or not. But everybody would be marked on the same scale, so it's all relative to the other people around you, just like in most university classes....." Oh man, you got curved!"

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So, if that (3.3 = 0, 4.0 = 15) makes sense, then by the same rule shouldn't they be doing the same thing with the MCAT score? (They don't). Otherwise, I think that the MCAT and GPA don't compare very well even though they are worth similar; ie. a change from 3.5 to 4.0 GPA = about 10 points, whereas 30 to 45 (hypotheticals here people....!) = only 5 point increase. Just doesn't make sense to me.... but I could be crazy, or just really suck at math.

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  • 3 weeks later...
i understand the weighting for more personal attributes. i'm more upset about the weighting of the WS compared to the rest of the mcat (it kind of sucks when you have an N:( hopefully my gpa makes up for it 3.98

 

Awesome GPA, but to Alberta a 3.98 = 3.9. For your overall GPA, they round down to 1 decimal place. Seems unfair, but they do it to everybody.

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damn!

 

ok, well i have a question then, both my gpa's are 4.0 at the moment on their website (i guess i calculated this wrong myself) but i got A- in biochem this last semester, which i have to send them before feb 1st. Will this be calculated into my prereq gpa or is this just to makesure i don't mess up my final year? If its the former i would really be sad for not busting my butt to get an A in biochem (difference from 4.0 to 3.9 because of a couple percent in one course!:eek: )

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damn!

 

ok, well i have a question then, both my gpa's are 4.0 at the moment on their website

 

Oh really? That means they rounded up then or they massaged your GPA some other way. They go by whatever's shown on the website.

 

 

but i got A- in biochem this last semester, which i have to send them before feb 1st. Will this be calculated into my prereq gpa or is this just to makesure i don't mess up my final year? If its the former i would really be sad for not busting my butt to get an A in biochem (difference from 4.0 to 3.9 because of a couple percent in one course!:eek: )

 

Yeah, I have the same question myself. I got a B+ in English...and am wondering whether it will hurt my pre-req GPA and/or my overall GPA. I'm sitting at a 3.9/3.90 for both. I'm OOP.

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Yes, that will be calculated into the gpa calculation for interview assessment. I have a chem mark that has yet to arrive at the U of A and so called and asked what the procedure was (ie - did I have to call the RO to re-assess my gpa's on my meds website). Marlene said that they will redo it automatically with any grades that may change.

Either way, unless you are a 2/3 year applicant, 3.9/4.0 doesn't make that much of a difference. I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty certain that anybody who has these gpa's (with supporting ec's and an okay mcat) will still be alright, whether their grade shifts down one point from 4.0 or not.

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well i'm slightly concerned as i'm not too happy with my mcat and i'm 2/3 year and oop so i would like to avoid a 3.9 (i'm rash and naive and think that getting a 3.9 is the end of the world, jk), but if it must be, it must be. btw, would any of you know what applicant pool i fall into: 2/3 year, oop or is there some 2/3 year + oop?

 

o, and can i try to send my transcript as close as possible to feb1st. as i'm guessing they would have decided interviews by then and started to mail them out?

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That doesn't seem to make too much sense to me.... wouldn't they just treat the GPA's like they do on your transcript (ie 3.44=3.4, and 3.45=3.5 ?). That would seem to make more sense to me. Jixe, who told you about the rounding down thing? Just curious.

 

This happened to me. I talked directly to the people at the Registrar's office and was told this. I called to follow up my cGPA calculation as it was lower than expected. I was told that whether you have a 3.70 or a 3.79 cGPA, this is still a 3.7 for UofA's purposes.

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o, and can i try to send my transcript as close as possible to feb1st. as i'm guessing they would have decided interviews by then and started to mail them out?

 

When I talked to Marlene she said that they would take into account your fall grades for interviews, but seeing as how interviews are third week of feb, and grades are due feb 1st, I'm not sure how they are going to get this done in such a time crunch. I am sending out my transcript at the end of this week so hopefully they will have enough time to change my marks etc. My advice would be to send out your transcript asap. Don't you have your official marks by now? You should check to see if they are all in and on your transcript and send it asap so you are not overlooked/late/delayed-in-the-mail etc.

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