3.6 Gpa

[alert]

I am thinking of applying to a US university that has a Combined Degree Program in Medicine which gives you a provisional letter of acceptance to their med school provided you maintain a overall 3.6 gpa. I am not too familiar with

the gpa system and I emailed the school and they said

 

"We count an A- as 3.7, and B+ as 3.3. So, a 3.6 is about a 90-92%. "

 

So that means I need to maintain a 92% average, isn't this quite high for all 4 years of university?

 

Thanks for your help

[Hackintosh]

A- is 80-85%. So a 3.6 is definitely not a 92%

[Rach]

A- is 80-85%. So a 3.6 is definitely not a 92%

 

Just checked my transcript and at my US undergrad, an 80% was a B- and a 2.7 GPA, so the OP's scale (A-=3.7, B+=3.3) matches up with my school. The 90-92% might be a bit off (at my school a 90-94% would be a 3.7) but a good estimate. I guess the quoted school person said a 3.6 is "about" a 90-92% because if their school is like mine, you can't get exactly a 3.6 in one class (89%=3.3 and 90-94%=3.7) but you'd have to keep your overall average at a 3.6.

[bannie22]

Depends on your school.

 

A is A.

if a school considers 95 as an A, then 95 is an A.

if a school considers 85 an A, then 85...

[keith_015]

OP consider that you would have to maintain a respectable GPA AND would have to have a good MCAT. When I was at Jefferson I stayed with a student who was admitted through the BSc + MD. He told me basically the only difference between regular admissions and that style is that you don't worry about an interview.

 

This is a route that I doubt would be very accessible to Cdns in the first place and there are far and few spots in between that many US applicants target applying for. Admission averages are VERY competitive as well as SAT scores. Make sure you consider all your options and not just the "stress-free" option.

[Rach]

OP consider that you would have to maintain a respectable GPA AND would have to have a good MCAT. When I was at Jefferson I stayed with a student who was admitted through the BSc + MD. He told me basically the only difference between regular admissions and that style is that you don't worry about an interview.

 

This is a route that I doubt would be very accessible to Cdns in the first place and there are far and few spots in between that many US applicants target applying for. Admission averages are VERY competitive as well as SAT scores. Make sure you consider all your options and not just the "stress-free" option.

 

Good advice. I also stayed with someone who did a similar program (though not a Jeff) and it seems like a good choice if you've grown up in a certain place and know for sure you'd want to stay there for med school. But for someone who is not even from the States, you might find it limiting to make decisions based on a school/area that you may not know well. It's probably a better idea to keep your options and mind open to the idea that this one school might not suit you 4 years down the road.

[alert]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

 

The 1 attractive point about this program is that one does not need to write the mcat.

 

So this seemed pretty stress free (no interview and no mcat), but I am not sure if I can maintain my average at 92% for all 4 years of my university.

 

Thanks again for all the replies.

[leviathan]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

 

The 1 attractive point about this program is that one does not need to write the mcat.

 

So this seemed pretty stress free (no interview and no mcat), but I am not sure if I can maintain my average at 92% for all 4 years of my university.

 

Thanks again for all the replies.

No, you would need about an A- (3.7) average. That is an 80% at UBC, and probably similar at other Canadian universities.

[keith_015]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

 

The 1 attractive point about this program is that one does not need to write the mcat.

 

So this seemed pretty stress free (no interview and no mcat), but I am not sure if I can maintain my average at 92% for all 4 years of my university.

 

Thanks again for all the replies.

 

I find it very hard to believe that a US school would accept somebody without having done the MCAT, especially somebody out of high school where academic performance has yet to be tested!

 

Nonetheless, if you are already starting to get flaked out because of the MCAT, medicine will destroy you.

[ChicoMaki]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

 

The 1 attractive point about this program is that one does not need to write the mcat.

 

So this seemed pretty stress free (no interview and no mcat), but I am not sure if I can maintain my average at 92% for all 4 years of my university.

 

Thanks again for all the replies.

 

you will still have to rock the SAT and probably some ACTs

[Rach]

No, you would need about an A- (3.7) average. That is an 80% at UBC, and probably similar at other Canadian universities.

 

I think you are misunderstanding the OP, this is for a US undergrad (where grades are on a much harder scale than Canadian schools). A 3.7 at US schools is in the low 90s.

 

I find it very hard to believe that a US school would accept somebody without having done the MCAT, especially somebody out of high school where academic performance has yet to be tested!

 

Nonetheless, if you are already starting to get flaked out because of the MCAT, medicine will destroy you.

 

The person I met at one US med school had gotten the provisional acceptance straight out of high school, and didn't need to interview or take the MCAT. She did seem to feel like she was stuck with that decision though, with regard to picking a career so early on, and then having to go to this certain school. Getting to skip the MCAT doesn't seem like a good enough deal when you then have to throw out all other options.

[leviathan]

I think you are misunderstanding the OP, this is for a US undergrad (where grades are on a much harder scale than Canadian schools). A 3.7 at US schools is in the low 90s.

Sorry, you are right! Although I wonder if it is easier to get a 90 there than in a Canadian school, or why the letter grading is different.

[moo]

Sorry, you are right! Although I wonder if it is easier to get a 90 there than in a Canadian school, or why the letter grading is different.

 

Maybe that's why GPA "averages" are higher for Cdn med schools compared to US ones. To be quite honest, when I went to med school in the US, our ugrad GPA average was around 3.7-3.75 for my class but I certainly felt that my classmates were way smarter than the average 3.7 in a Canadian school.

[Rach]

Maybe that's why GPA "averages" are higher for Cdn med schools compared to US ones. To be quite honest, when I went to med school in the US, our ugrad GPA average was around 3.7-3.75 for my class but I certainly felt that my classmates were way smarter than the average 3.7 in a Canadian school.

 

This certainly was the case for me. My GPA for the classes I did here was in the high 3.9s whereas my GPA in the States was way lower (in years with comparable difficulty).

IMO:

Canadian ugrad applying to US med schools ---> awesome.

US ugrad applying to Canadian med schools----> sucks big time.

[bannie22]

The average grade at most US universities are similar to Canadian universities.

Thus the grading is still the same. It is just harder to get a higher raw score in Canada.

[moo]

The average grade at most US universities are similar to Canadian universities.

Thus the grading is still the same. It is just harder to get a higher raw score in Canada.

 

I don't think so. A lot of my courses at UBC were not curved. An 80 was an 80, although a great many were curved so that I felt an A was truly an A (i.e., the class avg was 60 so an 80 was an A because you were int he top 10% or so). However, I felt a lot of courses simply had high averages which means a great majority of students got A's. I'm not sure this is the case with most schools in the US.

[Hackintosh]

Just checked my transcript and at my US undergrad, an 80% was a B- and a 2.7 GPA, so the OP's scale (A-=3.7, B+=3.3) matches up with my school. The 90-92% might be a bit off (at my school a 90-94% would be a 3.7) but a good estimate. I guess the quoted school person said a 3.6 is "about" a 90-92% because if their school is like mine, you can't get exactly a 3.6 in one class (89%=3.3 and 90-94%=3.7) but you'd have to keep your overall average at a 3.6.

 

That is messed up. How is an 80% a B-?? I feel bad for you.

[moo]

That is messed up. How is an 80% a B-?? I feel bad for you.

 

That's how it works in the US. I think that's probably why in Canada, we need such a high GPA to get into med school. I don't necessarily think that Canadians are smarter, it's just that our grading system is such that it is a lot easier to get a 3.8-3.9 whereas in the US it is a lot harder.

[Rach]

That is messed up. How is an 80% a B-?? I feel bad for you.

 

Thanks. The worst for me was the 89%=3.3 since I got that grade so many times it hurt.