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So... I'm an SFU student. What's a competitive GPA?


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(I know there's a thread on SFU students and UBC medicine already, but I thought I'd start one to discuss target GPA specifically...)

 

If I'm an SFU student on the 4.33 scale, taking the recent changes to the AQ formula into account, what do you think is a good GPA range to be competitive? Is 3.8 good enough, or am I going to need 3.9-4.0 or even >4.0?

 

I've heard so many difference stories... one girl in my Kaplan course told me if I'm coming from SFU a 4.1 would be averagely competitive, while another guy in my organic chemistry class told me a 3.8 should be good enough! Of course there's tons of variables (lets assume "good" but not outstanding ECs, same for MCAT). What's your opinion?

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(I know there's a thread on SFU students and UBC medicine already, but I thought I'd start one to discuss target GPA specifically...)

 

If I'm an SFU student on the 4.33 scale, taking the recent changes to the AQ formula into account, what do you think is a good GPA range to be competitive? Is 3.8 good enough, or am I going to need 3.9-4.0 or even >4.0?

 

I've heard so many difference stories... one girl in my Kaplan course told me if I'm coming from SFU a 4.1 would be averagely competitive, while another guy in my organic chemistry class told me a 3.8 should be good enough! Of course there's tons of variables (lets assume "good" but not outstanding ECs, same for MCAT). What's your opinion?

 

hey tech,

i'm not an expert on this and i'm sure other people will want to give a more detailed answer... but the first thing is UBC uses GPA... SFU uses 4.33 so the basic idea is to have a gpa above the minimum 75% to garner a full file review. at that point you are at the very least minimally competitive.

 

to have a realistic shot you want to have an average in the low-mid 80's (somewhere near 82-86%) to get an interview... at that point your overall average is still important, but isn't going to kill you if you have an 84% vs an 88% average.

 

now, what does that translate into on a 4.33 scale? based on the chart in the link provided an 85% average equates to a 3.95 GPA on a 4.33 scale.

 

http://www.arts.ubc.ca/students/academic-planning-advising/advising/academicperformance/gpa-equivalency.html

 

the other thing to consider is that UBC translates your final GPA to the lowest percent grade in that letter grade scale due to the inability to know what your exact marks were.

 

so, if you got a 3.95 that would equal an 85% average and I believe that is what they would use. if you happened to get 3.8 or 3.9 that would be an 83-84% average... at which point you would be dropped down to the lowest percentage grade in that zone (80-84) so you would be given an 80% average.

 

does that make sense?

 

anyways... the basic gist of it is this- get a GPA around 3.8 and above and you'll have a shot.

 

do well on your MCAT, pre-reqs, EC's and you'll have an even better shot.

 

good luck.

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hey tech,

i'm not an expert on this and i'm sure other people will want to give a more detailed answer... but the first thing is UBC uses GPA... SFU uses 4.33 so the basic idea is to have a gpa above the minimum 75% to garner a full file review. at that point you are at the very least minimally competitive.

 

to have a realistic shot you want to have an average in the low-mid 80's (somewhere near 82-86%) to get an interview... at that point your overall average is still important, but isn't going to kill you if you have an 84% vs an 88% average.

 

now, what does that translate into on a 4.33 scale? based on the chart in the link provided an 85% average equates to a 3.95 GPA on a 4.33 scale.

 

http://www.arts.ubc.ca/students/academic-planning-advising/advising/academicperformance/gpa-equivalency.html

 

the other thing to consider is that UBC translates your final GPA to the lowest percent grade in that letter grade scale due to the inability to know what your exact marks were.

 

so, if you got a 3.95 that would equal an 85% average and I believe that is what they would use. if you happened to get 3.8 or 3.9 that would be an 83-84% average... at which point you would be dropped down to the lowest percentage grade in that zone (80-84) so you would be given an 80% average.

 

does that make sense?

 

anyways... the basic gist of it is this- get a GPA around 3.8 and above and you'll have a shot.

 

do well on your MCAT, pre-reqs, EC's and you'll have an even better shot.

 

good luck.

 

That's not correct hking. You are right about them using your overall final gpa from SFU. However, they will give you the conversion that you get on that chart that you provided. If they did what you are saying that would be even worse. So let's say a student has a 4.08 GPA from SFU. According to that chart, it would transfer as 86.8%. They would give you that percentage... they wouldn't further downgrade you to 85%. Anyways, I hope that makes sense-I'm running on low sleep so I'll come back and check this when I'm done my exams. :P

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Thanks for the awesome responses, both of you!

 

So my 3.90 cGPA translates roughly as an 84%, and my prereq. GPA of 3.87 puts me at ~83.4%, which is about middle of the pack for interviewees... so I'm still in the running. :) Though maybe not for this year! The new "30 credits" rule is going to put people who apply after 3rd year at a disadvantage compared to those who've graduated!

 

It surprises me how little difference 3.90 vs. 4.08 makes... I would think that a 4.08/4.33 should be worth more than ~86.8%!

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That's not correct hking. You are right about them using your overall final gpa from SFU. However, they will give you the conversion that you get on that chart that you provided. If they did what you are saying that would be even worse. So let's say a student has a 4.08 GPA from SFU. According to that chart, it would transfer as 86.8%. They would give you that percentage... they wouldn't further downgrade you to 85%. Anyways, I hope that makes sense-I'm running on low sleep so I'll come back and check this when I'm done my exams. :P

 

thanks for the clarification kdoc.

 

i had a feeling i'd get it wrong seeing as how i don't go to sfu and haven't had to deal with the intricacies of conversions to and from ubc.

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On another note, does anybody know whether SFU credits transfer directly to UBC credits? I.E., is a 4 credit course at SFU 4 credits at UBC as well? I'm trying to figure out if I'm eligible for the weighting formula this year!

 

check the bc transfer guide at http://www.bctransferguide.ca

 

you will have to check each of the courses to see what they are equivalent to in terms of ubc credits...

 

however, i don't think transfer credits have anything to do with using the new formula. i think it has more to do with the actual number of credits you have taken and the amount you are dropping.

 

verify with the school to be sure, but i'm fairly positive that as long as you have completed 90 credits after your worst year is removed (up to 30 credits) you are eligible to use the new weighted gpa and those credits can be completed at any university.

 

ex. you have 110 total credits... your worst year has 30 credits total... you have 80 credits after removing your worst year, therefore you are not eligible to use the formula.

 

2. you have 110 total credits... your worst year has 20 total credits. you have 90 credits after removing your worst year, therefore you are eligible to use the formula.

 

again, verify with the school to be sure, but i don't think it has anything to do with transferable credits because people usually lose credits along the way when transferring between schools and that would be an unfair advantage, which is what they are trying to avoid.

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At UBC, a full-year course with 3 hours of lectures per week is generally worth 6 credits. At other places, such as UVic, that same course is worth 3 credits. But UBC converts them.

 

Ah so that's basically the same as SFU then, where a one-term ("half"-year) course with 3 hours lecture/week is 3 credits.

 

Where there might be an issue is if there's a lab component integrated (like CHEM 121 or 281) and it becomes 4 credits... or if the lecture and lab components are split into 2 credits each. I hope UBC transfers these directly.

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Ah so that's basically the same as SFU then, where a one-term ("half"-year) course with 3 hours lecture/week is 3 credits.

 

Where there might be an issue is if there's a lab component integrated (like CHEM 121 or 281) and it becomes 4 credits... or if the lecture and lab components are split into 2 credits each. I hope UBC transfers these directly.

 

Are you transferring to UBC to go to school or are you just wondering about the new "drop your worst year" formula?

 

If you are transferring to UBC then check http://www.bctransferguide.ca to determine what credit value your courses will be given by UBC...

 

If you are looking to use the weighting formula it isn't about the number of credits you have that transfer over to UBC... it's about the number of credits you have completed at your school and what they convert to in terms of UBC Credits... if your system is different (like you mentioned before with Ontario schools favoring the .5/1 system

 

here is a statement from the FAQ section:

My university credits are not the same as UBC’s. How do I know if I have 90 credits?

 

3 credits are generally given to half-year courses; 6 credits for full-year courses.

 

So, I would assume that no serious differences will arise in terms of SFU to UBC credit conversion as SFU uses the 3/6 credit system just like UBC. I don't think they will take credits away from you because you are not transferring to the school. As long as you have at least 90 credits (at your school) after your worst total year is deducted you should be able to use the formula.

 

But, like I mentioned before... you should call the school and ask them directly for confirmation as I may be completely wrong.

 

However, I don't see them taking credits away as long as the courses that you are taking assing a credit for every hour of lecture during the week.

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That's not correct hking. You are right about them using your overall final gpa from SFU. However, they will give you the conversion that you get on that chart that you provided. If they did what you are saying that would be even worse. So let's say a student has a 4.08 GPA from SFU. According to that chart, it would transfer as 86.8%. They would give you that percentage... they wouldn't further downgrade you to 85%. Anyways, I hope that makes sense-I'm running on low sleep so I'll come back and check this when I'm done my exams. :P

 

 

The SFU grade scale lists a 4.0 has 88% to 91.5%

 

(http://www.siat.sfu.ca/files/File/PDF%20Files/Grading_Scale.pdf

 

The UBC grade scale has a 4.0 as 86%

 

http://www.arts.ubc.ca/students/academic-planning-advising/advising/academicperformance/gpa-equivalency.html

 

Im confused...

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The SFU grade scale lists a 4.0 has 88% to 91.5%

 

(http://www.siat.sfu.ca/files/File/PDF%20Files/Grading_Scale.pdf

 

The UBC grade scale has a 4.0 as 86%

 

http://www.arts.ubc.ca/students/academic-planning-advising/advising/academicperformance/gpa-equivalency.html

 

Im confused...

 

Don't worry about how SFU judges the grades because it is how it is converted to UBC that counts. If you go to the below page:

 

http://www.arts.ubc.ca/students/academic-planning-advising/advising/academicperformance/gpa-equivalency.html

 

and just take your SFU cGPA out of 4.33 then you'll know what percentage you are converted to. Having had a few applications in it has converted precisely in all cases for me so I wouldn't say it is speculation that it is correct.

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