Guest cal88 Posted December 23, 2002 Report Share Posted December 23, 2002 Hello, I'm currently a first year in BC and I just got my Final Marks back, and I did relatively well(85% avg). But when I calculate my GPA using the OMSAS scale, it only works out to like 3.66(I got A+ in 3 courses and a B+ and B in the two others). What's going on? Why do so many schools use the GPA? It's totally unfair! Then, does my current GPA shoot my chances for all the schools in ontario? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chieka101 Posted December 23, 2002 Report Share Posted December 23, 2002 3.66 is not too bad. It meets the Mac cut-off, should meet the Western cut-off and probably meets the U of T one too. And remember that some schools (U of T and Western, I believe) will drop your lowest grade each year. That should help you out. Any UWO or U of T meds want to clarify this, please? Relax about the GPA - I know it's frustrating and seems to make little sense, but that's the way things are. On a happier note, Canadian grades transfer really well on the AMCAS scale (for applying to American schools). My GPA rose a full .12! Take care, C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted December 23, 2002 Report Share Posted December 23, 2002 My understanding is that UWO won't drop the worst course, but their "best year" and "last year" formula does your worst year(s) get dropped. And I'm pretty sure 3.66 has been good enough to get an interview at UWO each of the last 5 years. Once you get that interview, the marks don't make that big a difference. So you should be fine if you can maintain the same marks through the second term. I'm just speculating on this, but I think the reason OMSAS uses the GPA system because it stresses consistency. As you pointed out, doing really well in a couple of courses and then so-so in a couple of others can give you a pretty good percentage but not as good a GPA. Conversely, getting marks consistently between 80 and 85 would give you a lower percentage but a higher GPA (3.7). And I think the thing the med schools are looking for are students who can consistently do well. I think they value that more than being able to do really, really well in a few classes but not being able do well in a few other classes. This is also reflected in the grading scheme chosen by most of the med schools! While a number of marking schemes are used by the med schools, the most popular seems to be Honours/Pass/Fail. At least at UWO, an 80% is worth an H. A 99% is worth an H as well. But a 79% isn't. Under this system, a student who had an 81% average based on 81% in all his med school courses would have all honours (the best mark possible) whereas another med student who had an average of 89% based on 99% in half their subjects and 79% in the other half would only have a 50/50 mix of Honours and Passes. They wouldn't get an iota of extra credit for the 99% over an 80%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted December 23, 2002 Report Share Posted December 23, 2002 Western is no longer using the 'best year and last year' formula. You now need to have two years over the cut-off (your last year does NOT have to be one of the two) to be eligible for admission. If you are still in school, and you currently have only one year over the cut-off, you can use your last year as one of your years. This will be of benefit to some of the people that apply with for example: 3.60, 3.65, 3.65 and are currently completing their last year. If for example, the cut-off was 3.65, they would have had to have gotten a 3.65 in their last year to get an acceptance (or keep one if they got it!). If they only got a 3.64 in their final year, (and I believe that this happened to one of the other UWO moderators at one point!) their acceptance got revoked, even though they had two years that met the cut-off. Effective this year, this rule is now gone. As long as you have two full years over the cut-off, you will have a chance. It doesn't matter if it is your first year or your last year or any years in between that you use. As long as they are full-time years (5.0 credits between Sept-April). Western will not drop your worst courses or let you 'create' a full-time year out of something that is not though. They will drop additional courses (above 5.0 in a year) and will only use your 5.0 best credits in a year to calculate your GPA. This is new too. In the past, if you took more than 5.0 courses and this dropped your GPA below the cut-off that was considered too bad. So, many people were screwed by the fact that with their best 5.0 courses, they met the cut but with all 6.0 included they didn't. The trade off though (because there is always a catch) is that you now CANNOT use any year in which you are repeating any course as a full-time year (unless of course the repeated course is being taken as an extra 6th course). So, if you fail something, and have to re-do it, this will effectively 'disqualify' two entire years of your degree as far as UWO goes. (The year you failed it your GPA will be too low and the year you repeat it is disqualified as full-time). As for the OMSAS GPA, yep, it is unfair. It is another part of the game and the faster you learn the rules of the game, the better off you will be. Percentages really don't do anything for you in the med school race. It is all about the elusive GPA. It is not a linear scale. Hence, it is much more in your interest to save a mark that is in danger of sliding from an 80 to a 79 than it is for you to keep a mark from falling from 98 to 90. It is possible for two people with the same cumulative % average to have widely different GPA's. When you are coming up with studying strategies, always keep the OMSAS scale in mind! It is your GPA that matters, not your %. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rome1 Posted December 23, 2002 Report Share Posted December 23, 2002 I'm just speculating on this, but I think the reason OMSAS uses the GPA system because it stresses consistency. As you pointed out, doing really well in a couple of courses and then so-so in a couple of others can give you a pretty good percentage but not as good a GPA. Conversely, getting marks consistently between 80 and 85 would give you a lower percentage but a higher GPA (3.7). UWOMED2005, I don't quite understand what you said in one of your earlier posts...can you please clarify? How is it possible for a person with a few high marks in a couple of courses to have a lower GPA than a person with consistent average marks in all courses. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cheech10 Posted December 23, 2002 Report Share Posted December 23, 2002 Simple example: Person A gets 82 and 92, for an average of 87, GPA of 3.85 Person B gets 87 and 87, for an average of 87, GPA of 3.90 OMSAS uses GPA because it is the standard measure of university performance, whereas percentages are not often used. AMCAS in the US also uses GPA, as do a number of other schools. Also, UofT doesn't drop your worst course in each year. Instead they drop a certain number of your worst courses in ANY year(s). They used to drop your entire worst year, but now drop individual courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted December 23, 2002 Report Share Posted December 23, 2002 Thanks Cheech. GPA is also the standard at a number of the maritime schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rome1 Posted December 24, 2002 Report Share Posted December 24, 2002 I take it that you have to convert each of your course's final marks into OMSAS values to figure out your GPA... can anyone tell me what wGPA mean? Thanks for the help... Merry Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SoHo Posted December 24, 2002 Report Share Posted December 24, 2002 Rome1, wGPA means weighted GPA. In this way, the marks obtained in some years are worth more than others. For example, if you were to apply to U of Ottawa during your fourth year, the marks you obtain in 3rd year are worth 3X, 2nd year they count 2X and first year marks count 1X. Basically, take your 3rd year GPA and multiply by 3, take your 2nd year GPA and multiply by 2, take your 1st year GPA and multiply by 1. Add them all up and then divide by 6. Hope this helps and is correct and if it's not I'm sure someone will correct me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted December 24, 2002 Report Share Posted December 24, 2002 Yes, you do need to convert your mark in EACH COURSE into a GPA and then average the GPA's to get your GPA for that year. You CANNOT just take a 84% average for the year and call it a 3.7 GPA. This is where creative math comes in and two people with the same % can have widely different GPA's. (See earlier posts in this thread!). Happy converting. As for wGPA's, every school has their own crazy system to look at GPA. So, your GPA can even be different at different schools.... At Western they look only at your best two years and everything else disappears.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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