<p>I know that med schools will follow AMCAS and standardize GPA's (A+=4.0, A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, etc.). My D is a freshman at a top 25 school that simply does not give A+'s. It is possible to receive an A, but they're given very infrequently. Here is my question...what about the schools that do not differentiate between minuses and pluses? Is there an advantage to attending one of these institutions? It seems logical that these kids would have a considerable advantage because they're not penalized for minuses. My D is a first year, so I'm just now exploring the whole med school process so please forgive me if there's a very obvious answer that I'm overlooking.</p>
<p>I’d be surprised if it was that significant. The same kids who don’t get -0.3 for an A- also don’t get the +0.3 for a B+. Obviously that’s not totally symmetric (most premeds will get more A-'s than B+'s), but we’re only talking about a few courses and 0.3 GPA points per course anyway.</p>
<p>Also, it seems like your daughter attends UVa. I’m sure they grade like a standard top-25 school in terms of the proportion of A’s they give out.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman at a top 25 school that simply does not give A+'s. It is possible to receive an A, but they’re given very infrequently.</p>
<p>If this is UVA, then I find it very hard to believe that the school rarely gives out A’s. Your D probably doesn’t know the grades given to each of her classmates, so she may just be guessing that few A’s were awarded. If her Bio/chem lecture halls have - say 100 students in them, I doubt only a couple received A’s.</p>
<p>AMCAS strips “+”, but keeps “-” anyway. So UG, that follow the rule of subtracting for A- and NOT adding for A+ (like my D’s UG) are doing it right way. However, all A+'s are shoiwing on transcripts if anybody bothers to look. I do not think anybody cares to look though if a kid has, for example, GPA=3.98 because of 3 A- (as it happned to my D., all 3 were in her minor in singing classes)</p>
<p>bluedevil and mom2collegekids…I do know for a fact that A+ are almost never given at D’s school. As far as As are concerned, you’re right, it really depends on the course(s). Last semester my D received all As and one A-. In her hard science courses, she was one of the very few that received an A. One of her current science professors told the class at the beginning of the term that X% would receive an A/A- (10% or 15% if I’m not mistaken); X% would receive a B+/B/B-, etc. The students understood him to say that he would impose a curve whereby it would be possible for a student who had an A- to actually receive a B or B+ based upon the imposed curve. This is merely one teacher, though, so I’m not overly concerned at this point. I guess my fear would be if D makes several A-s throughout school along with an occasional B+ or B here or there that this might hinder her ability to be competitve for med school. I suppose the most telling information would be how many students who apply to med school are actually accepted from her undergraduate school. This is a statistic I’ve not yet been able to find. </p>
<p>On a similar note…I did notice that Texas schools do NOT deduct .3 points for A-s; they level all different As as 4.0. This is encouraging since three of the med schools she’s strongly hoping pan out are in Texas.</p>
<p>"I suppose the most telling information would be how many students who apply to med school are actually accepted from her undergraduate school. " - I am not sure if it is very valuable info.<br>
She needs to aim at 3.6+ and MCAT 32+, if she has good pre-med advising at her school, she will have great chances. But the higher, the better.</p>
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Doesn’t make a whit of difference. Most schools don’t even have A+'s. It’s equal footing. </p>
<p>10-15% A- and above doesn’t sound that bad to me. </p>
<p>As to the Texas schools, remember that Baylor is AMCAS.</p>
<p>UVa is a good school with a good rep. She’s doing great. Just tell her to keep on keeping on. ;)</p>
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<p>I don’t mean to be nitpicky, but this seems to imply that there is some way to “have” an A- which the professor would refuse to grant. Obviously that can’t possibly be right. The Professor assigns a certain proportion of grades, and if you “receive” an A- then you “have” an A-. If not, then you don’t.</p>
<p>The underlying point here is that a student is never entitled to a certain grade which a curve then steals. The grades are defined by the curve to begin with.</p>