Major GPA Calculation & Class Rank
Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:07 pm
I graduated in August of 2009 (Physics Major and Math Minor) from a decently ranked (Top 20) liberal arts college and I am taking a year off before going to grad school. I should probably note that this wasn't intentional, but after being laid off from my job in the months that I needed to apply for the PGRE,GGRE, pay for application fees, etc I simply couldn't afford to go to Grad school at the time. I should also note that I ended up making the best of a bad situation and got a job as the primary systems engineer for a ballistics program with one of the the largest government aerospace contractors (Contracted by the DOD and Air Force). I'm hoping this will be a good mark for my grad school profile.
Anyways, I have two questions pertaining to my GPA (in major) and Class Rank. Specifically, my school doesn't bother to calculate either so what the hell should I do.
For the GPA in my major, I figured I could calculate it myself and I've done this but I always run into a few problems. How does one go about properly measuring the GPA for only Major related classes. Do I only include classes that are specifically called out in my major requirements? If so, do I include the two Spanish courses I took as part of my "Foreign Language" requirement which are specifically called out in the requirement? Do I include courses which my requirement labels as "Not required but recommended" and for that matter, should I be including courses which I would argue are related, such as discrete math, probability statistics, abstract algebra, advanced calculus, etc or must I leave them out because they aren't specifically called out? And what about courses which are declared as physics courses, but again are not specifically called out in my program req. The reason I ask is because my GPA in major can fluctuate anywhere between 3.30 and 3.7 depending on what I am allowed to include.
For the Class Rank, my school just doesn't bother to calculate it. I imagine this is likely the case because the student population is, as to be expected, significantly smaller than a state school or research university. For example, there were only 5 physics majors that graduated in 2009 (including myself) but I happen to know that even with my GPA (3.5) and My GPA in major (3.30-3.7), I was ranked 2nd out of the 5 in terms of grades. I suppose my point in all this information is that it was legitimately difficult to do really well, in terms of grades, at my school and without an actual class ranking (in department or of the entire school) I don't know how to express to admission committees that my lower GPA is not a product of an inability in physics but a result of the faculties grading style. Am I allowed to simply declare in my applications that I was ranked second in my department or am I not justified in putting anything since it isn't officially declared by the school?
Anyways, I have two questions pertaining to my GPA (in major) and Class Rank. Specifically, my school doesn't bother to calculate either so what the hell should I do.
For the GPA in my major, I figured I could calculate it myself and I've done this but I always run into a few problems. How does one go about properly measuring the GPA for only Major related classes. Do I only include classes that are specifically called out in my major requirements? If so, do I include the two Spanish courses I took as part of my "Foreign Language" requirement which are specifically called out in the requirement? Do I include courses which my requirement labels as "Not required but recommended" and for that matter, should I be including courses which I would argue are related, such as discrete math, probability statistics, abstract algebra, advanced calculus, etc or must I leave them out because they aren't specifically called out? And what about courses which are declared as physics courses, but again are not specifically called out in my program req. The reason I ask is because my GPA in major can fluctuate anywhere between 3.30 and 3.7 depending on what I am allowed to include.
For the Class Rank, my school just doesn't bother to calculate it. I imagine this is likely the case because the student population is, as to be expected, significantly smaller than a state school or research university. For example, there were only 5 physics majors that graduated in 2009 (including myself) but I happen to know that even with my GPA (3.5) and My GPA in major (3.30-3.7), I was ranked 2nd out of the 5 in terms of grades. I suppose my point in all this information is that it was legitimately difficult to do really well, in terms of grades, at my school and without an actual class ranking (in department or of the entire school) I don't know how to express to admission committees that my lower GPA is not a product of an inability in physics but a result of the faculties grading style. Am I allowed to simply declare in my applications that I was ranked second in my department or am I not justified in putting anything since it isn't officially declared by the school?