I just failed the Physics GRE, now what?

Jack21222

I've never looked at what a B- is, so I admit I was wrong. I've never in my life until now considered something below a 3.0 to be a B of any kind. Walking around with a 2.7 average proclaiming to be a B student (even with the minus label) seems disingenuous, but if that's how things are classified, then I'm in no position to change it.

AndersonMD

Having gone through undergraduate at one of the only two schools that use that grading system I am quite familiar with the interpretation of the marks, and trust me schools don't "round up" to a B, a 2.7 is a C+, in the same way a 3.9 is a B+. The conversion on this chart is a bit strange as you generally use a GPA at those schools out of 4.5. A+ = 4.5, A = 4.0, B+ = 3.5 B = 3.0, C+ = 2.5, etc.

This clarification is even more important for most graduate students who are applying with a GPA between 3.5-4.0, even though often your percentage marks coming out of courses could be mid 80's you CGPA could be say, 3.7 which is ineligible for federal funding (NSERC, etc). While other schools that use a % based system will be eligible with identical marks.

Anyways, long and the short of it, as much as I would love them to "round up", this is simply not the case, a 2.7 is a C+, and you won't get into grad school with it (while at a 3.0 you might). Also, a 2.3 would be considered a C not a C+.

AndersonMD

I was being a little facetious, though I do admit I after finishing a 12 hour in class exam with no breaks, where no one in the class could reasonably finish even half of it, I sometimes dream things could be just a little bit easier (this was not a qualifying exam, it was just for a single class).

It never feels good coming out of one of those feeling utterly defeated.

stevenb

I'm quite confounded by your statements. I agree a 2.7 should not be rounded up to a B. The charts clearly show it as a B-. This agrees with any standard I've been under (4.0 scale). My undergrad school used the letters to report grades and showed a GPA number scaled to 4.0. If a student at that school got a B- in every single class, his GPA would be 2.7. It also agrees with the reference you cited. A scale based on a max of 4.5 would of course be different, but I'm assuming the OP is measured on a 4.0 scale (EDIT: yes, I checked and that's what he said).

Anyway, it's hardly a battle worth fighting, but it seems to me the OP should be comfortable (and would be accurate) saying he is a B- student. Even saying he is a B student, while clearly saying his GPA is 2.7 out of 4.0 is not "disingenuous" in my book because he is clearly not trying to hide anything.

Vanadium 50

People aren't getting the hint. Discussion of whether a 2.7 is a C+ or a B- is not helpful to the OP. What matters is that 2.7 < 3.0, and 2.7 << 3.5.

johng23

WHAT? That's utterly ridiculous. How is that even allowed? Why don't people laugh in the prof's face and refuse to do it?

Undergrad or grad?

stevenb

With the number of times this fact has been pointed out, I'm absolutely convinced the OP had been "helped" by this hint.

What isn't helpful to the OP is telling lies about obvious facts and insulting him with words like "disingenuous".

G01

We've now spent close to two pages debating the differences between a B- and a C+! It's not the original purpose of the thread.

Who's telling lies to the OP?

stevenb

If you are implying that I lied about something, then at least have the decency to point it out so that I can realize it, acknowledge it and apologize for it.

If you want to say I'm annoying for belaboring a point, then fine, I'm guilty as charged. Certainly this is not the first time a PF member asked that an inaccuracy be corrected.

G01

Steven, I have no complaint with you, just about the direction the conversation is going. I'm sorry if I "sounded" disgruntled or belligerent. I did not intend for that.

I wasn't implying anything about you personally.

I was wondering about your statement:

My question was serious and not implying anything about any of your statements. I didn't see anyone in this thread say anything blatantly false to the OP.

I seriously wanted to know, "Who told lies in this thread?"

stevenb

No problem. I'm not offended or anything. I'm not accussing anyone specific of lying in the sense of "deliberately trying to deceive". I just said "telling lies" as an a general way of saying several innaccurate statements were made which don't really help the OP. Poor choice of words on my part, and appologies for that.

I actually see 4 innaccurate statements, but I'm not going to expand on that for two reasons. First, I don't want my poor choice of the word "lie" to carry over and seem to accuse a particular person, and second because the most blatent innacuracy (2.7 equals C+ or C) is aready deemed as irrelevant and acknowledged by Jack as incorrect and an inadvertant mistake.

undergrad_phy

Hey everyone, thanks for the input- some constructively worded, some not so much, but all helpful nonetheless. I wonder if there is a way to label a thread as 'closed' or 'complete'- because I think we may be getting off topic. I'll try to figure this out- if you have any idea, message me.

However, to reiterate, I do appreciate everyone's thoughts and I feel like I have a much more realistic idea of my goals and my options now.

flyingpig

Wait, then does that mean only like 5 people in the whole university actually even considers applying to grad school since their gpa so darn low?

Ryker

I think their GPA isn't low, because they're graded on a curve. So even though there weren't as many 90's as you would perhaps expect, there were probably still as many A+'s.

flyingpig

Not in my university...

The other section in my physics class had an average of 45% on the midterm and no scaling because someone got 90% on it lol. But they believe there was an error in the question, so who knows.

panzival

Happening at my school too. 49% average on a math exam and no curving because someone got 89%.

Ryker

When you say no curving, what exactly do you mean? For example, at my university, professors look for gaps in-between student scores, so that those gaps represent cut-offs for different grades. Of course it's probably not always as clear-cut, so that they have to "force" the cut-off and look at the scores themselves, as well, but if the average was 43% and, say, one person got 90% and the next best one got 50%, then the latter wouldn't get a C or a B.