PharmCAS Community

 View Only
  • 1.  Feedback on Local GPAs

    Posted 09-20-2018 11:46 AM

    I recently learned that manual changes made to local GPAs in WebAdmit were only temporary.  This is clearly stated in the WebAdmit Help Center, but I'm wondering if this has always been true.  I'm trying to find out if this is surprising information to my colleagues at other pharmacy schools as it was to me or whether the limits of this feature are well known to other schools and I've just missed it completely.

    We have used the local GPA feature of WebAdmit for several years to determine a recalculated GPA for candidates, removing from the GPA failed courses that have been repeated successfully (at the same institution and with the same course prefix).  It was in the middle of last year's admissions cycle that we noticed our recalculations were not being maintained in WebAdmit.  At that time, I inquired about the problem and was told that it would be looked into.  This summer, at the AACP Admissions Workshop, someone publicly inquired about this issue, as I did again.

    Presuming that it was still being worked on, I inquired about the issue again several weeks ago and was told this time that the "temporary" nature of manual changes to local GPAs was in fact the way the system was designed to function.  For our purposes at Belmont, this significantly defeats the benefit of creating local GPAs and diminishes the usefulness of this feature.

    Before I continue efforts to change the limits of this feature, I want to be sure I'm not missing an obvious reason why the temporary nature of manual changes to Local GPAs in WebAdmit is a good thing.  I'd appreciate any feedback.  Thanks.



    ------------------------------
    Bill Nichols
    Belmont University
    Nashville TN
    615-460-6107
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Feedback on Local GPAs

    Posted 09-20-2018 12:24 PM
    Hi Bill et al!

    I have been using Admit (now WebAdmit) in some iteration since 1998. My understanding has always been that the Local GPA feature was more for something that didn't need to be manually updated or changed e.g. BCPM GPA and if you needed an internally calculated GPA to use the Pre-Requisite GPA which means you end up having to go in and hand calculate for every single applicant you are reviewing.

    I agree with you and others who discussed this at the workshop in July, that it would be wonderful for the Local GPA feature to be more robust so that if you do make changes those can at least be saved or that you have more choices. The operative word in my mind is "local". For example, I would love to be able to have the ability to do a Last 60 Hours GPA in the Local GPA (if anyone has figured out to do that, I would love to hear how you do it!). I am on board with asking for those modifications. 

    Thanks for continuing to pursue the issue.

    All the best,
    Jennifer

    ------------------------------
    Jennifer Richardson
    Director of Recruitment and Admissions
    The University of Oklahoma
    Oklahoma City OK
    405-271-6598
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Feedback on Local GPAs

    Posted 09-20-2018 02:02 PM

    Hi,

     

    I agree with Jennifer!

     

    Cordially,

     

    Dr. William J. Taylor

     

    William J. Taylor, Pharm.D.

    Associate Professor, Department of  Public Health

    Director of Recruitment & Retention

    Office of Admissions & Student Affairs

    Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

    PO Box 1090 * Maddox Hall Room 220

    Buies Creek, North Carolina 27506

    Cell: (910) 978 1686

    taylorw@campbell.edu   www.campbell.edu

     

     






  • 4.  RE: Feedback on Local GPAs

    Posted 09-20-2018 02:24 PM

    Jennifer,

    To set a LOCAL GPA for Last X hours (we look at last 30):

    Name it and mark it as active.

    Select all the course topics you want to include.

    Select all special classifications you want included.

    Select which academic years to include.

    I set mine to ALL COURSE YEARS but you can select courses since a certain year.

    Use or ignore +/-.

    Set Course Inclusion Type to "Include closest credit match" (it will start from most recent and work backwards, stopping within a semester as soon as the credit limit is hit) or "Using Closest Credit's Term" (it will include all courses from the full semester where the credit limit is hit.  This one will usually take you a little bit over your total hours asked for).  Set the total number of hours you want included (For you, 60).

    Select your program and submit.

     

    Let me know if you have any questions.

     

    Jon

     

    Jonathan Parker, M.A., Ed.S.

    Director of Pharmacy Admission

    McWhorter School of Pharmacy

     

    205-726-4242 | office

    205-726-4141 | fax

    jmparker@samford.edu

    www.samford.edu/pharmacy

    800 Lakeshore Drive
    Birmingham, AL 35229

     

    Samford McWhorter School of Pharmacy Logo

     






  • 5.  RE: Feedback on Local GPAs

    Posted 09-20-2018 02:54 PM
    Thank you Jon! 

    I set it up and it seems pretty close to what I've done in the Pre-Requisite GPA but there are some slight discrepancies from what I had calculated for the applicants in the Pre-Requisite GPA feature. My guess would be that perhaps it goes in order of how it is entered by the applicant? I just want to make sure I'm not using a miscalculated GPA in our evaluations that could either qualify or disqualify an applicant for admission undeservedly either way. 

    I really appreciate your help!

    Jennifer

    ------------------------------
    Jennifer Richardson
    Director of Recruitment and Admissions
    The University of Oklahoma
    Oklahoma City OK
    405-271-6598
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Feedback on Local GPAs

    Posted 09-20-2018 02:58 PM

    Jennifer,

    Yes, if you want it to stop at a specific number of hours (not include the full term) it will use the courses in the order they were entered by the applicant.  This is where you can manually exclude/include courses and change the initial GPA calculation.

     

    Jon

     

    Jonathan Parker, M.A., Ed.S.

    Director of Pharmacy Admission

    McWhorter School of Pharmacy

     

    205-726-4242 | office

    205-726-4141 | fax

    jmparker@samford.edu

    www.samford.edu/pharmacy

    800 Lakeshore Drive
    Birmingham, AL 35229

     

    Samford McWhorter School of Pharmacy Logo

     






  • 7.  RE: Feedback on Local GPAs

    Posted 09-20-2018 03:00 PM

    Bill,

    If I remember correctly, manual changes will remain UNLESS there is new information uploaded/changes made to the application from PharmCAS.  If those changes occur, it resets to the original courses used in calculation.

     

    Jon

     

    Jonathan Parker, M.A., Ed.S.

    Director of Pharmacy Admission

    McWhorter School of Pharmacy

     

    205-726-4242 | office

    205-726-4141 | fax

    jmparker@samford.edu

    www.samford.edu/pharmacy

    800 Lakeshore Drive
    Birmingham, AL 35229

     

    Samford McWhorter School of Pharmacy Logo

     






  • 8.  RE: Feedback on Local GPAs

    Posted 09-21-2018 01:40 PM

    Hi Everyone,

     

    Thanks for this discussion! 

     

    To start and to echo Jon's reply, when a school manually updates an applicant's local GPA in WebAdMIT (usually by un-checking a course), it will automatically reset to the original way it was calculated if the applicant makes an update to the application. 

     

    Bill, for your inquiry specifically, the WebAdMIT support team has logged a potential CAS-wide enhancement request to add a section to the Local GPA feature to allow specific "repeated" course filters for the GPA. Liaison shared the request with Katie Owings Bruce (AACP) and she will bring this to the PharmCAS advisory committee's next meeting for their thoughts as well.

     

    Please feel free to reach out with any questions.

     

    Best,

    Melissa

     

     

    Melissa Keaveney
    Account Manager
    Liaison International
    T: 617.612.2008 
    mkeaveney@liaisonedu.com | www.liaisonedu.com

    https://i.imgsafe.org/fbf5e6ffa9.png

     

    signature_111421599