Grading & Class Rank

17D More Mouth

Grades, Grade Point Average and Class Rank

A cumulative grade point average is calculated as an indicator of overall academic performance in the DMD program and is used as a criterion for graduation requirements, graduation honors or other academic distinctions, and for determining academic class rank in the program.

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Grading

The following grade point scale is utilized for certain courses in the DMD curriculum:

Grades Quality Points
A+ 4.0
A 4.0
A- 3.7
B+ 3.3
B 3.0
B- 2.7
C+ 2.3
C 2.0
C- 1.7
D+ 1.3
D 1.0
D- 0.7
F 0.0

Biomedical Science courses are graded using this plus or minus grade system; all other pre-clinical and clinical courses in the DMD curriculum use letter grade system only,  with no plus or minus. Additionally, the D grade is not acceptable and not available in any clinical courses in the DMD curriculum. 

I (Incomplete) and X Grades
The “I” grade represents insufficient information to permit proper evaluation of the student’s performance. The “X” grade means that the course work has not been completed due to the nature of the course (clinical therapy parameters, etc.) A student cannot graduate with an I or an X grade. The following shall determine the disposition of and I or X grade:

  1. An unresolved “I” grade automatically shall be changed to an “F” grade if the incomplete is not made up prior to the end of the next semester.
  2. An “X” grade shall be changed to a final grade upon completion of the requirements of the course.

Pass/Fail (P/F) Grades
Certain courses may use the Pass/Fail system of identifying academic success, subject to approval by the ULSD Curriculum Committee. If used, that Pass course grade will not affect the computation of the GPA.

F Grades
The “F” grade indicates failure to achieve at an acceptable level.

  1. A student may not graduate without passing all required courses and electives in which they are enrolled.
  2. A first or second year DMD student cannot receive Dean's List or Dean's Scholar recognition for a term in which an F grade is received.
  3. The mechanism (procedures, schedule, completion deadlines, etc.) permitted for the remediation of an F grade shall be determined by the course director and department chair, subject to the approval of the Student Progress and Promotion Committee (SPPC) and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
  4. A course taken at another institution to remediate an F grade must be approved in advanced by the director of the course in which the failure occurred in conjunction with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
  5. A grade earned in a remediation effort replaces the original F grade on the academic transcript. A grade earned in a repeated course does not replace the original F grade on the academic transcript. All letter grades earned in all courses are used in the calculation of a student’s cumulative GPA.

If a student fails a course(s), the SPPC is notified at the end of the term. During the SPPC meeting, the committee will determine, based on course syllabi and input from the course director, if the student is:

  1. Eligible to attempt remediation of the course  (and continue with the cohort);
  2. Eligible to repeat the course (may or may not continue with the cohort);
  3. Called for a Performance Evaluation Hearing.

Determination of Grade Point Average

Only course grades required in the DMD program of study are used in the calculation of the cumulative GPA. All courses are assigned credit hours by the Curriculum Committee. The total number of academic points earned for the semester is determined by multiplying the graded credit hours earned for each course by the quality points earned for that course.    Pass/fail grades and grades of I or X will not be used in calculating a GPA.

The cumulative GPA is calculated by adding all academic points earned in the dental curriculum and dividing by the total number of graded credit hours earned or taken, including failures (Pass grades are excluded). The School of Dentistry will use the University's class repeat option of averaging all grade attempts in the GPA.

Oral Biology or Other Non-DMD Courses
Any courses taken during the student’s enrollment in the Master of Science in Oral Biology program or other non-DMD required course for which credit has been granted will be manually included in a separate GPA. Grades earned in any Master's/PhD program will not be included in the calculation of the grade point averages of the DMD program. Credit hours earned in non-DMD required courses will not be included in the total hours needed for graduation in the DMD program.

Calculation of Class Rank

Class rank based on grade point averages is calculated after all Fall and Spring semester grades are posted. Grade point averages are calculated to three decimal places. The ranking system used is a standard competition type. In the case of a tie, all students with the same GPA are ranked at the same numerical position in the class. For example, if three students are tied with a 4.000, they all receive the class rank of 1, and the next student in sequence will be receive the class rank of 4. Internationally trained dentists who join the class as advanced standing students in the Spring semester of the D2 year are not included in the class ranking of the students who are in the four year cohort.