R score: frequently asked questions
What is the R score?
The R score, or cote de rendement au collégial (CRC), is the number Québec universities use to rank applicants coming out of CEGEP. It compares your grade with those of the other students in your class, then takes into account the strength and dispersion of that class in high school. Each course receives its own R score, and their average gives your overall R score.
How do I calculate my R score?
For each course, the R score is calculated as follows: R score = (Z × IDGZ + IFGZ + 5) × 5. The Z score places your grade within your class, IFGZ measures the strength of the class and IDGZ, its dispersion. Your overall R score is then the average of the R scores of your courses, weighted by their credits. Since your class's standard deviation, IFGZ and IDGZ are, most of the time, not published, the myRScore calculator estimates them from the course's history at your CEGEP. See our guide for the details of each step, with examples.
What is a good R score?
A student right at the average of an average class gets an R score of 25. An R score above 30 is generally considered good, and an R score above 35, very competitive. However, a "good" R score depends above all on the program you are aiming for, since the required R score varies a lot from one university program to another.
What is the average R score?
The formula is designed so that a student right at the average of an average class gets an R score of 25. Students admitted to limited enrolment programs, however, often have a higher R score: at Université de Montréal, for example, the average of the students admitted ranges from about 26 to nearly 37 depending on the program.
Can I convert my R score into a percentage or a GPA?
No, since the R score is not a grade out of 100 and there is no official conversion: it compares your grade with those of your class. Moreover, not all universities outside Québec use it, and several rely instead on the average of your CEGEP grades. It is therefore best to check the requirements of each one.
What R score do you need for university?
It depends on the program. Many programs are not limited: a minimum R score, often around 22, is then enough to be eligible. In limited enrolment programs, the R score of the last admitted student ranges from about 22 to over 35, in dentistry. The Admission R scores pages give the R scores of the last admitted students, program by program and university by university.
What R score do you need for medicine?
At the latest admissions, an R score of about 33 was needed to be invited to an interview, and the applicants invited had an average R score of about 36. The R score is not enough on its own, however, since the Casper test and the interviews then decide between applicants. The R scores of each faculty are on the page What R score do you need for medicine?
What is the Casper test?
Casper is an online situational judgment test: it presents scenarios, and you must explain how you would react. Several health programs, such as medicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, require it in addition to the R score.
Does the University of Ottawa use the R score?
No. For CEGEP students, the University of Ottawa calculates an admission average from their grades, and each program sets the minimum average it requires. Applications go through the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC).
Where can I find my official R score?
Your official R score is usually shown on your student portal, such as Omnivox or Colnet, for each course and for your whole record, some time after the semester ends. You can then enter it in the calculator, in the "Official R score" column: it is then used to adjust the estimate for your other semesters.
Does a failed course lower my R score?
Yes, but with a reduced weight. A failed course counts in the overall R score for a quarter of its credits if it happens in your very first semester at CEGEP, and for half afterwards. Its R score, often low, therefore weighs less than that of a passed course.
Do general education and physical education courses count?
Yes. Every course that receives an R score counts in the overall R score: those of your program, French, humanities, English, complementary courses and, since fall 2007, physical education. Each one weighs according to its credits.
Do my high school grades count?
Only indirectly. Your high school results are used, with those of the other students in each of your classes, to measure the strength and dispersion of these classes, that is, IFGZ and IDGZ. Your R score therefore rests above all on your CEGEP grades.
Why does one of my courses have no R score (99.999)?
The ministry calculates no R score when fewer than six students in the class who went to high school in Québec got 50 or more, when every student gets the same grade, or for an upgrading course. It then records 99.999, and the course does not count in your overall R score.
How many courses do you need for an overall R score?
You need at least 16 courses with an R score. Before that, the ministry does not yet calculate an official overall R score, but the myRScore calculator still gives you an estimate of it.
Why did my R score change after the semester?
The ministry recalculates R scores four times a year, over the last six semesters. A course's R score can therefore move slightly after it is published, once the data for every class is complete. The R score calendar gives the dates of these calculations.
Should I enter my class average?
It is not required, but it is the most useful piece of information after your grade, since it makes the estimate much more precise. Enter your class average, that is, the average of your class in this course, as shown on your student portal. If it is not entered, myRScore uses the usual average of the course at your CEGEP.
Is myRScore's estimate reliable?
For each course, myRScore gives an estimate and the interval where the real R score is likely to fall. On data from past semesters, the estimate is off by about one to two points on average from a course's official R score. It becomes more precise when you enter your class average, and even more when you add the official R scores you have already received: the tool then measures its own gap and corrects the estimate for your other semesters. The methodology details these figures.
What grade do I need to reach an R score?
In the calculator, open the details of your R score by clicking the bar at the bottom of the screen, then enter the overall R score you are aiming for under "What grades do I need?". myRScore then shows, under each course of the semester displayed, the grade you need to get there.
Are my grades sent anywhere?
Your record stays in your browser. Your grades are sent to the server only for the time of the calculation, and they are never stored there. To save your record or open it on another device, export it to a file from the navigation menu.