Anyone know how military course credit will affect my amcas/aacomas GPA?

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big_Z

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Hello,

I have a substantial amount of college accredited course work through the military, specifically the community college of the air force. Some of it was transferred to my 4 year university to assist in getting my degree. The rest of this credit went towards my associate degree in a different subject awarded through the community college of the air force.

I know these classes will be seen/required in the admissions process (40ish credits) However the only existing grade for them is an S (For satisfactory?) (Possibly on a S/F grading scheme however i'm unsure)

What would this S translate to GPA wise (all classes on my transcript are an S) if at all?

Thanks for any help
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As former military with military credits let me sum it up for you: You're screwed, lol.

J/K, they might evaluate you differently but for me I got a 52 week long pass/fail AIT turned into 60 semester hrs.....with straight b's awarded across the board, even though my actual course average was well above 90 in every section.
 
I honestly hope this is a joke. I've already got 130 or so hours worth of credit with an above 3.0 GPA. This would definitely drag it down. :/
 
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This doesn't include military courses on your JST, right? I have some C schools and other training programs on there, and I was under the impression that we had to submit our JST, but that it wouldn't be calculated into our GPA (considering the vast majority of those courses don't even have grades).
 
CCAF courses are graded P/F (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory).

Therefore you won't have a GPA associated with those credits.
 
Mine was for (at the time) 91K school (MLT). Basically the Army, without my permission, paid GWU to give all of us who graduated college credit for the course. That would have been fine if the college credit reflected my actual grades instead of a standard B awarded for all courses if you passed them.
 
the pass/fail sounds right, but i guess i might end up with a ton of B's which sounds awful

i'll ask my unit training manager when i get a chance i suppose
 
esob said:
Mine was for (at the time) 91K school (MLT). Basically the Army, without my permission, paid GWU to give all of us who graduated college credit for the course. That would have been fine if the college credit reflected my actual grades instead of a standard B awarded for all courses if you passed them.
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How do they do that without your permission?
 
airbornedude said:
How do they do that without your permission?
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Well, for all the same reasons you give up other rights when you voluntarily join. You give up your right to free speech for example as you can't say anything against the president as he/she is your commander in chief. Of course my argument would be that even though the Army basically "owns" you while you are active duty, this state of existence is temporal and ceases to exist once you are no longer a member of the armed forced. Just as you can speak your mind freely about the president once you are separated, military credits should be "optional" as well, especially if you didn't consent to them initially. Once I was off active duty the Army could no longer force me to get immunizations against the plague, force me to be somewhere at a certain time or face imprisonment or dress/act a certain way: it's devastating then for those of us wanting to pursue education in a highly competitive field that are permanently penalized for what can only be described as a piss-poor military credit equivalency setup.

My guess is, that if I was willing to spend the money to hire an attorney, I could get GWU to expunge those transcripts since they have no authorization from me to have ever enrolled me in a course or grant credit for any coursework. In the end however, I think you are required to input military coursework into AMCAS/TMDAS/AACOM applications anyway and I'm unsure how that impacts your "agency" gpa. Thus, it might end up being a moot point anyway, as well as cost a significant amount of money and would likely drag on long past the time I will actually apply.

My GPA even with the coursework is > 3.6, and I'm applying to all Texas schools under academic fresh start with a current gpa of 3.94, so its not completely crippling, its just irritating :D
 
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esob said:
Well, for all the same reasons you give up other rights when you voluntarily join. You give up your right to free speech for example as you can't say anything against the president as he/she is your commander in chief. Of course my argument would be that even though the Army basically "owns" you while you are active duty, this state of existence is temporal and ceases to exist once you are no longer a member of the armed forced. Just as you can speak your mind freely about the president once you are separated, military credits should be "optional" as well, especially if you didn't consent to them initially. Once I was off active duty the Army could no longer force me to get immunizations against the plague, force me to be somewhere at a certain time or face imprisonment or dress/act a certain way: it's devastating then for those of us wanting to pursue education in a highly competitive field that are permanently penalized for what can only be described as a piss-poor military credit equivalency setup.

My guess is, that if I was willing to spend the money to hire an attorney, I could get GWU to expunge those transcripts since they have no authorization from me to have ever enrolled me in a course or grant credit for any coursework. In the end however, I think you are required to input military coursework into AMCAS/TMDAS/AACOM applications anyway and I'm unsure how that impacts your "agency" gpa. Thus, it might end up being a moot point anyway, as well as cost a significant amount of money and would likely drag on long past the time I will actually apply.

My GPA even with the coursework is > 3.6, and I'm applying to all Texas schools under academic fresh start with a current gpa of 3.94, so its not completely crippling, its just irritating :D
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I was active duty 82nd haha. I just meant normally to get a college to recognize your joint service transcript a couple signatures of your own are involved. It seems suspect that the cadre would get you credit without your permission, like they gained something by doing that.
 
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airbornedude said:
I was active duty 82nd haha. I just meant normally to get a college to recognize your joint service transcript a couple signatures of your own are involved. It seems suspect that the cadre would get you credit without your permission, like they gained something by doing that.
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Well there are at least a couple of reasons I can think of. Firstly, it was still IET, so 62 weeks into my military service I was still being treated pretty much the same way I was treated on my first day (yes, at least at the time, it was the longest IET program the Army offered and had an attrition rate of > 60%). Second, I'm pretty sure the instructors, who were all Army and Navy NCO's, had to do some sort of correspondence certs with GWU in order to make the whole process "legit", the so the attitude was kind of, "we're official so it's just like you were going to school on campus." Of course the whole idea of it was ludicrous because no sane human being takes 60 semester hrs in 1 year. Clearly they padded the whole setup. Plus this was 1996; it wasn't quite MK Ultra but like G-Eazy, the army did what it wished to :zombie:

Of course, alternately, it was 20 years ago and I could just be remembering it incorrectly but I grew up very poor remember being overly concerned that it was going to either cost me money for the credit or detract from my GI bill money so I asked about it quite pointedly. I remember clearly being told "you don't need to do anything, we've already taken care of everything and it won't cost you anything." All I cared about was not paying so there was no point in pursuing it further. Of course, if I did sign something and don't remember it, you can bet dollars to donuts the Army doesn't have a copy of it; they don't even have my DD 214 or any of my medical records (I have copies of both thankfully). If they can't hang on to critical documents like that, I'm sure they don't have any record of my IET, lol.
 
sorry should've clarified i'm in the air force and there's no JST for us. Some interesting stories though!


Will 40 credits of passing on a pass fail earn any brownie points?
 
I applied to AACOMAS which does not accept electronically submitted transcripts. I explained this in an email to the JST folks and requested that they send it by regular mail. They of course ignored my request (claiming budget cuts or some BS like that) and electronically submitted my transcripts to AACOMAS. Of course it never appeared on AACOMAS. I explained this to the JST folks - they replied that it had been opened (and provided a person, time, and date) and that they had basically fulfilled their obligation. I emailed AACOMAS and explained my situation - no (useful) response. This held up my ability to submit my applications.

In the end, after back and forth between me, JST, and AACOMAS, I just went ahead and submitted my AACOMAS app, knowing full well that some of my JST credits had been accepted for grades at my undergrad. My app was verified several weeks later and nobody has asked for an "official" copy of my JST.

Anyway, I'm about to have an aneurysm just thinking about the Army JST program. This response probably doesn't answer your question, but hopefully you former Army folks will get a better idea of what you're up against.
 
Prior Army here about the same time you were in. What crazy MOS did you have to do 62 weeks of AIT for?
My JST did not effect my GPA.
However, I did do an immersion language program (not from the military) that I paid extra to get college credit for. Basically, I went to Spain for a month, went to some Spanish classes a few times a week, and spent the rest of my time drinking copious amounts of sangria. This was not through a university, but they had a relationship with "Eastern Washington University" (which I don't even know if it exists) wherein I could pay a few hundred dollars extra and get college credits. They gave me 3 units and a B. This grade had nothing to do with my performance in the Spanish classes, it was arbitrary. And this transcript was sent to and counted toward my GPA.

So, because the Army paid to get you credits from GWU, I'm pretty sure those B's will count in your GPA. Something you can explain in your personal statement and I would mention this in the secondaries when the ask if there is anything else you'd like to share.

Good luck!
 
tnedoots said:
Prior Army here about the same time you were in. What crazy MOS did you have to do 62 weeks of AIT for?
My JST did not effect my GPA.
However, I did do an immersion language program (not from the military) that I paid extra to get college credit for. Basically, I went to Spain for a month, went to some Spanish classes a few times a week, and spent the rest of my time drinking copious amounts of sangria. This was not through a university, but they had a relationship with "Eastern Washington University" (which I don't even know if it exists) wherein I could pay a few hundred dollars extra and get college credits. They gave me 3 units and a B. This grade had nothing to do with my performance in the Spanish classes, it was arbitrary. And this transcript was sent to and counted toward my GPA.

So, because the Army paid to get you credits from GWU, I'm pretty sure those B's will count in your GPA. Something you can explain in your personal statement and I would mention this in the secondaries when the ask if there is anything else you'd like to share.

Good luck!
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Yes, well I'm actually in the system at GWU, so there is no doubt those B's will count on my application. My point was that I think I have a pretty good legal argument to force GWU to expunge them since they don't have an authorization from me for enrollment or credit at their university. If I were a freshman and not applying for 4 years or something, it would be worth pursuing, but at this point with the way the legal system works I will have applied to medical school long before a legal decision could ever be reached. As for MOS, I was a 91K, which at the time was a lab tech. You had to do 10 weeks of 91B (at the time combat medic) school and then 52 weeks of MLT school, which was split into 26 weeks of 12 hr per day classroom instruction and 26 weeks of clinical rotation (which were typically 48 hrs in the lab, plus study time on your own for the practicals you had to take). Ironically, I picked that MOS because I wanted to be a PA after I decided "being a doctor would take too long" (kicks self for being impetuous at 20 years old, lol) and 91K's had a 90+ % acceptance rate into the PA school.
 
big_Z said:
Hello,

I have a substantial amount of college accredited course work through the military, specifically the community college of the air force. Some of it was transferred to my 4 year university to assist in getting my degree. The rest of this credit went towards my associate degree in a different subject awarded through the community college of the air force.

I know these classes will be seen/required in the admissions process (40ish credits) However the only existing grade for them is an S (For satisfactory?) (Possibly on a S/F grading scheme however i'm unsure)

What would this S translate to GPA wise (all classes on my transcript are an S) if at all?

Thanks for any help
Click to expand...


I have an associates degree through CCAF. My courses through CCAF do not affect my GPA at all. All classes transfer as P/F at most universities. Hope this helps.
 
esob said:
Yes, well I'm actually in the system at GWU, so there is no doubt those B's will count on my application. My point was that I think I have a pretty good legal argument to force GWU to expunge them since they don't have an authorization from me for enrollment or credit at their university. If I were a freshman and not applying for 4 years or something, it would be worth pursuing, but at this point with the way the legal system works I will have applied to medical school long before a legal decision could ever be reached. As for MOS, I was a 91K, which at the time was a lab tech. You had to do 10 weeks of 91B (at the time combat medic) school and then 52 weeks of MLT school, which was split into 26 weeks of 12 hr per day classroom instruction and 26 weeks of clinical rotation (which were typically 48 hrs in the lab, plus study time on your own for the practicals you had to take). Ironically, I picked that MOS because I wanted to be a PA after I decided "being a doctor would take too long" (kicks self for being impetuous at 20 years old, lol) and 91K's had a 90+ % acceptance rate into the PA school.
Click to expand...

Were you a field unit or a hospital lab tech?

Anyway, I got 60 credits from JST with a pass from a different MOS. It didn't affect my overall gpa one bit.
 
68PGunner said:
Were you a field unit or a hospital lab tech?

Anyway, I got 60 credits from JST with a pass from a different MOS. It didn't affect my overall gpa one bit.
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I worked at BAMC (I think they call it SAMC now). I worked at the Akeroyd Blood donor center for a while, then the area reference lab while doing swap shifts in micro and the main lab in heme/chem. I spent my last year or so running the 4th floor specimen processing. During most of my time I was also assigned through PROFIS to a CSH that was based out of Ft. Sam, though my capacity there was always as a combat medic, since the lab tech jobs in the CSH went to the senior NCO's.
 
HopefulPilot said:
Your unit training manager isn't going to know.

They will not affect your GPA as long as

1. No college has accepted them for credit and assigned a grade (esob example)

2. Your joint service transcript doesn't reflect a percentage or letter grade (log in to jst and see)
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This is correct.
 
big_Z said:
sorry should've clarified i'm in the air force and there's no JST for us. Some interesting stories though!


Will 40 credits of passing on a pass fail earn any brownie points?
Click to expand...

Very little if any brownie points.

That being said you should still send your CCAF transcript to AMCAS/AACOMAS.
 
Anyone get Credits from a 91B/68W MOS (Combat Medic) under your Military Experience that says "Credit may be granted on the basis of an individualized assessment of the student." It is listed on the JST but no specific SH's are listed or Level. Just wondering if anyone ever actually got credits for that.
 
What is your MOS? The only credit that transferred for me was P.E. (I'm a 4N in the Air Force). As far as determining how much an 'S' converts to, I'd suggest contacting your school; if you want just a rough idea, my school gave me a 3.00 transfer GPA from CCAF.
 
esob said:
As former military with military credits let me sum it up for you: You're screwed, lol.

J/K, they might evaluate you differently but for me I got a 52 week long pass/fail AIT turned into 60 semester hrs.....with straight b's awarded across the board, even though my actual course average was well above 90 in every section.
Click to expand...


Hi, I just finished a difficult military intelligence rate and am wanting my credits to have a GPA attached. What college did you have concert your grades? Thanks.
 
My credits are from GWU yes, and they are all B's (even though I graduated 3rd in my class). They effectively destroyed my GPA for OOS but thankfully Tx has academic fresh start so I was able to have them wiped out. I prefer to stay in Tx for med school anyway, so things worked out in the end as I am applying to Tx schools with a 4.0.
 
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All my CCAF credits were labeled “military credits” on my AMCAS app and did not factor into my GPA at all.
 
esob said:
My credits are from GWU yes, and they are all B's (even though I graduated 3rd in my class). They effectively destroyed my GPA for OOS but thankfully Tx has academic fresh start so I was able to have them wiped out. I prefer to stay in Tx for med school anyway, so things worked out in the end as I am applying to Tx schools with a 4.0.
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I would like to know if you would mind PMing me your experience going through the application (AMCAS?) this last cycle. I too am a 68K (91K) Class of 2013 (so no grade forgiveness, unfortunately). I was also third in my class...Thankfully, I guess, they do not do straight B's across the whole thing anymore and we receive genuine 'letter grades' (with 98+ 4.0, 95+ a 3.7, 92+ a 3.3....and so on, so my GPA was still terrible, like 3.4 pre-clinical rotations despite a 94% average...). My GPA outside of GWU is a 3.99....

How did they classify your pre-clinical coursework? I want it to be non-BCPM...Did you have to enter the repeats off of the JST as well? Did schools understand/respect those credits as military setting? And so on....I am applying this coming cycle that opens next week and would greatly appreciate some help as the 68K stuff is really unique and contacting AMCAS was no help....
 
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