GPA question

[andie6]

I know there are a lot of GPA threads out there but I'm still a little confused as to how mine would be calculated since I have a little bit of a different situation. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated. So I graduated in 2009 with a B.S. in Biology, I did my first two years at one school, then transferred and finished the last 2 years at a different school. Then I started my M.S. in Marine Environmental Science, but after a year I decided to pursue something different and joined the military. I served for 4 years and now I'm out of the military and hoping to apply to vet school next year. In the last year I retook Biochemistry because I didn't do well when I took it during undergrad. I also took an Animal Nutrition course since I noticed a lot of schools require that. I took both those classes at different universities online, as I was overseas and unable to take traditional classes. So now my question is how would I go about calculating my gpa? Is my last 45 going to include the graduate classes as well as the two separate classes I took recently? And for my science gpa, when I look at my transcript from the school I got my bachelor's from it just lists the transferred courses I took at my first school but doesn't have grades for them, so I'm not sure how I would calculate those science courses. Do you calculate that by all science courses ever taken or just the ones that are required for vet school? Hopefully some of that makes sense.. Thanks!

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[Gwenevre]

Best bet is to talk to the schools you're applying to. You may need to get original transcripts from all of your schools you ever took college classes at for the best calculated estimate.

 

[Jess Monster]

Different schools have different methods of calculating various types of GPA's. Some schools do cumulative science (often called "BMCP" or biology, mathematics, chemistry, and physics GPA) and some schools only do science pre-requisites or all pre-req's (which can differ a lot between schools). Some schools do last 45 semester credits or alternatively last 60 quarter credits. Some schools will look at all of your coursework to calculate this GPA, unfortunately, some schools will only look at undergraduate grades even if you've done a master's or a post-bacc program. Again, different schools have different ways of calculating GPA's and the only way to know for sure is to contact them or scour through their "Perspective Applicant" links to find the information.

Having said that, what I've been doing for a few years now is to keep a spreadsheet of all courses, grades, credit hours, points, etc. so I can determine what my various GPA's are and I can create new spreadsheets tailored to specific schools to see (at least in the ballpark) how my GPA might be calculated. Initially it can take some time to set that up, but maintaining it afterwards is pretty easy.

 

[Breezy2015]

Different schools have different methods of calculating various types of GPA's. Some schools do cumulative science (often called "BMCP" or biology, mathematics, chemistry, and physics GPA) and some schools only do science pre-requisites or all pre-req's (which can differ a lot between schools). Some schools do last 45 semester credits or alternatively last 60 quarter credits. Some schools will look at all of your coursework to calculate this GPA, unfortunately, some schools will only look at undergraduate grades even if you've done a master's or a post-bacc program. Again, different schools have different ways of calculating GPA's and the only way to know for sure is to contact them or scour through their "Perspective Applicant" links to find the information.

Having said that, what I've been doing for a few years now is to keep a spreadsheet of all courses, grades, credit hours, points, etc. so I can determine what my various GPA's are and I can create new spreadsheets tailored to specific schools to see (at least in the ballpark) how my GPA might be calculated. Initially it can take some time to set that up, but maintaining it afterwards is pretty easy.

Hi Jess,

Do you happen to know which schools ONLY look at undergrad GPA? I did poorly in undergrad but am working very hard to do well in my post-bac so I'd hate to apply somewhere that won't take that into consideration. I've looked at how several schools calculate but I don't know if I have come across that method. Thanks!

 

[epivetlove]

Not who you asked, but when I was applying 2 cycles ago, I looked into Kansas. At the time, I was told they would not accept my graduate-level courses. Not sure how they view post-bacc work. You'd have to inquire with them specifically.

 

[battie]

Not who you asked, but when I was applying 2 cycles ago, I looked into Kansas. At the time, I was told they would not accept my graduate-level courses. Not sure how they view post-bacc work. You'd have to inquire with them specifically.

Kansas doesn't take any post-bacc work into consideration for GPA and such. Just undergrad credits.