I have a questions

[Adamh]

Forgive me, this might be a little long.

Quick back story, I am 28 years old and medically retired from the Army. I deployed the first time to Iraq in 2007-2008, during that time I was in three separate IED blast and suffer three traumatic brain injuries. At that time the the military was not putting much thought into TBI and I went undiagnosed for years. After being diagnosed I found out I had multiple dead spots on my brain, one of which is located on my hippocampus which completely affected my memory. After my deployment I enrolled in school and failed miserably (after two semesters I had below a 1.0 GPA), I could not concentrate or remember material for assignments. Since being diagnosed I have went through extensive therapy (some at Walter Reed's NICOE Center which is one of the best treatment facilities for TBI) and have regained some of my memory and learned work arounds to help. I just recently started back to school with tremendous success (after 60 hours I currently have a 3.87 GPA). My question is how will the the first school's GPA that I attended hurt my chances for getting into med school and if those original semesters are over ten years old at the time I apply will they be counted towards my overall GPA?

Thanks for your input.

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[Hopeful_vet]

They will be counted towards your GPA, no matter how old they are. You have a pretty unique story and clearly have shown you've overcome a lot of obstacles. I think ADCOMs will definitely see and admire that.

The only thing that may be a problem is what your GPA is with those two semesters.. Could get you screened out automatically depending on what it is. Hopefully it's above 3.0?


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[Espressso]

Regardless of how old the grades are, if they are undergrad classes, med school adcoms will see them and they will be counted towards your overall gpa. But as long as you keep getting good grades now and retake failed/low grade classes, you should be good! Just make sure your gpa's are above cut off/screening ranges for med schools.

 

[Adamh]

I am not sure what my gpa will be with those semesters added, I am afraid that I am going to have to do a master's program to bring it up. The only thing I am afraid of is I am going to be 30 to 32 if I can get accepted somewhere with just my bachelor's, so if I have to get my master's I am afraid that I will be too old, especially since I am married with kids and don't have the luxury of moving across country which limits my choices to begin with.

 

[Catalystik]

Quick back story, I am 28 years old and medically retired from the Army. I deployed the first time to Iraq in 2007-2008, during that time I was in three separate IED blast and suffer three traumatic brain injuries. At that time the the military was not putting much thought into TBI and I went undiagnosed for years. After being diagnosed I found out I had multiple dead spots on my brain, one of which is located on my hippocampus which completely affected my memory. After my deployment I enrolled in school and failed miserably (after two semesters I had below a 1.0 GPA), I could not concentrate or remember material for assignments. Since being diagnosed I have went through extensive therapy (some at Walter Reed's NICOE Center which is one of the best treatment facilities for TBI) and have regained some of my memory and learned work arounds to help. I just recently started back to school with tremendous success (after 60 hours I currently have a 3.87 GPA). My question is how will the the first school's GPA that I attended hurt my chances for getting into med school and if those original semesters are over ten years old at the time I apply will they be counted towards my overall GPA?

I am not sure what my gpa will be with those semesters added, I am afraid that I am going to have to do a master's program to bring it up. The only thing I am afraid of is I am going to be 30 to 32 if I can get accepted somewhere with just my bachelor's, so if I have to get my master's I am afraid that I will be too old, especially since I am married with kids and don't have the luxury of moving across country which limits my choices to begin with.

Thank you for your service. Here are some options to consider:

1) I strongly recommend that you calculate your overall college GPA, so you know what you're dealing with. This link gives you access to download a good one: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/amcas-gpa-calculator-revised.590424/

Other info you might need to input correct information:
Grade Conversion Guide: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/181676/data/amcas_grade_conversion_guide.pdf
BCPM GPA includes: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/181694/data/amcas_course_classification_guide.pdf

What you're up against is automatic grade cutoffs. If your GPAs aren't above a certain level, typically 3.0, human eyeballs may never see your application. So your goal of the traditional approach would be to earn enough As to get above that point, and higher if possible. The above calculator can help you figure out how many credits that might be.

2) Do you live close to the school where you earned the poor grades after your brain injury, so that you could meet with a dean and petition for a retroactive withdrawal, with your medical records and recent transcript in hand? If there is any possibility of changing all those grades to Ws, obviously it would be in your best interest. But there might be a time limit on when this option would be considered by a given school.

3) Unfortunately MD schools include all grades earned, as has been said already. But, are you aware that AACOMAS DO med schools have a grade forgiveness policy if you repeat a class where you earned a poor grade (only the most recent grade is included in your application GPA)? Retakes need not be at the same school. Course title needn't be identical (if retaken elsewhere) so long as course content is demonstrably the same per the course catalogs. Course credit cannot be less than the original credit earned. You might do some research on this option in case there are new nuances of which I'm unaware (see the PreMed Osteo Forum on SDN).

4) Most med schools judge one by undergrad performance and don't consider grad school grades at all (which are widely assumed to be inflated). A Special Masters Program (not a traditional masters) would be your best option for redeeming a low GPA, but you have to pass their standards for admission with a decent overall undergrad GPA, typically a 3.0. And they are very expensive.

5) You will not be "too old". Thirty- and forty-somethings are not rare among med school matriculants. I have a colleague who entered in his fifties.

 

[Goro]

Adcoms have soft spots for veterans, still more for come-from-behind stories, and still more for rising GPA trends.

So, you have a hat trick of plusses for a med school applicant. There is nothing like a continued stretch of academic excellence that will allay fears of your being unable to handle med school.

And many thanks for your service to our country!

Forgive me, this might be a little long.

Quick back story, I am 28 years old and medically retired from the Army. I deployed the first time to Iraq in 2007-2008, during that time I was in three separate IED blast and suffer three traumatic brain injuries. At that time the the military was not putting much thought into TBI and I went undiagnosed for years. After being diagnosed I found out I had multiple dead spots on my brain, one of which is located on my hippocampus which completely affected my memory. After my deployment I enrolled in school and failed miserably (after two semesters I had below a 1.0 GPA), I could not concentrate or remember material for assignments. Since being diagnosed I have went through extensive therapy (some at Walter Reed's NICOE Center which is one of the best treatment facilities for TBI) and have regained some of my memory and learned work arounds to help. I just recently started back to school with tremendous success (after 60 hours I currently have a 3.87 GPA). My question is how will the the first school's GPA that I attended hurt my chances for getting into med school and if those original semesters are over ten years old at the time I apply will they be counted towards my overall GPA?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Adamh]

Thank you for your service. Here are some options to consider:

1) I strongly recommend that you calculate your overall college GPA, so you know what you're dealing with. This link gives you access to download a good one: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/amcas-gpa-calculator-revised.590424/

Other info you might need to input correct information:
Grade Conversion Guide: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/181676/data/amcas_grade_conversion_guide.pdf
BCPM GPA includes: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/181694/data/amcas_course_classification_guide.pdf

What you're up against is automatic grade cutoffs. If your GPAs aren't above a certain level, typically 3.0, human eyeballs may never see your application. So your goal of the traditional approach would be to earn enough As to get above that point, and higher if possible. The above calculator can help you figure out how many credits that might be.

2) Do you live close to the school where you earned the poor grades after your brain injury, so that you could meet with a dean and petition for a retroactive withdrawal, with your medical records and recent transcript in hand? If there is any possibility of changing all those grades to Ws, obviously it would be in your best interest. But there might be a time limit on when this option would be considered by a given school.

3) Unfortunately MD schools include all grades earned, as has been said already. But, are you aware that AACOMAS DO med schools have a grade forgiveness policy if you repeat a class where you earned a poor grade (only the most recent grade is included in your application GPA)? Retakes need not be at the same school. Course title needn't be identical so long as course content is demonstrably the same per the course catalogs. Course credit cannot be less than the original credit earned. You might do some research on this option in case there are new nuances of which I'm unaware (see the PreMed Osteo Forum on SDN).

4) Most med schools judge one by undergrad performance and don't consider grad school grades at all (which are widely assumed to be inflated). A Special Masters Program (not a traditional masters) would be your best option for redeeming a low GPA, but you have to pass their standards for admission with a decent overall undergrad GPA, typically a 3.0. And they are very expensive.

5) You will not be "too old". Thirty- and forty-somethings are not rare among med school matriculants. I have a colleague who entered in his fifties.

1) Thanks for the link I have to try to get access to my transcript from the original school.

2) I do not, the original school is in Mississippi and I currently live in California (from what I hear will make getting in even harder).

3) I was not aware about grade replacement with DO applications, however that is a route that I will be looking into since there is a DO school within a couple hours of where i live.

4) What are my options if I do not meet the GPA cutoff for special masters programs?

5) Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[Adamh]

Adcoms have soft spots for veterans, still more for come-from-behind stories, and still more for rising GPA trends.

So, you have a hat trick of plusses for a med school applicant. There is nothing like a continued stretch of academic excellence that will allay fears of your being unable to handle med school.

And many thanks for your service to our country!

Thank you for the encouraging words, it sounds like my biggest obstacle will be to beat the automatic cutoff.

 

[Catalystik]

2) I do not, the original school is in Mississippi and I currently live in California (from what I hear will make getting in even harder).

4) What are my options if I do not meet the GPA cutoff for special masters programs?

2) If you look up the school policy on-line, talk by phone with a dean, and find that you might get consideration if you get your paperwork together, might the cost of flight tickets and a hotel not be worth it, if it would save the cost of a $30-$45 SMP or two extra years of undergrad coursework? At least look into it and see if it's even possible at that institution.

4) You are unlikely to need an SMP if you use grade replacement, but your first choice would be to keep taking undergrad coursework, getting As. Some have redeemed their records by getting a second bachelors, namely a total of 200+ total semester hours to boost their uGPA, but have ultimately been successful.