vet schools with grade forgiveness?

[bullyluver2011]

I have seen where some of you before have mentioned some schools have a "grade forgiveness". Was wondering which schools have it and how many years does it have to be? Some of my pre reqs have been 4 years already and i'm not planning on applying until probably next year. I had a really low undergraduate gpa (below a 3.0) and I retook gen chem 1 and organic 2 but still made C's in them when I retook them (gen chem 1 was 4 years ago but organic 2 was only a little over a year ago). The only prereq for most schools I have not taken yet is biochemistry and I have not taken the GRE yet either. Would appreciate any help.

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[epivetlove]

I know off the top of my head that Missouri has an academic forgiveness option. Anything taken 6 years prior to matriculation (I believe) can be opted out of the evaluation. However, that doesn't mean those pre-reqs are gone. You will have to repeat them if they are excluded. Some schools such as Mississippi and Ohio will take the highest grade of any course that has been repeated. If you retake some of your sciences (especially higher level sciences such as genetics, biochemistry, micro, etc.) or just take some interesting and relevant courses between now and when you plan on apply, that could boost your last 45 hour GPA which Kansas considers quite heavily. It's usually not recommended to retake courses unless you have less than a C, but a strong science or prerequisite GPA (which is usually a lot of science courses) is important for admission. If you have the time and money to retake some of those courses or to take other higher level science courses, that could really work in your favor (aim for As!). Scoring really well on your GRE can also help. 70%+ percentiles is a good goal and most schools weigh the Quant score more heavily than Verbal. Hopefully that helps a bit!

 

[LetItSnow]

You (not you, the OP, since the classes you are talking about are pre-reqs... this is just a general response) should still evaluate other schools, even if they don't specifically have "grade forgiveness".

UMN doesn't have it, specifically, but because of the way they calculate GPAs (2 of them: pre-reqs only, and last 45 credits) if your poor grades are prior to your last-45 credits, and not pre-reqs ... then they don't matter. That right there took me from being a horrible (academic) candidate to a super-strong (academic) candidate. There are other schools that evaluate candidates similarly.

Ironically, my picture is in the 2015 applicant guide in the section where UMN explains this stuff. Too funny.

 

[jerseyshoregirl]

Louisiana State will take the highest grade of any course repeated as well.
And on the subject of what Letitsnow said, Iowa only uses last 45/science as well.

 

[ChittyBang]

I applied to Illinois, who has two different "grade forgiveness" options, and they approved my petition to delete my first year undergrad from my cum GPA

 

[SV88]

This is a really informative thread and I appreciate it!

 

[VacaMeansCow]

I applied to Illinois, who has two different "grade forgiveness" options, and they approved my petition to delete my first year undergrad from my cum GPA

Genius! Now..........do I want to retake all my freshman classes? Hm.

 

[ChittyBang]

Genius! Now..........do I want to retake all my freshman classes? Hm.

Only if any of them were prereqs. My freshman year was mostly F's so I gladly gave them up. I couldn't give up my grades under the "anything over six years ago" option, however, as I had a few prereqs in there...

 

[bullyluver2011]

Thanks everyone! I am retaking organic chemistry 1 this semester and am going to make an A in it (previously made a D in it). Like I said before I had retaken Organic chemistry 2 already (made an F the first time and made a C the second time( the professor had to curve grades a lot)). Does Organic 2 help any with biochemistry? Was curious since they are offering organic 2 next semester where I am taking organic 1 now and I had thought about retaking it once again so I could fully understand it this time (the instructor is much better and I have actually understood organic 1 this time) I'm sure it probably wouldn't look good on my transcript to have organic 2 on there 3 times but I really just wanted to take it again to like I said fully understand it this time. Should I just say heck with it and go ahead and just continue with biochemistry?

 

[WelshCob]

Umm say the heck with it and move on to biochem.

 

[TheComfyCat]

Umm say the heck with it and move on to biochem.

Agreed. Having a basic understanding of Ochem should be good enough. Taking Ochem 3 times sounds like unnecessary pain.

 

[orca2011]

I had a C in O Chem II and a B- in O Chem I. Didn't remember any of it for Biochem and I did fine. You just might have to put more work into it. Although, I really don't know how helpful O Chem would have been even if I did know it. It's not like Biochem is all mechanisms. It's more specific cellular pathways.

 

[Posey]

Texas A&M accepts something called Texas Fresh Start. Here's a link:
http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/index.cfm?objectid=6D10C9BD-DD24-153F-90B91DA6C20D1C97

The thing I'm not clear on is whether or not you truly have to re-do the entire degree or just the pre-reqs for A&M. Also, I'm not sure if you can pick and choose when to apply as a Fresh Start applicant (i.e., if I wanted to apply to med school or a PhD program later on). Is anyone familiar with this program? Is it worth it?

 

[bakedjps]

Hey guys! while we're at the topic, can we compile a list of schools use prereq/science GPA and last 45 GPA more heavily? I see mentioned above UMN and ISU, I also know that MSU only looks at those two gpa too. Not sure about this one but i THINK KSU also emphasizes last 45, i may be wrong. Do you guys know any other universities?

 

[epivetlove]

KSU does emphasize last 45 hours. IF those hours are undergraduate courses. At least that's what Dr. Elmore told me when I inquired about how my graduate grades would be factored in to my application. I didn't end up applying to KSU because they don't count graduate courses. Or they didn't last year, anyway.

 

[Breezy2015]

I know off the top of my head that Missouri has an academic forgiveness option. Anything taken 6 years prior to matriculation (I believe) can be opted out of the evaluation. However, that doesn't mean those pre-reqs are gone. You will have to repeat them if they are excluded. Some schools such as Mississippi and Ohio will take the highest grade of any course that has been repeated. If you retake some of your sciences (especially higher level sciences such as genetics, biochemistry, micro, etc.) or just take some interesting and relevant courses between now and when you plan on apply, that could boost your last 45 hour GPA which Kansas considers quite heavily. It's usually not recommended to retake courses unless you have less than a C, but a strong science or prerequisite GPA (which is usually a lot of science courses) is important for admission. If you have the time and money to retake some of those courses or to take other higher level science courses, that could really work in your favor (aim for As!). Scoring really well on your GRE can also help. 70%+ percentiles is a good goal and most schools weigh the Quant score more heavily than Verbal. Hopefully that helps a bit!

Question about grade forgiveness. I got an F in Hotel Operations as an undergrad (yes, very dumb, I know....) so if I retake that now, will the F not be considered in my GPA?

 

[twelvetigers]

Question about grade forgiveness. I got an F in Hotel Operations as an undergrad (yes, very dumb, I know....) so if I retake that now, will the F not be considered in my GPA?

Unless it really, really hurts your GPA, I would let bygones be bygones. No one will care about the actual class as long as you have an explanation for the grade (even just, "I was young and dumb and didn't care" or whatnot).

 

[Breezy2015]

Unless it really, really hurts your GPA, I would let bygones be bygones. No one will care about the actual class as long as you have an explanation for the grade (even just, "I was young and dumb and didn't care" or whatnot).

It's not just one class. I have several classes that are hurting my GPA and I want to know if retaking those will essentially get rid of the other. When I was in undergrad, I became the legal guardian for my little cousin so I wasn't as focused on school as I should have been. So even though I can explain it, I want to make up for it.

 

[Gwenevre]

It's not just one class. I have several classes that are hurting my GPA and I want to know if retaking those will essentially get rid of the other. When I was in undergrad, I became the legal guardian for my little cousin so I wasn't as focused on school as I should have been. So even though I can explain it, I want to make up for it.

You'd have to look into schools that do grade replacement. Some schools will take the more recent grade (K-state?), some will average the two (Purdue).

 

[leighg]

Does anyone happen to know if Colorado state does grade forgiveness? ( I apologize for this late post on this thread that is quite old )

Just took a stats final and definitely am going to have to retake the class..

 

[WildZoo]

Does anyone happen to know if Colorado state does grade forgiveness? ( I apologize for this late post on this thread that is quite old )

Just took a stats final and definitely am going to have to retake the class..

I would email or call them directly and ask. Can't find anything specific on their admissions website about it.