Will community college courses count towards undergrad GPA?

[Pewl]

Hey guys,

I'm asking this question for a friend:

Will courses taken at a community college or say at UCLA extension count towards your undergraduate GPA? My friend graduated this past quarter and would like to raise her GPA.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks

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[DoctorPardi]

So, your friend wants to raise her gpa by going to community college post graduation? I'm going to have to say this would look bad. If she is worried about her GPA tell her to go take some extra courses in something that is undergrad, like post bacc. This should still count towards the undergrad gpa.

Also community college looks bad for a med school application, it would look even worse to be going to community college after graduating with no good excuse for doing it, except that it was easier and it would be a good place to raise my gpa.

So maybe do some post bacc stuff or try for a masters, but definitely do not go to a community college to raise your gpa post grad.

 

[Pewl]

So, your friend wants to raise her gpa by going to community college post graduation? I'm going to have to say this would look bad. If she is worried about her GPA tell her to go take some extra courses in something that is undergrad, like post bacc. This should still count towards the undergrad gpa.

Also community college looks bad for a med school application, it would look even worse to be going to community college after graduating with no good excuse for doing it, except that it was easier and it would be a good place to raise my gpa.

So maybe do some post bacc stuff or try for a masters, but definitely do not go to a community college to raise your gpa post grad.

My friend is leaning towards optometry.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Try asking some of the people in the optometry forum. I haven't the foggiest idea of what those schools require or how they look upon CC work.

 

[Law2Doc]

So, your friend wants to raise her gpa by going to community college post graduation? I'm going to have to say this would look bad. If she is worried about her GPA tell her to go take some extra courses in something that is undergrad, like post bacc. This should still count towards the undergrad gpa.

Also community college looks bad for a med school application, it would look even worse to be going to community college after graduating with no good excuse for doing it, except that it was easier and it would be a good place to raise my gpa.

So maybe do some post bacc stuff or try for a masters, but definitely do not go to a community college to raise your gpa post grad.

Just a definitional comment -- any courses taken at a non-graduate level ARE considered postbac (i.e. post-baccalaureate). I think you meant a formal postbac program, but all this goes into the same column on AMCAS. But I do agree that adcoms see right through people who try to pump up GPA by taking courses at a community college or other objectively less competitive program. So it's advisable, where possible, to take any transcript building courses at a 4 year university or college.

 

[Pewl]

Does anyone know if UCLA Extension would be a good thing to raise GPA?

 

[letsrun4it]

something people dont really consider...

taking classes postbacc to raise your gpa is really tough. do the math it doesnt raise your gpa very much. DO schools are different because you can retake the classes that are killing your GPA and it makes a huge difference.

 

[Pretty POHA]

What about community college credits from before you finish your undergrad?
I went to a community college before transferring to a 4 year university and I got my one and only F in my life. In Philosophy, no less.
At my 4-year university, I had a 4.0 until this last fall. Now I have a 3.92.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the community college DOES go towards your GPA, right?

 

[eddie13231]

I do believe that it depends on the school and the CC. Some Universities will take the actual grade while others will take just the credit. It is best to call or e-mail your admissions office.

 

[Dominion]

I do believe that it depends on the school and the CC. Some Universities will take the actual grade while others will take just the credit. It is best to call or e-mail your admissions office.

Along the same lines as what the original poster submitted, I screwed upmy first year of college and high school, but am now doing really great (did 2 semesters of CC to get GPA to transfer to a 4-year) now I'm finished with my first year with a 3.9 (from a 2.2 in my first year of school) and starting my reqs.

I hate to pull the cliche "I've turned my life around" but I think that it applies

I know this is a dead horse, but how does that look exactly? I've seen posts ranging in my situtation from great to "just quit now and work at Red Lobster".

 

[DoctorPardi]

Along the same lines as what the original poster submitted, I screwed upmy first year of college and high school, but am now doing really great (did 2 semesters of CC to get GPA to transfer to a 4-year) now I'm finished with my first year with a 3.9 (from a 2.2 in my first year of school) and starting my reqs.

I hate to pull the cliche "I've turned my life around" but I think that it applies

I know this is a dead horse, but how does that look exactly? I've seen posts ranging in my situtation from great to "just quit now and work at Red Lobster".

Well it depends, are you saying your overall GPA is a 3.9 right now? Or you just got a 3.9 this last semester? If you can take your gpa from a 2.2 to a 3.5 or 3.7 then I think that is fine. Also it may even look better than having a 3.5 all the way through. It shows you have gone from a bad student to a really good student whereas a 3.5 student all the way through is still the same A/B student he has always been.

I guess what I am saying is, for you to bring your gpa from a 2.2 to a 3.5 will require basically all A's and that will show you have made a marked improvement and that says something about you. Whereas the A/B student hasn't improved he has just maintained. They don't know if he could make all A's or if this is the best he could do, or if he is lazy etc.

 

[Dominion]

that's waht I'm hoping for. I've always been extremely bright but lazy. After I spent some time in the real world I had the cliche epiphany and have really improved. Whereas I used to not go to class for a week or more straight, I've attended every class lecture, studied, and basically busted my ass. I know the path isn't going to be easy so I'm preparing myself now.

What I'm hoping is that I'll improve my grades and can show that I'm prepared for whatever is thrown at me

And my grade is a fresh grade, when I transfered they just pulled my credits, not the GPA. So my prior was low and my new grades are really good.

 

[Dr. Josh]

Just a definitional comment -- any courses taken at a non-graduate level ARE considered postbac (i.e. post-baccalaureate). I think you meant a formal postbac program, but all this goes into the same column on AMCAS. But I do agree that adcoms see right through people who try to pump up GPA by taking courses at a community college or other objectively less competitive program. So it's advisable, where possible, to take any transcript building courses at a 4 year university or college.

What if you take summer courses at a community college near your home because:

1. you're home for the summer and do not want to have to pay room and board at your regular college
2. you need to catch up on credits because you changed your major to pre-med very late in the game and you need to do this to graduate on time

Does this look bad, even if it's obvious (or pretty obvious) that you're not doing it to raise your GPA?

 

[Dr. Josh]

I know this is a dead horse, but how does that look exactly? I've seen posts ranging in my situtation from great to "just quit now and work at Red Lobster".

actually it's usually McDonalds or Walmart. Red Lobster requires really good ECs.

 

[hsperson]

I think what the OP means is: will CC credits be applied in the AMCAS application in addition to 4-year college credits.

 

[etf]

I think what the OP means is: will CC credits be applied in the AMCAS application in addition to 4-year college credits.

To answer the OPs question, yes AMCAS does count CC courses. I took a CC course when I was in high school, and it's been one of the few things holding up my science gpa...I don't know if they count them AFTER college though...

 

[Ergo]

I think what the OP means is: will CC credits be applied in the AMCAS application in addition to 4-year college credits.

1. CC is OK with med schools, and is averaged into your overall GPA by AMCAS and TX med app

2. Assuming you dont need the classes for graduation, why take CC courses to increase your GPA (which takes forever to make a significant change)when you could do something that advances your knowledge like a masters in public heath. Its a soft science, easy, relevant to medicine, and impresses interviewers.

3. I did CC, had fun in med school and made good enough grades, and now Im interviewing successfully for the most competitive specialty.

4. If its just to increase your chances of admission, graduate and get a job in a lab with interesting research in a field you think might be interesting.
If you learn research it will help you get into med school and later great residency programs. Youll ge tmore out of a year or a semester even of lab work than the same amount of CC classes.

 

[Pewl]

My friend is looking to apply to optometry schools and she wants to raise her gpa. She just graduated from undergrad recently. I guess she wanted to knwo if community college courses will be added to her undergrad gpa. =P

 

[big_smiles]

I took a lot of my gen eds over summers at a community college. They did average into my AMCAS GPA. I did this because I changed my major junior year from nursing to biology and had a lot of catch-up to graduate with a major that I wanted to complete in 2 years.
I don't see anything wrong with it.

 

[big_smiles]

by the way, I had 4 community colleges listed & my home university on the AMCAS.
Never asked on an interview