Should I spend 3000$ to bring my cGPA up from 3.68 to 3.70?

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FredAstaire

FredAstaire

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Hi, I am currently graduating with a cGPA of 3.68, and a sGPA of 3.63. My question is, should I spend 3,000$ and take 3 more summer courses to bring my cGPA up to a 3.70, and sGPA up to a 3.65? Is the 0.02 difference in GPA really worth it?

I am mainly prizing that the extra 0.02 will bring me to a 3.7xx, which is a new "milestone" from the 3.6XX

I want to hear LizzyM & Catalystk's opinion please.
 
Unless you're independently wealthy, it isn't worth it.
 
judasreznor said:
Unless you're independently wealthy, it isn't worth it.
Click to expand...

Or let me rephrase: does the 0.02 GPA make a DIFFERENCE in my med school chances?

If it makes SOMEWHAT of a difference, I am willing to shell out the money...and no, I am not wealthy, I am 70,000$ in debt.
 
absolutely not

think of it this way: even if you had the $3k to spend (which you do not), there would be other ways to allocate it that would give better ROI for your app. example: a Kaplan course that guarantees improvement in your MCAT score would cost half that much.
 
If by "more" you mean extra classes on top of what you already have? Then, no. However, do you have any other previous classes that you already took and you might have got a C, B- or even a B in? I mean, improving a grade would do a lot more to your GPA then taking a class you don't necessarily need.

You might get more than 0.02 improvement to your GPA if you retake a class than if you take a new class.

Also, it will probably be cheaper, since you might end up needing to register for only one class as apposed to three.

:|
 
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FredAstaire said:
I am mainly prizing that the extra 0.02 will bring me to a 3.7xx, which is a new "milestone" from the 3.6XX
Click to expand...

What you're trying to do is improve your 'first glance' GPA on your primary application. This will not be accomplished by taking summer classes and submitting grades to each school as updates. To my understanding, the schools do not recalculate your AMCAS GPA once they receive your new grades. They simply make note of them (as, presumably, a slight improvement in your GPA). Therefore your AMCAS GPA would remain a 3.68 for all practical purposes.

So, to be brief, no the summer classes would not be worth the money or effort.
 
FredAstaire said:
Hi, I am currently graduating with a cGPA of 3.68, and a sGPA of 3.63. My question is,
-should I spend 3,000$ and take 3 more summer courses to bring my cGPA up to a 3.70, and sGPA up to a 3.65?
-Is the 0.02 difference in GPA really worth it?

I want to hear LizzyM & Catalystk's opinion please.
Click to expand...
No.
No.
 
FredAstaire said:
Hi, I am currently graduating with a cGPA of 3.68, and a sGPA of 3.63. My question is, should I spend 3,000$ and take 3 more summer courses to bring my cGPA up to a 3.70, and sGPA up to a 3.65? Is the 0.02 difference in GPA really worth it?

I am mainly prizing that the extra 0.02 will bring me to a 3.7xx, which is a new "milestone" from the 3.6XX

I want to hear LizzyM & Catalystk's opinion please.
Click to expand...

3 more summer courses, well if you want it could benefit you, but not so much. That is a big difference in GPA though.
 
Even if the price was $0, it still wouldn't be worth it IMO to have spent the Summer in class for a .02 GPA increase rather than just goofing around on the beach or playing video games.
 
gravitywave said:
absolutely not

think of it this way: even if you had the $3k to spend (which you do not), there would be other ways to allocate it that would give better ROI for your app. example: a Kaplan course that guarantees improvement in your MCAT score would cost half that much.
Click to expand...

I was with you until the 'buy a Kaplan MCAT course' lol
 
MeowMeowCAT said:
If by "more" you mean extra classes on top of what you already have? Then, no. However, do you have any other previous classes that you already took and you might have got a C, B- or even a B in? I mean, improving a grade would do a lot more to your GPA then taking a class you don't necessarily need.

You might get more than 0.02 improvement to your GPA if you retake a class than if you take a new class.

Also, it will probably be cheaper, since you might end up needing to register for only one class as apposed to three.
Click to expand...


Um no. You do realize MD schools do not practice grade replacement, right? That means that retaking a course will effect your GPA in the exact same way as taking a new course. Don't post if your gonna spread false information.
 
Retaking a class that you got an F in, will not effect your GPA the same as if you were to ignore said F and take a new course instead. The low grade still will be weighing down your overall GPA.

:|
 
Last edited:
MeowMeowCAT said:
Retaking a class that you got an F in, will not effect your GPA the same as if you were to ignore said F and take a new course instead. The low grade still will be weighing down your overall GPA.
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Sorry to get in the middle of this, but the above statement is incorrect. Regardless of your particular institution's policy (they might do grade replacement for their own transcripts) both grades will be submitted to AMCAS and factored into one's GPA. Therefore, assuming the retake and new course are the same number of credits, they will have the exact same effect on one's cumulative GPA.
 
MilkmanAl said:
The next step is "profit." Duh.
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...
...
Step into my office, let's talk profit.
800px-german_garden_gnome.jpg
 
dont wanna hijack but im in a similar situation. should i submit june 1st or wait until the middle of june (which is still pretty early) because my school is on the quarter system? assuming i get A's which i currently have in my classes this quarter, my gpa will increase from a 3.68 to a 3.70. will it be worth it to submit 2 weeks later just for that increase?

im a reapplicant by the way and the gpa from when i applied 2 years ago was a 3.70 and dipped from a couple b's but ive done well in the classes ive taken after graduation.

its not like im shelling out $3000 to take worthless classes to boost my gpa though either because i get free tuition as an employee at my school so im planning to take upper level and grad level science classes anyways throughout the year
 
the difference between June 1 and June 15 is nil, so I would say yes, wait for the new grades if they will bring your average up.
 
either of the GPAs you listed (3.68 vs 3.70) isn't very competitive. They are the average.
 
FredAstaire said:
Hi, I am currently graduating with a cGPA of 3.68, and a sGPA of 3.63. My question is, should I spend 3,000$ and take 3 more summer courses to bring my cGPA up to a 3.70, and sGPA up to a 3.65? Is the 0.02 difference in GPA really worth it?

I am mainly prizing that the extra 0.02 will bring me to a 3.7xx, which is a new "milestone" from the 3.6XX

I want to hear LizzyM & Catalystk's opinion please.
Click to expand...

yeah you should because adcoms really care about the difference b.w 3.68 and a 3.7 👎.
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
yeah you should because adcoms really care about the difference b.w 3.68 and a 3.7 👎.
Click to expand...
I'll just leave this here...
LizzyM said:
If he has a gpa that is 0.02 better than it would been if the student had taken a 300 level bio course there will be someone with a gpa that is as good or better who did take a 300 level course in place of a 100 level course. Then there's the guy with a gpa is 0.02 poorer than the guy who took the 100 level course. Funny thing.... if it is the difference between 3.61 and 3.63, there is no difference. If it 3.61 or 3.59... the 3.59 loses. Its just a funny psychological thing....
Click to expand...
:ninja:
 
gettheleadout said:
I'll just leave this here...

:ninja:
Click to expand...

i knew someone would bring this up. it's still not worth it, esp considering that OP is already $70k in the hole. it's the same thing as if we were to find out that OP has a 23 MCAT. not worth it.
 
gravitywave said:
i knew someone would bring this up. it's still not worth it, esp considering that OP is already $70k in the hole. it's the same thing as if we were to find out that OP has a 23 MCAT. not worth it.
Click to expand...
Haha I didn't at all mean that to be an endorsement of the OP's idea, I completely agree with you and everyone else here that it would be a needless waste of money, I was just commenting on what YouNeverKnow22 said.

I promise I'm not that dumb gw 😳
 
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