2nd Bachelor's - Undergrad or grad gpa?

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Hi all, quick question. I always thought that going for a 2nd bachelor's was considered towards your undergraduate GPA, but I have some paperwork from my school calling me a "graduate." Granted, I did actually graduate before deciding to go back for my 2nd degree and if so, will that change how my grades are impacted? I want this to improve my undergrad GPA, so kinda confused by the wording.

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[Law2Doc]

Hi all, quick question. I always thought that going for a 2nd bachelor's was considered towards your undergraduate GPA, but I have some paperwork from my school calling me a "graduate." Granted, I did actually graduate before deciding to go back for my 2nd degree and if so, will that change how my grades are impacted? I want this to improve my undergrad GPA, so kinda confused by the wording.

it's technically a postbac, not graduate. It factors into your ug + postbac GPA, not your graduate one, so yes, you can improve your GPA (as viewed by med schools) with this.

 

[tanny]

Which is better to do?

 

[Law2Doc]

Which is better to do?

graduate won't help a low ug GPA, so it's a bad way to rehabilitate a lackluster GPA. Doing an "informal" postbac as the OP seems to be doing will help the GPA, but lacks some of the nice bells and whistles a "formal" postbac provides -- in terms of advising, handholding, in some cases linkages, and a director marketing you directly to programs. While taking a lot of undergrad courses postbac can bring up a low GPA, there is really no need to get the second bachelors degree itself -- the degree does not add anything for med school purposes. Some people do an SMP (special masters program), which is graduate, to demonstrate to med schools that they can handle med school caliber courses, and this tends to work if the ug GPA is above 3.0, but the grades in the SMP don't pull up the GPA, just show schools you can handle the work. SMPs are dangerous though, because if you do poorly in that, it in fact sends the message that you cannot handle med school caliber work, so it can be the nail in an applicants coffin if they don't ace things. There is a postbac board on SDN where folks can get more specifics on these various options.

 

[njbmd]

Hi all, quick question. I always thought that going for a 2nd bachelor's was considered towards your undergraduate GPA, but I have some paperwork from my school calling me a "graduate." Granted, I did actually graduate before deciding to go back for my 2nd degree and if so, will that change how my grades are impacted? I want this to improve my undergrad GPA, so kinda confused by the wording.

Regardless of what your school designates you, AMCAS is going to consider this post bacc which will raise your uGPA (as long as your grades are good). Your school is likely considering you a "graduate" because you have previously completed one bachelors degree.

AMCAS/ACOMAS will consider graduate if you are in a formal graduate degree program (SMP/Masters/Doctorate). Even if you are taking a graduate-level course as a undergraduate, it won't be considered graduate unless it is applied to a graduate degree. Just do well and you should be able to raise your uGPA. Remember for ACOMAS, any retakes will result in the new grade being substituted for the previous grade.

 

[rafflecopter]

Thanks all, really clears some stuff up. With all the new stuff brought up, I have some follow-up questions:
1. I'm applying to med schools in a year. In that time, I'll improve my GPA to 3.41. If I don't make it in that year, would you recommend I take a SMP or continue taking courses with my major? If I were to take major courses again, my GPA would only improve to a 3.48 or 3.49. Is that better/worse than doing awesome in an SMP? What are your thoughts?

 

[rafflecopter]

*Bump* Still curious about the last question.

 

[Law2Doc]

Thanks all, really clears some stuff up. With all the new stuff brought up, I have some follow-up questions:
1. I'm applying to med schools in a year. In that time, I'll improve my GPA to 3.41. If I don't make it in that year, would you recommend I take a SMP or continue taking courses with my major? If I were to take major courses again, my GPA would only improve to a 3.48 or 3.49. Is that better/worse than doing awesome in an SMP? What are your thoughts?

In that situation, an SMP makes a lot of sense. But there's risk involved -- while doing well at an SMP proves to med schools that you can handle the med school caliber courses, doing poorly proves the opposite. So you are playing an "all or nothing" game. One thing you might consider is holding off applying to medicine and either increasing the GPA for a year or doing the SMP before applying. The goal should be to take the time you need to apply once with your best foot forward. Applying and reapplying is not only more expensive, but also puts you into the reapplicant pile, which tends to be a harder road. If you had your 3.49 or aced an SMP the first time around you probably would be better regarded by some med schools than if you applied, didn't get in, and then went back and did the SMP or grade improvement. The goal is to line all those ducks in a row first, and only then pull the trigger. Rushing to apply "just to see" is an often made mistake in this process. If you are contemplating these improvements "if you don't get in", it often pays to do them instead of applying earlier.