Academic Renewal (or replacing old grades)

[Skellington]

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Hello,

I have a bunch of grades from previous college work 10+ years ago that are less than good....much less than good...and was wondering if anyone here had any experience with what some places call academic renewal? Or in other words, is there generally a way by which old grades can be purged or replaced by new grades? Would med schools recognize academic renewal as valid?

There should be a statute of limitations when it comes to old grades. 🙂

Almost forgot: I'm basically redoing all of my college work and so far have all As in my work (if this makes any difference).

Thanks!

Skell

 

[remo]

MD schools count every grade you have ever received in college level classes towards an undergraduate gpa. DO schools replace grades so if that is a route you would like to take then you can get your gpa up much faster by retaking the old classes.

 

[notdeadyet]

I had bad grades from almost 20 years ago (night classes taken while in High School) that still appeared on my transcripts and affected my GPA. They don't go away.

On the upside, if you can make the GPA cut, they're easy to explain at interviews.

 

[ShyRem]

Agree with above. I had horrible grades from 20+ years previous, and had to report every single one of them. Even worse, many were not the normal "history of western civ" or "western world lit I" classes I could just retake... so the grades stayed and couldn't be remediated. work hard, and study hard for the MCAT; and then apply BROADLY and EARLY.

 

[Skellington]

Thanks for the replies.

I guess I don't understand the full implications of academic renewal then. I guess it only applies to the school and how they calculate their grades for their purposes.

I don't think I can bring up my grade high enough then even with all As because I have a LOT of Fs (just stopped going and didn't realize the ramifications). I guess there is always post-bacc work or other routes.

The annoying thing about all of this is that I would be better off if I simply hadn't gone to school before, so I'm being penalized for being an irresponsible 18yr old whereas if I had never attempted college while I was not serious about it I wouldn't be penalized today.

Where this is a will there is usually a way though.... 🙂

 

[Nasrudin]

yep...unfortunately getting really bad grades is right up their with performing fellatio on your college roommate.

Doesn't matter what you do.....in the end.....you'll still be a C@cksucker.

 

[ShyRem]

I had an entire semester of Fs (I too just stopped going - dumb shy, dumb shy, dumb shy). I basically started over again, even though those horrible grades haunted me through application. It's possible. Painful, but possible.

 

[Kateb4]

Um, me too! I had a semester at a CC that I registered for and attempted (unsuccessfully) to withdraw from on their online registration system. Did not attend one class, yet ended up with 4 Fs! One was a Windows 95 class, that needless to say, I cannot retake now. For me, I wouldn't be able to get my GPA up enough unless I took another 100 credit hours or something like that, so I'm going the DO route, and am really happy with it. Not to say that I won't have to do some explaining, but at least I can get my application past that initial weed out this way.

 

[notdeadyet]

Did not attend one class, yet ended up with 4 Fs! One was a Windows 95 class, that needless to say, I cannot retake now.

Unfortunately, medical schools weigh performance in W95 classes heavily...

 

[Skellington]

Kate,

It's my understanding that med schools don't replace grades if you retake a course, they just average the units together so for better or worse no need to worry about not being to repeat a Win95 class.

and if it makes anyone else feel better, I somehow managed to get 50 units with a GPA of 0.87 12 years ago, DOH!

steven

 

[paramed2premed]

My undergraduate (graduated '92) GPA is 2.7.

And yet, I still got in. It makes a huge difference what you have done it that time since undergrad. Getting A's now is an absolutely crucial element, as is having done something interesting in the intervening years.

Good luck, sounds like you're doing things right.

 

[lrobin15]

Thanks for the replies.

I guess I don't understand the full implications of academic renewal then. I guess it only applies to the school and how they calculate their grades for their purposes.

I don't think I can bring up my grade high enough then even with all As because I have a LOT of Fs (just stopped going and didn't realize the ramifications). I guess there is always post-bacc work or other routes.

The annoying thing about all of this is that I would be better off if I simply hadn't gone to school before, so I'm being penalized for being an irresponsible 18yr old whereas if I had never attempted college while I was not serious about it I wouldn't be penalized today.

Where this is a will there is usually a way though.... 🙂

I had a semester of Fs and I called my old school and begged, yes begged them to change all the Fs (4) to Ws -like a total withdrawl. It took time and I had to use "I have four children and I really want to be a good parent and mentor for them, I was so naive, etc"....it worked! Try it.

I also was granted academic renewal by my current university, but it is only for the calculations by the university for graduation. Be sure to apply to DO schools. Though people say they let people in with "marginal stats," it is not because they are less picky, but because they take into account life. They will consider you old gpa to be your old gpa and look happily on your current gpa...accomas even breaks it down all different ways (your total gpa will include old grades). Plus aacomas (DO) replaces all your repeated classes. So if you failed English 101, you can take it again and replace the F with an A!!

Good luck

 

[Skellington]

Great idea lrobin! I still need to look into renewal at the 2 colleges I went to way back when, but I'll definitely use the 'pleading argument' tactic if possible. 🙂

Thanks p2p, very encouraging too.

steven

 

[Bleurberry]

I had an entire semester of Fs (I too just stopped going - dumb shy, dumb shy, dumb shy). I basically started over again, even though those horrible grades haunted me through application. It's possible. Painful, but possible.

I had a medical withdraw in 2003 that I've just returned from. They gave me 3 WF's... not F's, but they appear so in regard to the GPA!!!

So I'm down to a 3.32. I'm considering retaking them, but I have to wait until not this coming spring, but the following... I'm considering applying with the GPA as it stands.

Cheers,
Xan

 

[CATallergy]

I had a semester of Fs and I called my old school and begged, yes begged them to change all the Fs (4) to Ws -like a total withdrawl. It took time and I had to use "I have four children and I really want to be a good parent and mentor for them, I was so naive, etc"....it worked! Try it.

I also was granted academic renewal by my current university, but it is only for the calculations by the university for graduation. Be sure to apply to DO schools. Though people say they let people in with "marginal stats," it is not because they are less picky, but because they take into account life. They will consider you old gpa to be your old gpa and look happily on your current gpa...accomas even breaks it down all different ways (your total gpa will include old grades). Plus aacomas (DO) replaces all your repeated classes. So if you failed English 101, you can take it again and replace the F with an A!!

Good luck

I also think amcas doesn't count Fs from P/F classes, so maybe you could try to get an ABC F changed to a P/F

 

[Skellington]

Very good point CAT. The latest AMCAS instruction pdf says that: Pass/Fail, AP Credit, and CLEP Credit grades are not included in GPA calculations but are reported as "supplemental hours."

It's clearly better to get a fail in a pass/fail course than an unauthorized drop (U or IF at a lot of schools) because AMCAS may treat an unauthorized drop as an F "depending on how they are considered by your school."

steven