AMCAS grade averaging

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HurricaneChargers

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Just like the rest of the crowd, I was once a silly immature college freshman. Tanking my grades with no after thought at all. I received an F in pre req, so retaking was necessity, but still failed to do well in the second attempt. No excuses, was still just an idiot. Assuming this isn't a reoccurring trend, I know AMCAS averages grades. Do they limit the averaging to 2 grades or can one take the class for the 3rd time and still get averaged? Only asking because my grade is lower than a C which is required for most schools. Also for schools that don't have pre req classes anymore (ex. ETSU) do the grades matter still, or have the pre req requirements been lessened?

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They average all grades . So I don't think it will matter to AMCAS but it might to the schools reviewing your transcript.


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Assuming it's a 3 credit class, AMCAS will reflect 3 credits of an F, 3 credits of your 2nd attempt grade, and 3 credits of your third attempt grade. So if your average of the three is a C, it'll be like having 9 credits of a C.


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So it should be viewed as the highest grade achieved is the grade that will count? Since there is no averaging involved. The F will be it's seperate grade and the second grade is seperate. So if that second grade is above a C it will be allowed as the passing of that specific pre req?
 
So it should be viewed as the highest grade achieved is the grade that will count? Since there is no averaging involved. The F will be it's seperate grade and the second grade is seperate. So if that second grade is above a C it will be allowed as the passing of that specific pre req?
I feel like @gonnif laid this out pretty clearly above, but let's take a concrete example...

Say you got a D in Gen Chem 2 (3 credit course). Later you retake Gen Chem 2 (3 credits) and get an A-. You also have 137 credit hours of other classes, with a overall GPA of 3.46 (not including Gen Chem 2).

When you fill in AMCAS, you will enter every class (including any retakes). They will calculate your GPA using the following math...
Gen Chem 2 - 3 credit hours * 1.0 quality points (for the D) = 3 quality points
Gen Chem 2 - 3 credit hours * 3.7 quality points (for the A-) = 11.1 quality points
the rest - 137 credit hours * 3.46 quality points = 472.02 quality points

(3+11.1+472.02)=476.02 total quality points
476.02 qp's/143 total credit hours = 3.399 cumulative gpa

All classes will be there, for all med schools to see. No notation, no gold stars for retakes. Just there in a big list.

Some schools (not many, but a few) will ask in their secondaries for you to list the pre-reqs you've taken. Here, you would put the second instance of Gen Chem 2 in for the A-. But the school will still have your AMCAS and can see the first D. Most schools will not ask in the secondary, just read your AMCAS list.
Both takes "count". The first one, because it's bringing down your gpa and shows you didn't quite have your **** together as an underclassman. The second one because you've ticked the box for satisfying the pre-req, even if it took you 2 tries.
 
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