LizzyM--
What you are doing here is fantastic...cheers!
Will try to keep this brief, but my question requires laying a lot out there. Basically, it relates to how post-bacc grades are treated on the AMCAS application as it is presented to med schools/adcom members.
I have a strong upward trend of improvement in my post-bacc grades, with the bad grades belonging to coursework completed seven years ago, immediately after graduation (essentially the core prereqs). More recently, with my interest and determination tested by first-hand clinical and public health work, I've headed back to school (1-2 classes/quarter) while working full time, getting all As.
In my mind, these two sets of grades reflect different circumstances and levels of preparation...and distinct chunks of time. I've gotten the sense that adcom members judge grade trends mostly from the average GPA for each academic year as calculated by AMCAS, with only one post-bacc GPA given (an average of all post-bacc coursework).
In the end, here are the rough numbers:
Round 1: ~65 quarter units at 2.9-something (almost all of the core prereqs)--all BCMP
Round 2: ~40 quarter units at 4.0 (upper division: completing biochem full year sequence, developmental bio, cell bio, immunology, with human genetics to come, and one remaining lower-div prereq)--all BCMP
The average places me somewhere in the neighborhood of the 10th percentile for a lot of schools. My MCAT score (August 2013) was 36, so that might help to balance the GPA---especially if the post-bacc GPA trend is considered. Strong extracurricular experiences from paid and volunteer work should also help, but is my concern that the upward trend will get "lost in the numbers" valid? Do you have any advice on how to effectively highlight this trend, along with the distinction between classes taken years ago, and classes taken more recently?
Any other advice you might be inspired to share would be appreciated, too ;-)
Again, you're doing a great service to all who find this forum...thank you!