Concerned about course classifications and sGPA

[premedBF]

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My wife is currently working on a post-bacc and so far it is going well. She received in A in Ochem 1 over the summer, has picked up a lot of shadowing hours, has good classes for the fall, etc.

I'm concerned about course classifications though. She is trying to work her way up from ~2.5 sGPA up to a 3.0. We think we have found a good path for her to do this. However, with possible discrepancies in how AM AS and AACOMAS may classify her previous coursework, am nervous she will end up applying before she is considered to have reached a 3.0 and will then be screened out at many schools, or will have to wait a year to apply to take just an extra course or two for insurance.

The classes I am concerned about are 1) A class listed in her biology department where she worked as an intern at the natural history museum and 2) her ten EMT classes.

For the EMT classes, I have read that AACOMAS will count those towards her sGPA and AM AS won't. Is this true, and if so, will AACOMAS count every course in her EMT program or can they be selective?

She has already tried calling AMCAS to ask about this, but they only told her someone will verify when she applies and that she can appeal if she disagrees. Unfortunately, this lack of certainty really throws her earliest possible application cycle into doubt even if she continues to do well in her PB. We're certainly both willing to wait another year if need be, but we would hate to lose an application cycle over something that we could ideally plan for ahead of time.

Any advice on how to nail this down?

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

As a current EMT, I can confirm that AACOMAS will count all of the EMT courses, as long as they can be shown on an official transcript. And you are correct in that AMCAS will not count them towards science.
As for the course in the biology department, that is a little tricky. It really depends what exactly she was doing and if it is related to biology to some capacity. Since it is in the biology department and assuming that it can be shown on an official transcript, it should count for sGPA for both AMCAS and AACOMAS, but again this really depends. AMCAS / AACOMAS usually goes off course titles and descriptions more so than what department the course is in.

But in regards to achieving a 3.0 sGPA, I will say it is not 100% necessary. Many people are under the impression that most or all schools screens for a 3.0, which isn't really true. She just need to do your research and apply strategically avoiding schools with hard screens. Most schools these days have soft screens (some wiggle room), no screen at all, or has an actual person review your app before rejection. Also some schools don't screen for GPA, but rather screen for an MCAT score. Also the hard 3.0 GPA screens usually pertain to cGPA and not sGPA, but again even a sub 3.0 cGPA is okay.
There are plenty of success stories out there with people with under a 3.0, so you can see for yourself how others did it.

The key thing is to show improvement or an upward trend in her sGPA.
Ideally with someone starting out with a 2.5sGPA you want to shoot for around 30-60 credits before applying (ideally at a 3.7+ sGPA).
The key thing to remember is she is NOT going for GPA repair, but for transcript repair.
But if she can get to a 3.0sGPA without postponing her app, go for it.

I also encourage you both to read Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention.

 

[premedBF]

As a current EMT, I can confirm that AACOMAS will count all of the EMT courses, as long as they can be shown on an official transcript. And you are correct in that AMCAS will not count them towards science.
As for the course in the biology department, that is a little tricky. It really depends what exactly she was doing and if it is related to biology to some capacity. Since it is in the biology department and assuming that it can be shown on an official transcript, it should count for sGPA for both AMCAS and AACOMAS, but again this really depends. AMCAS / AACOMAS usually goes off course titles and descriptions more so than what department the course is in.

But in regards to achieving a 3.0 sGPA, I will say it is not 100% necessary. Many people are under the impression that most or all schools screens for a 3.0, which isn't really true. She just need to do your research and apply strategically avoiding schools with hard screens. Most schools these days have soft screens (some wiggle room), no screen at all, or has an actual person review your app before rejection. Also some schools don't screen for GPA, but rather screen for an MCAT score. Also the hard 3.0 GPA screens usually pertain to cGPA and not sGPA, but again even a sub 3.0 cGPA is okay.
There are plenty of success stories out there with people with under a 3.0, so you can see for yourself how others did it.

The key thing is to show improvement or an upward trend in her sGPA.
Ideally with someone starting out with a 2.5sGPA you want to shoot for around 30-60 credits before applying (ideally at a 3.7+ sGPA).
The key thing to remember is she is NOT going for GPA repair, but for transcript repair.
But if she can get to a 3.0sGPA without postponing her app, go for it.

I also encourage you both to read Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention.

Thanks so much for the clear response. Getting the EMT details cleared up is a big help since that's a fair number of credit hours.

I guess we'll see about the natural history museum internship in time then. I fear they won't take it based off the description, but not much to be done about that.

It'll be a little frustrating if she does 1.5-2 years a of post-bacc successfuly and ends up applying just one class away from a 3.0 sGPA, but maybe getting in a year earlier is worth the risk of filters and trying again as a reapplicant

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

Thanks so much for the clear response. Getting the EMT details cleared up is a big help since that's a fair number of credit hours.

I guess we'll see about the natural history museum internship in time then. I fear they won't take it based off the description, but not much to be done about that.

It'll be a little frustrating if she does 1.5-2 years a of post-bacc successfuly and ends up applying just one class away from a 3.0 sGPA, but maybe getting in a year earlier is worth the risk of filters and trying again as a reapplicant

I don't think being one class away from a 3.0sGPA is a big deal, especially if her cGPA is above a 3.0. But even not, like I said, the most important thing is showing her more recent credits at a higher GPA and having an overall upward trend. Most schools these days usually put more weight into your last 60 or so credits anyways. If she really is adamant about getting a 3.0, maybe add another class into her course load over the next year (assuming she is intending to apply next cycle). I personally was able to handle 18/19 credit course loads (all junior/senior level sciences) in my postbacc and finished with around a 3.72.

If she is willing to wait another year, another option may be to do an SMP, but this option can be quite expensive and comes at a higher risk.
Even for students around/slightly above a 3.0, sometimes an SMP is the best path forward. It just depends on her GPA trends, as well as her MCAT score.

I would also look to see if getting retroactive withdrawals is possible from her earlier poor academics (science classes with C- and below ideally).