DO grade replacement rumor

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Johnny Appleseed

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So I was meeting with my pre-med advisor the other day and I was asking him if I should retake some classes from my freshman year to improve my gpa at DO schools. He then told me I didn't need too, and it could end up being a waste of time because he has been hearing that DO schools will no longer offer grade replacement in the near future. He told me it was just what he has been hearing, but he said he wouldn't be surprised if grade replacement was no longer offered by the time I apply (summer of 2017).

Has anyone else heard this rumor? Does anyone know if there is any truth to it??
 
If it wasn't clear, he's full of it. They wouldn't discontinue grade replacement without some warning. It might happen, but not 1-2 cycles. Even if it did happen, some schools will still take into account the courses you've taking and subsequently done well on.
 
Think its worth it to retake 4 classes I failed during a semester many years ago, to bump my gpa from 3.4 to 3.7? He said no.... 3.4 is good enough.
 
Data point 1,200, 599 that most pre-med advisors have horse manure for brains.

Repeat the classes.


09kseljaas said:
So I was meeting with my pre-med advisor the other day and I was asking him if I should retake some classes from my freshman year to improve my gpa at DO schools. He then told me I didn't need too, and it could end up being a waste of time because he has been hearing that DO schools will no longer offer grade replacement in the near future. He told me it was just what he has been hearing, but he said he wouldn't be surprised if grade replacement was no longer offered by the time I apply (summer of 2017).

Has anyone else heard this rumor? Does anyone know if there is any truth to it??
Click to expand...
 
Hearing multiple stories like this on SDN and the "real world", I'm very glad I never consulted my pre-med advisor in UG
 
Ive attended quite a number of univrsities and a couple to complete premed recs. Most premed advisors are not any different than pre anything else advisors, other than they just might know the standard recs for med school. Some know nothing and even pride themselves in talking students out of med school. I've been told things almost comical like I should retake English Comp because I took it too long 20yrs ago and med schools wouldn't count it.

So I wouldn't worry too much over DO schools doing away with grade replacements anytime soon. Likely if it does occur you will find it to start at a few progs first then it become a standard a few years later. That said, you shouldn't go into classes with the idea of replacing grades if you screw up. Retaking courses is more than just GPA building, its also about learning the material.
 
DO schools, for the most part, would not survive without grade replacement. The averages without grade replacement would be telling IMO.
 
Once @Goro told me when I asked the same question. You can search on SDN and see how many people asked the same question. And each reply states this one thing: pre-med advisors are no better than you.

They told me that I won't be able to go to medical school. During freshman year in college, they said it is impossible for me to get above 30 on the MCAT based on my GPA and background. They also said retaking classes are not allowed, thus I should never consider going to a medical school. They even told me that Caribbean medical schools won't accept me.

During pre-health conference at my school, I asked Gina from AACOM regarding retakes and my chances. Along with some representatives from some DO schools, she said that she's not aware of any changes and said what kind of AACOM did my pre-med advisors look into.

At the moment, unlike my pre-med advisor said, I scored above 30 on the MCAT. I am retaking classes. And I am sharpening my knife hoping to show them how ******ed they are.
 
I honestly never set foot in my premedical-advisors, office, didnt even meet with my committee.. Everyone at my school was saying, that getting committee letters is crucial, you wont get in. But to be honest, I did everything on my own, and landed with 5 acceptances this cylce (my first time applying), so that goes to show how much these advisors really know (not saying that they know, but I feel like I can do it on my own, and SDN really helped a lot, so use it😉!
 
My pre-med advisors have are VERY knowledgeable and VERY intelligent in their respective fields of research. They have been doing pre-med advising for over 15 years--we have a pre-medical honors society and group which is well put together and we bring in bright speakers from all over the nation to talk to us. I was very fortunate to have this kind of service offered to me and they were on point with everything they said about medical schools and the whole shebang. I have heard some horror stories and quite frankly some straight up dumb stuff from some of the pre-med advisors advising some of these SDN members. If it doesn't sound right, then I would do my own source checking.
 
Ryomagoku said:
Once @Goro told me when I asked the same question. You can search on SDN and see how many people asked the same question. And each reply states this one thing: pre-med advisors are no better than you.

They told me that I won't be able to go to medical school. During freshman year in college, they said it is impossible for me to get above 30 on the MCAT based on my GPA and background. They also said retaking classes are not allowed, thus I should never consider going to a medical school. They even told me that Caribbean medical schools won't accept me.

During pre-health conference at my school, I asked Gina from AACOM regarding retakes and my chances. Along with some representatives from some DO schools, she said that she's not aware of any changes and said what kind of AACOM did my pre-med advisors look into.

At the moment, unlike my pre-med advisor said, I scored above 30 on the MCAT.
Click to expand...

Honestly, when it comes to premed advisors, YMMV. Some are amazing (like mine, where they still wrote me a committee letter after having graduated 5 years from that school.)
 
I had a situation this year where the advisor I had been working with for the last 4 years suddenly quit the department and moved to a new position in the middle of the cycle. I think it actually worked out for the better though. While my original advisor never gave me poor advice, I was having a lot of trouble with her in regards to things like getting timely responses to time sensitive problems, she lost my DO letter, and sent me a rather bitchy reply when I inquired as to the status of my letter packet (which hadn't been submitted yet) after my application was verified. Right after that she left without informing any of the students she was working with. I didn't find out until I started getting notices from schools that they didn't have my letters, and went down to campus to find that our wonderful and hard working director had been given back the pre-med advising role. He immediately took care of my letters, even faxing them to one I already had an interview with, and I know future students are going to do really well with him. He's the kind of guy who is very knowledgeable about the med school application process and gets personally invested in the success of each student.
 
The advisors I really found extremely helpful were admissions people from actual med schools who attended various open houses, lectures, etc. They were able to provide latest admission statistics and discuss preferences/requirements in decision making, such as even though on AACOM they didn't say they required biochem they actually used it heavily in their decision making process or how they planned on handling new MCAT scores.
 
It's just my opinion. Think about it, DO schools can barely (and only the "top" programs) can hit low MD averages WITH grade replacement... I think that if they didn't have grade replacement the averages for current students would be a lot lower then they actually are. I personally think grade replacement is great because it allows forgiveness for the "late bloomers" out there who will make fantastic doctors but had a rough start to undergrad
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
It's just my opinion. Think about it, DO schools can barely (and only the "top" programs) can hit low MD averages WITH grade replacement... I think that if they didn't have grade replacement the averages for current students would be a lot lower then they actually are. I personally think grade replacement is great because it allows forgiveness for the "late bloomers" out there who will make fantastic doctors but had a rough start to undergrad
Click to expand...
Yes, but I would almost bet the vast majority of DO students don't even utilize the grade replacement, but if stats were the of the utmost importance then DO schools could easily compete with MD schools if they wanted to. All they would have to do is accept applicants with high GPA and MCAT scores and believe me there are more than enough--osteopathic schools are usually mission based and favor experience and uniqueness over just stats. In my honest opinion I don't think medical school "tiers" matter even the slightest bit unless you are in the very top tier. I don't have any problem with osteopathic schools, I actually only applied to osteopathic schools out of choice, I love the history and all of the osteopathic physicians I have met over the years,
 
I actually think the opposite. I think a large number of DO applicants use grade replacement. I do agree that stats aren't the most important thing at DO schools
 
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