Do I Have a Chance at Any School?

[hnadeir]

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Can anyone relate to me? I transferred from Boston College to Harvard Extension School with a focus in biology two years ago. I redid all of my science and math classes and I will graduate with a 3.75. When I applied to UCSB to get my masters in Chemistry, they wanted a transcript from Boston College. That transcript however, is atrocious. You have to TRY to get as many F's and D's as I did. When I transferred to Harvard Extension, I only transferred over two electives that I got B's in. However, what will they do when they see the F's and D's I received? Will they recalculate my GPA with those grades? Is that what graduate schools do? I am extremely unsettled. Any help? Thank You

 

[Boolean]

They'll see all your courses. AMCAS does not to grade do-overs, IIRC.

 

[WillburCobb]

AMCAS uses all grades to calculate your GPA. You'll have to include all classes taken at Boston College and Harvard Extension. AACOMAS for DO schools also includes all grades but take the higher one for retakes when calculating your GPA.

 

[hnadeir]

So do I just give up trying to get into any programs? It doesn't make too much sense. If medical schools recalculate your GPA, do graduate schools as well?

 

[WillburCobb]

What's your combined GPA? DO grade replacement can help if its really bad. Also, there are post-bacs and SMPs to help with a less than stellar GPA. Grad schools will likely want copies of your transcripts from all schools you attended.

 

[hnadeir]

As unreal as it sounds, my combined GPA is a 2.2. I absolutely understand that any institution will look at all of my transcripts; its a given. I just thought that more weight would be placed upon the classes I took at Harvard Extension, considering I retook my classes and ended with a fairly high GPA.

 

[Boolean]

As unreal as it sounds, my combined GPA is a 2.2. I absolutely understand that any institution will look at all of my transcripts; its a given. I just thought that more weight would be placed upon the classes I took at Harvard Extension, considering I retook my classes and ended with a fairly high GPA.

You'd be hard pressed to find a medical school in the United States that will accept you with that GPA unless you have an absolutely amazing reasoning behind it.

 

[Goro]

Your best best is to retaken any F/D/C science coursework and use AACOMAS' grade replacement policy.

As unreal as it sounds, my combined GPA is a 2.2. I absolutely understand that any institution will look at all of my transcripts; its a given. I just thought that more weight would be placed upon the classes I took at Harvard Extension, considering I retook my classes and ended with a fairly high GPA.

 

[embracepeace]

From what I understand, for AMCAS, you have to put all your grades in and it's calculated that way. Doesn't matter if it was dropped or replaced. But for AACOMAS, I thought the grade replacement only worked if you took the EXACT same class again? With same numbers and code? Basically, I thought it had to be from the same school to match up with grade replacement, but please don't quote me on this. I could be wrong.

 

[WillburCobb]

As unreal as it sounds, my combined GPA is a 2.2. I absolutely understand that any institution will look at all of my transcripts; its a given. I just thought that more weight would be placed upon the classes I took at Harvard Extension, considering I retook my classes and ended with a fairly high GPA.

Is your GPA mentioned in the initial post your GPA including all retakes and any non-retakes from BC? If so, then DO is the way to go.

 

[WillburCobb]

From what I understand, for AMCAS, you have to put all your grades in and it's calculated that way. Doesn't matter if it was dropped or replaced. But for AACOMAS, I thought the grade replacement only worked if you took the EXACT same class again? With same numbers and code? Basically, I thought it had to be from the same school to match up with grade replacement, but please don't quote me on this. I could be wrong.

It can be from a different school and doesn't need the same number/code. You may have to contact AACOMAS and do some finagling that may hold your app up a bit, but if you're on top of it, it shouldn'e be an issue.

 

[edgerock24]

What is your cGPA and sGPA calculated according to AACOMAS policy (grade replacement)?