Finally Registered

[LongRoad2]

Hi All,
This is my introductory post. I have been a long time lurker on the board as I have been trying to figure out how to get into medical school. I, like many others here, didn't have my priorities straight after high school screwed up my GPA for the first two years of undergrad. I realized that I was sabotaging my future by junior year and dropped out of school to avoid doing any more damage. To gain some focus and discipline I did a tour in the Marine Corps. (Worked wonders) I have since gone back to school and graduated in 2009 with BS in Psych and a minor in Bio with a 3.72 GPA. I realized I wanted to be a doctor in 2005 on a flight back from a backpacking trip through Cambodia. But turning that realization into a reality is a long road and I am not there yet. I have been working overseas as a defense contractor since getting out of the Marines and am currently in Afghanistan.

My plan forward is to do another year here to put some more money in the bank and move my wife and two children from Japan to Texas. I haven't lived in the US in about ten years and am choosing Texas to take advantage of their Fresh Start Act, which will erase my grades from my first attempt at college, and the low tuition cost. I still need to take OChem and will have to retake GenChem because it is more than ten years old and will be deleted by the Fresh Start Act. Other than that I have complete all my pre-recs A's in Physics and all my science classes. As the single provider for my family I plan to do the Navy HSCP so I can draw an income while I am in medical school. Over the next year I plan to study Chem and Physics to stay fresh and may take a BIO class or two through UMUC on the base here. I also volunteered to be on the Combat Casualty Response team for my base. I would like to try to shadow a few doctors over here but it has been a challenge to link up with them.

Thanks for the inspiration.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Welcome aboard. Sounds like you have a solid plan laid out. I'm in the beginning stages of this journey too and the first step is to have a plan. The plan may change over time as circumstances and life events change, but roll with it, continue gathering information, adapt your plan, and make it happen. The Texas grade forgiveness program sounds interesting. I'd like to hear from those that have experience with it. Almost sounds too good to be true.

Good luck and thanks for your service.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Best of luck. It sounds like the marines did indeed help you, and I wish you the best of luck!
@captain, there are several programs like this that "hide" under academic forgiveness. They are difficult to find and pursue, but they do exist. They usually require that you were NOT granted a degree, and that at least 7 years has passed since your last class

 

[LongRoad2]

CPT,

I thought the same thing so I asked and received the below reply. You have to be a Texas state resident and it only applies to TX school minus Baylor. I followed up with a phone call to insure that the 90 credits could come from any coarse work in the last ten years which she confirmed. Luck I use TX for my tax state.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Academic Fresh Start is a program designed specifically for those interested in furthering their academic careers and have been out of school for several years. In addition, it is to help those non-traditional students who did not perform well earlier in their schooling.
You would have to officially enroll in a Texas university or community college under the Academic Fresh Start provision and complete ONE course before the program is instituted.
So say you enrolled in Fall 2010, any courses taken prior to Fall 2000 would be deleted from your GPA's. If any of these deleted courses are part of the prescribed coursework criteria to enter medical/dental schools, then you would have to retake those required courses. You cannot pick and choose which courses are used in the calculations of the GPA's. The courses not considered for inclusion in your GPA's would all come from the ten year rule. You would not lose your previously earned degrees, but the GPA’s will be calculated differently. You will still need to meet the 90 hour minimum requirement from the courses you have taken after the provision is used.
If you need more information, you are encouraged to call me at 512-499-4791.



Anne Diamon
TMDSAS-Administrative Asst.
702 Colorado Suite 6.400
Austin, TX 78701
512-499-4785
512-499-4786 fax

 

[CaptainObvious]

Very cool. More states should have a provision like that. I find it funny that they leave one of the most important decisions in one's life (college) to be made when we are at our stupid-est. (18-early 20's).

We all make dumb decisions when we're young. We shouldn't be penalized for them for the rest or our academic lives.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

This is from my school's website: http://bulletin.stcloudstate.edu/ugb/academic/standards.asp
Undergraduate Academic Forgiveness

To qualify for this one-time opportunity of academic forgiveness, the following are prerequisites:

1. The student may not be enrolled at St. Cloud State University for a minimum of 7 consecutive years prior to the point of forgiveness.
2. Following this absence, the student must prove academic ability by completing 15 undergraduate credits within two semesters at a minimum of 2.0 grade point average.

When the above conditions are met, the student submits a written request to the Office of Records and Registration. The Office of Records and Registration will make the following adjustments on the student's transcript:

1. The transcript will indicate the point of forgiveness.
2. No credits will be granted for courses completed prior to the point of forgiveness. However, the grades will remain on the transcript.
3. Calculation of the student's grade point average will not include grades received before the point of forgiveness.

Academic forgiveness will not be granted if a student has received a degree using the credits. Note: For financial aid eligibility, credits and grades for which students have been granted academic forgiveness will continue to be included when determining the cumulative GPA, percentage of credits completed and the maximum time frame calculations.

 

[ChE04]

This is from my school's website: http://bulletin.stcloudstate.edu/ugb/academic/standards.asp
Undergraduate Academic Forgiveness

To qualify for this one-time opportunity of academic forgiveness, the following are prerequisites:

1. The student may not be enrolled at St. Cloud State University for a minimum of 7 consecutive years prior to the point of forgiveness.
2. Following this absence, the student must prove academic ability by completing 15 undergraduate credits within two semesters at a minimum of 2.0 grade point average.

When the above conditions are met, the student submits a written request to the Office of Records and Registration. The Office of Records and Registration will make the following adjustments on the student's transcript:

1. The transcript will indicate the point of forgiveness.
2. No credits will be granted for courses completed prior to the point of forgiveness. However, the grades will remain on the transcript.
3. Calculation of the student's grade point average will not include grades received before the point of forgiveness.

Academic forgiveness will not be granted if a student has received a degree using the credits. Note: For financial aid eligibility, credits and grades for which students have been granted academic forgiveness will continue to be included when determining the cumulative GPA, percentage of credits completed and the maximum time frame calculations.

You sure this applies to AMCAS? Sounds like this is just for that school, and that those previous grades would still be reported/counted in AMCAS. The Texas academic fresh start is actually endorsed by schools under the TMDSAS umbrella, not sure it actually applies to AMCAS schools too... I guess I'm not certain though, that was just my understanding.

 

[Isoprop]

You report all grades to the AMCAS and AACOMAS even if they were "forgiven" by the schools.