GPA and what not

[HumanBeing]

Hi, can someone please tell me how an undergrad gpa calculation is made if you graduate and go back to school to finish up the undergrad prereqs?

If I have 161 hours and 469 quality points, that's 2.913 which is what I got 10 years ago.

If I were to go back to school and take the 8 prereq courses as a special undergrad student (non-degree/not really a postbac program) does the adcom add those 8 courses (32 hours), to my undergrad gpa? Does the 2.91 go away?

I guess I would like to know do they still look at the 2.91 undergrad gpa even if I boosted it to a 3.1 which is possible with 32 more hours at 4.0?

Does the adcom really care if you just finish up the prereq courses at any 4-year university or do they really care if it's an official postbac?

Would the adcom prefer/care if I obtained a 2nd bachelor of science degree in the process of going back to school or do they really just care about the 8 prereqs?

Oh lastly I had a 3.95 graduate gpa, but from what I hear this is treated totally seperate from the undergrad? I called one med school and they said they average the undergrad and graduate gpas together. Does that mean they would still really look at the 2.91?

Thanks!

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[spicedmanna]

Hi, can someone please tell me how an undergrad gpa calculation is made if you graduate and go back to school to finish up the undergrad prereqs?

If I have 161 hours and 469 quality points, that's 2.913 which is what I got 10 years ago.

If I were to go back to school and take the 8 prereq courses as a special undergrad student (non-degree/not really a postbac program) does the adcom add those 8 courses (32 hours), to my undergrad gpa? Does the 2.91 go away?

I guess I would like to know do they still look at the 2.91 undergrad gpa even if I boosted it to a 3.1 which is possible with 32 more hours at 4.0?

Does the adcom really care if you just finish up the prereq courses at any 4-year university or do they really care if it's an official postbac?

Would the adcom prefer/care if I obtained a 2nd bachelor of science degree in the process of going back to school or do they really just care about the 8 prereqs?

Oh lastly I had a 3.95 graduate gpa, but from what I hear this is treated totally seperate from the undergrad? I called one med school and they said they average the undergrad and graduate gpas together. Does that mean they would still really look at the 2.91?

Thanks!

In allopathic admissions, your academic work never goes away. Your past follows you. ALL undergraduate work past and present are averaged in together. Although post-baccalaureate undergraduate GPA has a separate line, it is also averaged in your undergraduate cummulative GPA.

Your graduate GPA is indeed treated separately in terms of the AMCAS, the primary application service for allopathic schools. It is NOT averaged into your undergraduate GPA in this application. On the other hand, I cannot say how individual medical schools treat your academic work. You are correct to check with individual schools for their policies. In general, however, graduate work isn't valued as much as undergraduate work in terms of GPA. So keep that in mind. Many academic screens will be based off of your undergraduate GPA.

I don't think adcomms care if you are doing a formal or informal post-baccalaureate program. It's grades, trends, and whether it was a full load. Let's not forget your MCAT score, too.

 

[blee]

The 2.91 "goes away" only in the sense that your newly taken undergrad courses will be calculated into you AMCAS GPA. So if you took, say, 8 more credits and received 32 quality points, they would be added to the total.

There is, however, some time-related separation of GPAs in AMCAS. Your overall undergrad GPA is listed along with calculated BCPM/AO GPAs from freshman through senior years and post-bacc years. I don't know how schools use that info, but it's there. Your grad GPA is listed separately in similar fashion.

 

[HumanBeing]

In allopathic admissions, your academic work never goes away. Your past follows you. ALL undergraduate work past and present are averaged in together. Although post-baccalaureate undergraduate GPA has a separate line, it is also averaged in your undergraduate cummulative GPA.

Your graduate GPA is indeed treated separately in terms of the AMCAS, the primary application service for allopathic schools. It is NOT averaged into your undergraduate GPA in this application. On the other hand, I cannot say how individual medical schools treat your academic work. You are correct to check with individual schools for their policies. In general, however, graduate work isn't valued as much as undergraduate work in terms of GPA. So keep that in mind. Many academic screens will be based off of your undergraduate GPA.

I don't think adcomms care if you are doing a formal or informal post-baccalaureate program. It's grades, trends, and whether it was a full load. Let's not forget your MCAT score, too.

Thanks for the info. So if I were to "think of" or "speak of" my undergrad gpa, and my postgrad work brought it up to 3.1, would I be most correct to think of my 2.9, or my 3.1. After postbac work, does your official undergrad gpa as medical school sees it look like 2.9 or 3.1? For exaple the cutoff mathematical formula they apply that cuts people off at 3.0, would that formula be applied to my 2.9 or 3.1?

Thanks!

 

[spicedmanna]

Thanks for the info. So if I were to "think of" or "speak of" my undergrad gpa, and my postgrad work brought it up to 3.1, would I be most correct to think of my 2.9, or my 3.1. After postbac work, does your official undergrad gpa as medical school sees it look like 2.9 or 3.1? For exaple the cutoff mathematical formula they apply that cuts people off at 3.0, would that formula be applied to my 2.9 or 3.1?

Thanks!

Well, this is a good question for your medical schools of interest, because it may be possible that they will have different policies. However, it is my general impression that your cummulative undergraduate GPA will be used for the academic screens. Your cummulative undergraduate GPA includes your post-baccalaureate undergraduate work. In your case, your cummulative undergraduate GPA, after the post-baccalaureate undergraduate work you propose, would be 3.1.

AMCAS provides schools with a profile that lists your undergraduate GPA by status (freshman, sophomore, etc.) and by the cummulative undergraduate GPA. Additionally, it will list your post-baccalaureate undergraduate GPA and graduate GPA separately. To reiterate, your cummulative undergraduate GPA is inclusive of your post-baccalaureate undergraduate work. Your profile will also contain all of your coursework, past, present, and future (if you listed it). Some schools will simply take all of the AMCAS calculations and figure it into their process, others might do their own calculations. They will most of them take a look at trends, so getting a 4.0 for several full semesters is highly favorable.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

In allopathic admissions, your academic work never goes away. Your past follows you. ALL undergraduate work past and present are averaged in together. Although post-baccalaureate undergraduate GPA has a separate line, it is also averaged in your undergraduate cummulative GPA.

Your graduate GPA is indeed treated separately in terms of the AMCAS, the primary application service for allopathic schools. It is NOT averaged into your undergraduate GPA in this application. On the other hand, I cannot say how individual medical schools treat your academic work. You are correct to check with individual schools for their policies. In general, however, graduate work isn't valued as much as undergraduate work in terms of GPA. So keep that in mind. Many academic screens will be based off of your undergraduate GPA.

I don't think adcomms care if you are doing a formal or informal post-baccalaureate program. It's grades, trends, and whether it was a full load. Let's not forget your MCAT score, too.

Excellent advice.

They're going start by comparing your performance in undergrad science and prereq's to the other applicants, so you should point your death star at the MCAT. You can make up some of the distance between you and the others, but if you took the MCAT a few months before your projected interview and looked badly compared to the other applicants, you aren't helping your case any.

Weight given to grad school varies greatly, but in my experience, they don't give it a lot of weight unless you use that time to master MCAT material.