Grade boosting options

[TheShowGoesOn]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey guys,

I am graduating from a top nursing school in Canada and my GPA will be below a 3.0 when all is said and done. After school I plan on moving to the states, I will be getting a green card and becoming a resident wherever I accept a job. Because most of my credits are from nursing courses, I will not be able to go back and retake Cs. With that in mind, do I enroll in a DIY post-bacc? I feel like this would require me to take 20+ courses scoring a 3.4+ to bring my GPA up as I have read that it takes numerous As to boost a GPA by >0.5. I have looked into SMPs but not in depth, it seems most require a 3.0 for admissions... My ECs are great and I plan on scoring high on the MCAT, I just need to raise my GPA! Any suggestions will help.

Thanks in advance

 

[SailorHg]

Do you mean 20 courses of 3-4 semester hours each? Or 20 s.h.? If the former, you are in the same boat as a lot of non-trads with low gpa's. It's a long road even if you're starting from scratch as a freshman with the opportunity to earn nothing but a 4.0, and a longer one if you dig yourself a GPA deficit. I am doing a DIY post-bacc to improve my sub-3.0 undergrad GPA. I'm applying next cycle to mostly DO schools and will have about 85 s.h. of post-bacc credits. Each class I take that isn't a repeat only adds 0.02 to my cGPA, but luckily my sGPA is high. It has taken me 1 year of part time school, and 2 years of full time school to get to a position where I feel good about my shot at DO schools.

So, you're not alone, but yes it may be a long road to bring up your GPA. Keep in mind that DO schools do allow grade replacement. SMPs may provide you with a backdoor into an MD school, but if you want to be a DOCTOR, it will be cheaper and faster to find an online program to retake some of your nursing classes (esp any D/F courses). Have you taken pre req's yet?

When I first started looking into medicine I was really hung up on MD, but then realized what it would involve: several years of undergrad GPA repair, and an expensive SMP. It is possible, and people have done it, but it's not the only way to become a doctor.

 

[TheShowGoesOn]

Do you mean 20 courses of 3-4 semester hours each? Or 20 s.h.? If the former, you are in the same boat as a lot of non-trads with low gpa's. It's a long road even if you're starting from scratch as a freshman with the opportunity to earn nothing but a 4.0, and a longer one if you dig yourself a GPA deficit. I am doing a DIY post-bacc to improve my sub-3.0 undergrad GPA. I'm applying next cycle to mostly DO schools and will have about 85 s.h. of post-bacc credits. Each class I take that isn't a repeat only adds 0.02 to my cGPA, but luckily my sGPA is high. It has taken me 1 year of part time school, and 2 years of full time school to get to a position where I feel good about my shot at DO schools.

So, you're not alone, but yes it may be a long road to bring up your GPA. Keep in mind that DO schools do allow grade replacement. SMPs may provide you with a backdoor into an MD school, but if you want to be a DOCTOR, it will be cheaper and faster to find an online program to retake some of your nursing classes (esp any D/F courses). Have you taken pre req's yet?

When I first started looking into medicine I was really hung up on MD, but then realized what it would involve: several years of undergrad GPA repair, and an expensive SMP. It is possible, and people have done it, but it's not the only way to become a doctor.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. One of the positive things i've realized about my situation is the fact that my sGPA is composed of three courses at the moment and I have no taken any of the pre reqs besides a biology which I scored well in. With that being said, how important is sGPA? I know that I will take various science courses to fulfill pre reqs and boost the sGPA and it shouldn't be hard seeing as i've only got three courses to make up that number right now. As for the cGPA, most nursing courses do not allow for retakes- I have no failed any but have scored in the 60s on a few of them. This is where I will need to take as many courses as possible to raise the overall average. Will my low uGPA be overlooked if I add two years of solid coursework, a nice sGPA and a solid MCAT score?

 

[Goro]

Can you explain why you did so poorly in a nursing school curriculum, and how you think you'll do better from now on?

Hey guys,

I am graduating from a top nursing school in Canada and my GPA will be below a 3.0 when all is said and done. After school I plan on moving to the states, I will be getting a green card and becoming a resident wherever I accept a job. Because most of my credits are from nursing courses, I will not be able to go back and retake Cs. With that in mind, do I enroll in a DIY post-bacc? I feel like this would require me to take 20+ courses scoring a 3.4+ to bring my GPA up as I have read that it takes numerous As to boost a GPA by >0.5. I have looked into SMPs but not in depth, it seems most require a 3.0 for admissions... My ECs are great and I plan on scoring high on the MCAT, I just need to raise my GPA! Any suggestions will help.

Thanks in advance

 

[TheShowGoesOn]

Can you explain why you did so poorly in a nursing school curriculum, and how you think you'll do better from now on?

Definitely. Coming out of high school I had excellent grades that landed me in the program to begin with (85% was the admissions cut-off). Once I started university I took on the motto "C's get degrees" and lacked motivation. The courses did not appeal to me, spare the anatomy/pharmacology and clinical rotations we had. In third year it occurred to me that I wanted something more, and I decided to set a goal, get into a DO/MD program and become a physician. I have been on an upward trend, and have solid ECs- it's just a matter of bringing my grades up.

 

[Goro]

Your fastest route to being a doctor will be by retaking all F/D/C science courses and applying to DO schools.

For MD, you will need to do an SMP and ace that, along with MCAT.

 

[TheShowGoesOn]

Your fastest route to being a doctor will be by retaking all F/D/C science courses and applying to DO schools.

For MD, you will need to do an SMP and ace that, along with MCAT.

Thanks for the help Goro. Time to buckle in and enjoy the ride.