How are old transcripts counted

[esob]

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Many many eons ago (1995), when computers were just coming into the university registrar setting, I learned the hard way that things aren't always as simple as they seem. During my 2nd year at YSU, I decided to join the military (for numerous reasons). I was accepted and got my entry date, which ofc conflicted with the next semester for which I was already registered (but had not started). So I marched over to the registrars fancy new self-service computer system and promptly withdrew myself from the following quarter's (yes, YSU was on quarters at the time) classes.....or so I thought anyway.

Anyway, while on active duty I get notified of my 4 F's I rec'd for not attending any classes, and that I owed money for the quarter which I did not attend. OFC at the ripe young age of 19, I wasn't much concerned, I had decided I was going to be a "lifer" in the military and I could defer the student loan that paid for the schooling indefinitely while on active duty.

Fast forward to 2011, with one semester left to go at TCU, I'm feeling pretty good about my 3.93 GPA and my decent LSAT score. When I start the credential assembly service however I'm horrified that my YSU transcripts are required. I think to myself, "Certainly they won't hold that against me that I didn't rectify the situation back then." But unfortunately LSAC does, and from my googling, it seems that there is some med school equivalent to LSAC and it has pretty much the same policy. Is this correct?

The general consensus from people I talked to about law school adcoms was that b/c I had a pretty good LSAT score and because it was so long ago, that even though my CAS gpa was lower, the schools would not treat it as harshly as they would have if it were recent. Does this same mindset hold with med schools as well?

 

[Eccesignum]

Are we talking about admission to law school here or to medical school?

 

[DrMidlife]

Yes, those old transcripts are required, and yes, those old grades are in your GPA. If you live in Texas you may be able to get them wiped, look up academic fresh start.

You can find official med school app rules for AMCAS on aamc.org and for AACOMAS on aacom.org.

And you can find some med schools that will emphasize more recent work. No there's not a list of schools, and admissions rules can change whenever schools want to change them. At least twice a year people try to make a list in this subforum, and it always stops after about 3 programs. But Miami is one, Wayne State is another.

When I first interviewed for med school in 2008, a school that I considered a very low safety did transcript review, line by line. They started with my 1984 transcript. I didn't even remember taking sign language, much less why I dropped it. For instance. Hopefully that school changed that process and doesn't try to fit the occasional 25 years of transcripts in a sit-down that's supposed to take 10 minutes.

Best of luck to you.

 

[esob]

Are we talking about admission to law school here or to medical school?

Yes, sorry, this is about Med School, I wanted to know if the LSAC equivalent ( I guess DrMidlife says they are called AMCAS and AACOMAS) had the same policy on old

Yes, those old transcripts are required, and yes, those old grades are in your GPA. If you live in Texas you may be able to get them wiped, look up academic fresh start.
Best of luck to you.

I know I was looking at UNT to do my pre req's and they have a policy where they don't count grades on transcripts older than 10 years against you, but I was unaware that was a state policy, I'll have to look into it more, thanks for the info.


Now, another question I have about "old transcripts". While on active duty, I was a medical laboratory tech (and an EMT). As some joint initiative with GWU, my med lab schooling (which was 62 weeks long) gave me credits at GWU. So, even though I've never set foot on the GWU campus, I technically have credits there as well. Do I have to include these with my med school application? I'm sort of torn on them, because they include stuff that would likely fulfill some prereq's (bio/chem stuff), but my grades are so-so (mostly A's and B's, with 1 C or something like that). I'd rather redo the courses and get all A's TBH than to have the credit's counted, but if I am forced to include them and I'm going to be penalized for them anyway, I might as well save my time from retaking the classes

 

[DrMidlife]

yeah if you look at the rules you'll see that you're required to submit every college transcript. exceptions tend to be related to transferred overseas work. the app instructions i mentioned are what you should be looking at, not taking hearsay. i could be a malicious 13 year old in malaysia for all you know.

not only do you have to submit all transcripts, you have to enter every class line by line in the app. apps are then verified. the more transcripts you have, the more diligent you have to be with getting them ordered early and getting your app in early (as in: opening day). it's smart with obscure transcripts to do a dry run - order some to be sent to yourself. expect this to cost maybe $10 apiece, that's cheap money if it makes your app verif go smoothly.

 

[esob]

Yep, after reading over the site, it seems I do have to include them as well, which is sort of a bummer tbh since I never signed up for GWU, i was basically forced to "accept" the credits as part of my military training.

 

[DrMidlife]

it's common enough for military vets to have transcript weirdness that i don't think you need to worry about it. look @ the overall narrative you are presenting - is there a nice long heavy streak of mostly science where you excelled? if so, great, you're in the game. if not, go build that streak. LONG streak. Not a class or two.

 

[esob]

it's common enough for military vets to have transcript weirdness that i don't think you need to worry about it. look @ the overall narrative you are presenting - is there a nice long heavy streak of mostly science where you excelled? if so, great, you're in the game. if not, go build that streak. LONG streak. Not a class or two.

hmm, that depends on what you call "science" 😀

I took a ton of psych classes (Abnormal Child Psych, Evolutionary Psych, etc), Astronomy (+ the lab), Freshman level Math topic class, Microeconomics, etc, all with A's, but no straight up Chem/Bio, which I plan to take over the next couple years as prepare for med school. Would any of the aforementioned be considered science?

 

[DrMidlife]

Again, I refer you to the application instructions, which include categorization of coursework. Very good instructions are available, and are required reading for those with complicated transcripts.

Find AMCAS instructions on aamc.org.

Find AACOMAS instructions on aacom.org.

As of 2007, which is when I last needed this info:
MD schools: math is science. engineering is not.
DO schools: math is not science.
Texas schools: math is science, and so is engineering.

 

[esob]

thanks, I'll read over them fully now

btw, I looked up the academic fresh start and here's what I found:

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What happens if you enroll under the Academic Fresh Start option, earn an undergraduate degree, and then apply to a postgraduate or professional program at a public university?
Admissions staff for master's, doctoral or other professional degree programs at public universities will consider only your G.P.A. established by the course work you completed after enrolling in Academic Fresh Start, plus any other criteria the school uses in evaluating applicants for admission.

Credits and G.P.A. you earned prior to Academic Fresh Start will not be used to evaluate your application for admission into the postgraduate or professional program.

Please note: Nothing in the law prohibits a public university from applying standard admissions requirements.
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1. Does that cover med school as a "professional program"
2. does the little disclaimer at the end mean "its voluntary, and basically they are going to look at your previous grades anyway and decide whether or not to hold them against you " lol.