How is my GPA viewed?

[Destalchemy]

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I'm a 26 yo who attended college right out hs for 1 semester and failed his all classes and stopped attending school. I start back up Tuesday. If I get a 3.9 in the next 4 years, my GPA will be a 3.5 due to the Fs from 2011. I know amcas records two gpas these days - cgpa and sgpa.

Will schools ever see my ugpa? Will they consider me to be a 3.9 applicant because my fs were so isolated? Or will I be a 3.5 cgpa applicant with a strong upward trend? The Fs will be from when I was 17 - I'll be 31 when I apply to med school.

To me it seems like most non trads went to college before, entered another career, and need to do post bacs and smps to repair their gpas to apply to med school. I'll basically be doing a "traditional" route with 8 concurrent semesters in a row just with a big gap in between hs and college.

Will schools view me as a 3.5 GPA or a 3.9? Will I have to take a post bac or smp if I want to apply to more competitive schools? Or will they disregard my semester of shame from when I was 17? Thanks

 

[hamiltonnyc]

Will schools ever see my ugpa? Will they consider me to be a 3.9 applicant because my fs were so isolated?

You have to report all coursework, and if you omit any and they find out (there's a service they can use to see which schools you have a transcript for) you can risk your application and being kicked out of med school.

Whether they factor it in their decision making is dependent on the school. Most schools care more about trends, so the generous ones might discount your one semester while others might care about protecting their median/average GPA.

 

[GreenDuck12]

On the AMCAS, which is the application service, your GPA and sGPA will be lidted cumulatively as well as with a breakdown for each year including Post-Bac GPA listed separately. This is beneficial because it could show an upward trend as well as show your most recent coursework separately.

 

[GreenDuck12]

As for your question about how schools will view you, there are many posts from folks over the years who have needed to recover from difficult semesters or years of coursework who have had success. So if you’re asking if it’s possible - absolutely. One bad semester is understandable and I doubt it would be a permanent impediment to medical schools. That being said, you need to do well in your classes (As and Bs) and do well on the mcat. When you apply, make sure to pay attention to the median GPAs and mcat scores for schools you select and be careful not to over weight schools that are outside those ranges. You absolutely can still pursue medical school. Good luck to you.

 

[Goro]

I'm a 26 yo who attended college right out hs for 1 semester and failed his all classes and stopped attending school. I start back up Tuesday. If I get a 3.9 in the next 4 years, my GPA will be a 3.5 due to the Fs from 2011. I know amcas records two gpas these days - cgpa and sgpa.

Will schools ever see my ugpa? Will they consider me to be a 3.9 applicant because my fs were so isolated? Or will I be a 3.5 cgpa applicant with a strong upward trend? The Fs will be from when I was 17 - I'll be 31 when I apply to med school.

To me it seems like most non trads went to college before, entered another career, and need to do post bacs and smps to repair their gpas to apply to med school. I'll basically be doing a "traditional" route with 8 concurrent semesters in a row just with a big gap in between hs and college.

Will schools view me as a 3.5 GPA or a 3.9? Will I have to take a post bac or smp if I want to apply to more competitive schools? Or will they disregard my semester of shame from when I was 17? Thanks

Rising GPA trends are always good. A strong stretch of academic excellence will demonstrate that the you of now is not the you of then. There are plenty of MD (and all DO) schools that reward reinvention.

So STOP thinking about the cGPA...it's about how you do now.

 

[MusicDOc124]

To me it seems like most non trads went to college before, entered another career, and need to do post bacs and smps to repair their gpas to apply to med school. I'll basically be doing a "traditional" route with 8 concurrent semesters in a row just with a big gap in between hs and college.

Many non-trads are not necessarily trying to repair GPA. Many went into a different career to begin with, whether before or after college. Some do post bacc at that point because their degree didn't include the pre-reqs.