Is a second Bachelors degree a viable route?

[deleted813738]

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Hey guys,

So I ****ed up in undergrad, graduated with a 2.85 GPA.

A few years later I started taking prerequisite courses at a local community college to apply to a DPT program. During this time, I've accrued a 3.72 GPA in a bunch of hard science classes such as Physics 1 and 2, Chem 1 and 2, Ochem 1 and 2, and even a calculus course. I noticed I had 57 units from this community college and realized I could technically transfer to a 4 year college and get another bachelors degree in about 2 years. This time around I'm confident that I could graduate with at least a 3.6 GPA.

My question is: Does this make any sense? Will they average out my two degrees? Will my first Undergrad GPA haunt me for the rest of my life?

 

[libertyyne]

are you talking about a DPT or applying to DO or MD?
if DPT- Wrong thread.
DO- Wrong thread, but the answer is they grade replace if you retook the same class.
MD- AMCAS will combine all GPA to give you an answer. I do not think adcoms would care that you had a second degree. The only thing that could possibly negatively impact you is that you took the last bunch of classes at a CC and some schools wont even consider CC credits for application.

 

[deleted813738]

are you talking about a DPT or applying to DO or MD?
if DPT- Wrong thread.
DO- Wrong thread, but the answer is they grade replace if you retook the same class.
MD- AMCAS will combine all GPA to give you an answer. I do not think adcoms would care that you had a second degree. The only thing that could possibly negatively impact you is that you took the last bunch of classes at a CC and some schools wont even consider CC credits for application.

Sorry I should have specified, I would like to go the MD route, but obviously it depends on my GPA and MCAT score. And just thinking out loud, how would they know about my first bachelors if I don't report it? I don't need any of my courses from my first bachelors. I could technically just be (in their eye) a transfer student that went to CC for 2 years and then transferred for a 4 year uni and got his degree.

Are you sure regarding the CC credits not counting? I took literally every prerequisite class at my community college.

 

[libertyyne]

Sorry I should have specified, I would like to go the MD route, but obviously it depends on my GPA and MCAT score. And just thinking out loud, how would they know about my first bachelors if I don't report it? Like technically speaking, I don't need any of my courses from my first bachelors. Am I legally bound to disclose my first bachelors, even though I meet all the requirements with my CC credits as well as my second bachelors?

Are you sure regarding the CC credits not counting? I took literally every prerequisite class at my community college.

1) Rule number one . NEVER LIE by ommission or comission.
2) It takes 30 seconds on google to figure out that there is a national clearing house for accredited insitutions which will report back your previous academic enrollment.
3) CC pre-reqs are looked down upon by some MD schools and they will not accept them.

 

[ThoracicGuy]

Sorry I should have specified, I would like to go the MD route, but obviously it depends on my GPA and MCAT score. And just thinking out loud, how would they know about my first bachelors if I don't report it? I don't need any of my courses from my first bachelors. I could technically just be (in their eye) a transfer student that went to CC for 2 years and then transferred for a 4 year uni and got his degree.

Are you sure regarding the CC credits not counting? I took literally every prerequisite class at my community college.

So you think lying on a med school application is ok to do?

 

[CerseiLannister]

Not only is lying inherently bad, but u will get caught. AMCAS asks for high school graduation so you would need to be able to answer what you did with that gap of time after

 

[Jarteblu]

What would your new degree be in? Which university will you go to? And how much debt would you be in after this?

 

[kraskadva]

Hey guys,

So I ****ed up in undergrad, graduated with a 2.85 GPA.

A few years later I started taking prerequisite courses at a local community college to apply to a DPT program. During this time, I've accrued a 3.72 GPA in a bunch of hard science classes such as Physics 1 and 2, Chem 1 and 2, Ochem 1 and 2, and even a calculus course. I noticed I had 57 units from this community college and realized I could technically transfer to a 4 year college and get another bachelors degree in about 2 years. This time around I'm confident that I could graduate with at least a 3.6 GPA.

My question is: Does this make any sense? Will they average out my two degrees? Will my first Undergrad GPA haunt me for the rest of my life?

I did a 2nd bacc. So, yes, it's a viable route. It's not entirely necessary, but it doesn't hurt anything and could help. I've posted a fair bit about this, so feel free to search back through my post history for details on that.

Now, as several people have said already, you can't omit your first degree. It will always be there. Period. Paragraph.
What you can do to mitigate it is to show extended high level work. You've done a fair bit already with the CC credits, but as others have also said, that limits some of the schools you can apply to. It doesn't exclude you from applying to med school, just limits some of your options as to where. When you're ready to apply, the MSAR will tell you which schools take CC credits and which don't.
AMCAS will average all UG credits together for your GPA, but will also give a breakdown both by science/non-science classes and by year (FR,SO,JR,SR, & PB) PB - Postbacc - will include all classes after you earned your 1st degree.
Many med schools have 3.0 cumulative gpa cutoffs, so the pertinent question here is: what is your cumulative gpa? Calculate it including every college level course you've ever taken. If it's above 3.0, then decide whether you need more classes to succeed on the MCAT vs how much more $ you want to spend on UG. If it's below 3.0 then how many more credits do you need to get it above that benchmark? If it's a year's worth or more, then switching to a 4-yr school is probably a good idea.

 

[deleted813738]

I did a 2nd bacc. So, yes, it's a viable route. It's not entirely necessary, but it doesn't hurt anything and could help. I've posted a fair bit about this, so feel free to search back through my post history for details on that.

Now, as several people have said already, you can't omit your first degree. It will always be there. Period. Paragraph.
What you can do to mitigate it is to show extended high level work. You've done a fair bit already with the CC credits, but as others have also said, that limits some of the schools you can apply to. It doesn't exclude you from applying to med school, just limits some of your options as to where. When you're ready to apply, the MSAR will tell you which schools take CC credits and which don't.
AMCAS will average all UG credits together for your GPA, but will also give a breakdown both by science/non-science classes and by year (FR,SO,JR,SR, & PB) PB - Postbacc - will include all classes after you earned your 1st degree.
Many med schools have 3.0 cumulative gpa cutoffs, so the pertinent question here is: what is your cumulative gpa? Calculate it including every college level course you've ever taken. If it's above 3.0, then decide whether you need more classes to succeed on the MCAT vs how much more $ you want to spend on UG. If it's below 3.0 then how many more credits do you need to get it above that benchmark? If it's a year's worth or more, then switching to a 4-yr school is probably a good idea.

Thank you for the comprehensive answer. I calculated every single credit I've ever taken and my cumulative GPA comes out to 3.18. I'm unable to repeat any of my prerequisite courses because I scored higher than a C (school policy). So should I take random science/health related courses to boost my GPA? Will they realize that I'm just taking them to inflate my GPA?

Let's say I score a 510-515 on the MCAT, will it be possible to get into a DO program with that 3.18 GPA weighing me down?

 

[Goro]

Yes. You also can retake courses at any college. It doesn't have to be at you UG school.

Get you CGPA > 3.25 and you'll be in a much better position.

Thank you for the comprehensive answer. I calculated every single credit I've ever taken and my cumulative GPA comes out to 3.18. I'm unable to repeat any of my prerequisite courses because I scored higher than a C (school policy). So should I take random science/health related courses to boost my GPA? Will they realize that I'm just taking them to inflate my GPA?

Let's say I score a 510-515 on the MCAT, will it be possible to get into a DO program with that 3.18 GPA weighing me down?

 

[kraskadva]

Thank you for the comprehensive answer. I calculated every single credit I've ever taken and my cumulative GPA comes out to 3.18. I'm unable to repeat any of my prerequisite courses because I scored higher than a C (school policy). So should I take random science/health related courses to boost my GPA? Will they realize that I'm just taking them to inflate my GPA?

Let's say I score a 510-515 on the MCAT, will it be possible to get into a DO program with that 3.18 GPA weighing me down?

I wouldn't say "random" - take classes that are high yield for the MCAT and med school (biochem, genetics, cell bio, micro, immunology, etc.)
Yes they will realize, but that's exactly what they want you to do. Higher is always better.

Yes, it's possible. That's not an easy score to hit though, so do study and don't take until you're ready.
Also, DO does gpa replacement, so you can retake low-grade classes and have that grade replaced (read up on AACOMAS for details on this), which can increase your gpa even faster. Focus on the high yield classes first, but if you have time/money for it, you can retake any class you want.

And @Goro took the words out of my mouth (keyboard?)... If your CC/UG doesn't let you retake classes, so what? There are lots of other schools that would happily take your money and let you redo whatever course you want.