Is it worth waiting another year for academic fresh start (TX)

[RedRaider2013]

I finished my bachelor's degree in December 2010. If I wait until the spring 2021 semester (I'll be 32 going on 33 then), I can have 100% of my undergraduate gpa wiped out as a result of Texas' academic fresh start program. Hopefully the legislature never changes this. However, I could start my post-bacc classes sooner, but it would leave two semesters of old grades (mostly B's). For the record I earned a 2.7gpa. Would it be better to just wait and not have to worry about it in the application process?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[peregrino]

I finished my bachelor's degree in December 2010. If I wait until the spring 2021 semester . . . I can have 100% of my undergraduate gpa wiped out as a result of Texas' academic fresh start program . . . For the record I earned a 2.7gpa. Would it be better to just wait and not have to worry about it in the application process?

IMHO, Assuming that you can guarantee to yourself that you will do well, and that you can get into a Texas med school, then if I were you I would wait. But this assumes that if you apply OOS then those old grades will count. In the meantime, figure out why you did poorly in those early classes. And get some other experience, a health care job, esp. with the underserved, or research work without being weighed down by classes. These next 2 years will fly by. But just my HO.

 

[Nugester]

I finished my bachelor's degree in December 2010. If I wait until the spring 2021 semester (I'll be 32 going on 33 then), I can have 100% of my undergraduate gpa wiped out as a result of Texas' academic fresh start program. Hopefully the legislature never changes this. However, I could start my post-bacc classes sooner, but it would leave two semesters of old grades (mostly B's). For the record I earned a 2.7gpa. Would it be better to just wait and not have to worry about it in the application process?

I'm applying and I'll turn 34 in September. Age is nothing to us >30 year old. If you fixed why you didn't do well, I'd wait and not have to go through the hassle of <3.0 GPAs (speaking from experience here too).

 

[Etopn23]

If you want to go to any of the TMDSAS schools then yes, it's worth it. Just keep in mind that doesn't include Baylor, U of H, and UNTHSC or OOS schools. Good luck brother.

 

[wysdoc]

I finished my bachelor's degree in December 2010. If I wait until the spring 2021 semester (I'll be 32 going on 33 then), I can have 100% of my undergraduate gpa wiped out as a result of Texas' academic fresh start program. Hopefully the legislature never changes this. However, I could start my post-bacc classes sooner, but it would leave two semesters of old grades (mostly B's). For the record I earned a 2.7gpa. Would it be better to just wait and not have to worry about it in the application process?

The other thing I recommend you do is to be sure you really understand the rules/ramifications of using the Texas academic fresh start.

Academic Fresh Start

Your old grades don’t have to count against you. If you’re a Texas resident and apply for admission (or readmission) to Texas public colleges or universities and enroll as an undergraduate, you may be able to begin a new course of study with a clear academic record.

www.tmdsas.com

The main thing to realize is that if you wipe out all those old grades, you wipe out any credit for the pre-requisite courses you took 10 years ago and will have to do them over. So for instance if you had an A in Chemistry and want to keep that, you can't. You will not have to repeat an entire bachelor's degree, but you will have to re-do your prerequisite courses.

 

[esob]

If you know you are going to wipe out prereqs (such as gen chem), you can take them now at a community college for example. Then, when you invoke AFS, the new gen chem course doesn't fall under the courses that got wiped out. You don't have to file AFS immediately, I have a friend who is doing this (essentially doing a post-bac and then filing AFS one semester before he applies). I have another friend who did this as well and is currently attending medical school with me.

 

[wysdoc]

If you know you are going to wipe out prereqs (such as gen chem), you can take them now at a community college for example. Then, when you invoke AFS, the new gen chem course doesn't fall under the courses that got wiped out. You don't have to file AFS immediately, I have a friend who is doing this (essentially doing a post-bac and then filing AFS one semester before he applies). I have another friend who did this as well and is currently attending medical school with me.

@esob, did your friends do this in Texas? Because if you read the rules in the link above, it appears that you have to apply for admission at a college while stating that you are invoking Academic Fresh Start. This sets the clock for the 10 year erasing of old classes. Then you retake all your prereqs.
@RedRaider2013 You have to have a total of 90 credits within the last 10 years to be done, so this will take you 2-3 years to do.
I think it would be worth talking to someone at TMDSAS to be sure about using the Fresh Start program to be sure you get the full benefit of it for yourself.

 

[TwoHighways]

Start taking classes now! You're going to need a bunch of coursework and whatever you take now isn't going to be wiped away when you apply for academic fresh start. You can simply enroll in a class at a community college and invoke academic fresh start there if you are that concerned about the remaining B's from back then. If you ace everything along the way, those B's aren't going to hurt that much. You've got a lot of work ahead of you and the sooner you get on it, the better.

 

[Dopple54]

Do what it takes to start as long as you have fixed the things that were holding you back. If you can get those old grades wiped while still doing some of the pre-reqs go for it

 

[BC_89]

Reasons to wait on applying and invoke AFS:

1) Wipes out grades that dramatically pull down your GPA
2) Increases your shot through TMDSAS calculations / overview
3) Greater percentage of acceptance into a Texas Medical School at the instate tuition rate

Yes...I'd wait

 

[DocOrBust2019]

I finished my bachelor's degree in December 2010. If I wait until the spring 2021 semester (I'll be 32 going on 33 then), I can have 100% of my undergraduate gpa wiped out as a result of Texas' academic fresh start program. Hopefully the legislature never changes this. However, I could start my post-bacc classes sooner, but it would leave two semesters of old grades (mostly B's). For the record I earned a 2.7gpa. Would it be better to just wait and not have to worry about it in the application process?

I agree with twohighways. Two semesters of B grades won't stop you from hitting a 3.75 with 90 credit hours of straight As for Texas schools. That's pretty respectable and I don't think it would be something that held you back if the rest of your app is good.

What does a GPA calculator say you need to raise your GPA as it is now? Put in your current cGPA and credit hours and see what it would take for a 3.2+. If it's about 90 credit hours, which is what you need for fresh start, you'll be in position to apply both in and out of Texas with a good school list assuming the rest of your app is good.

 

[esob]

The other thing I recommend you do is to be sure you really understand the rules/ramifications of using the Texas academic fresh start.

Academic Fresh Start

Your old grades don’t have to count against you. If you’re a Texas resident and apply for admission (or readmission) to Texas public colleges or universities and enroll as an undergraduate, you may be able to begin a new course of study with a clear academic record.

www.tmdsas.com

The main thing to realize is that if you wipe out all those old grades, you wipe out any credit for the pre-requisite courses you took 10 years ago and will have to do them over. So for instance if you had an A in Chemistry and want to keep that, you can't. You will not have to repeat an entire bachelor's degree, but you will have to re-do your prerequisite courses.

It took me a minute to figure out what you were asking, lol. But, to be clear, you can take classes at one school but you will need to invoke AFS at another. Everyone I know has done this (including one of my current classmates).

So yes, the clock starts when you invoke AFS, but you can strategically plan when to invoke AFS. Take the following hypothetical scenario for example.

- Johnny has a 2.0 GPA as a failed premed with grades that are 7 years old at University X
- He decides to spend the next 3 years redoing all of his prereqs at University Y
- When all of the grades from the 2.0 GPA are 10 years old, he applies for an invokes AFS at University Z
- He now has his 90 hrs (3 years x 30 hrs per year) that are less than 10 years old, while all of his bad grades are greater than 10 years old

TLDR, you don't have to wait to invoke AFS to start taking the 90 hrs

 

[wysdoc]

It took me a minute to figure out what you were asking, lol. But, to be clear, you can take classes at one school but you will need to invoke AFS at another. Everyone I know has done this (including one of my current classmates).

So yes, the clock starts when you invoke AFS, but you can strategically plan when to invoke AFS. Take the following hypothetical scenario for example.

- Johnny has a 2.0 GPA as a failed premed with grades that are 7 years old at University X
- He decides to spend the next 3 years redoing all of his prereqs at University Y
- When all of the grades from the 2.0 GPA are 10 years old, he applies for an invokes AFS at University Z
- He now has his 90 hrs (3 years x 30 hrs per year) that are less than 10 years old, while all of his bad grades are greater than 10 years old

TLDR, you don't have to wait to invoke AFS to start taking the 90 hrs

Thanks @esob for the details, it helps that you know people who have done this recently .

 

[esob]

Thanks @esob for the details, it helps that you know people who have done this recently .

I went back just to double check and indeed, I had less than 70 hrs post AFS-invoking-date, but more than 90 within the 10-year time frame that my AFS cutoff date regressed to.

I can see how people might be confused by the language, which is "A minimum of 90 undergraduate semester hours, including ALL of the required courses, must be earned, after the 10 year cutoff date is established by enrolling under Academic Fresh Start.", but if you look at the root structure of the sentence, it essentially reads as: "A minimum of 90 undergraduate semester hours... must be earned after the 10 year cutoff date..."

In order for it to mean the alternative thought process, it would need to say "must be earned after invoking AFS".

My two cents anyway 😀

 

[T687]

- Johnny has a 2.0 GPA as a failed premed with grades that are 7 years old at University X
- He decides to spend the next 3 years redoing all of his prereqs at University Y
- When all of the grades from the 2.0 GPA are 10 years old, he applies for an invokes AFS at University Z
- He now has his 90 hrs (3 years x 30 hrs per year) that are less than 10 years old, while all of his bad grades are greater than 10 years old

TLDR, you don't have to wait to invoke AFS to start taking the 90 hrs

Just to add to esob's list, I did this as well and am applying in the current cycle and haven't had any issues. The only thing I'll add for anyone else that may be reading this is that when you invoke AFS at University Z you have to complete at least one course there for it to count (so you can't just be admitted under AFS and then not actually take a class there).

 

[esob]

Just to add to esob's list, I did this as well and am applying in the current cycle and haven't had any issues. The only thing I'll add for anyone else that may be reading this is that when you invoke AFS at University Z you have to complete at least one course there for it to count (so you can't just be admitted under AFS and then not actually take a class there).

Yes, very good point. , people need a transcript from University Z. At the end of the AFS road, a transcript from University Z is the proverbial golden ticket that allows TMDSAS to wipe out your old grades. Without the transcript (or an equivalent letter from the registrar), everything else is moot.