Last 45 GPA

[TrocarKarin]

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I got a C+ in calculus last summer, and if I take 1 credit hour extra this summer, it will be bumped off my last 45 credit hours, raising my last 45 GPA from a 3.54 to a 3.62. I'm trying to decide if its necessary or not. It will be bumped off after fall automatically. Do schools tend to look at the last 45 credit hours when you apply, or the last 45 credit hours as of receiving the fall transcripts?

 

[athane960]

Not sure . . . it probably changes with each individual school, but I would think that they calculate it when you apply. By the time they receive the fall transcripts most of the schools probably have already decided who they are interviewing or have already interviewed. With one of the schools I was discussing their GPA calculation and they mentioned it was what was input into VMCAS . . which incidentally would not include fall semester greades. Now when they have done interviewing they may then take fall semester grades into account, but I'm not sure.

Good luck! And bravo on putting calculus behind you . . I love math and Statistics but for some reason I HATED calculus!🙂

 

[dgm]

I don't really think it's necessary (3.54 isn't really all that bad), but I would be tempted to do it anyways, because that's a pretty nice increase in last-45 GPA in exchange for the small amount of effort that a 1 credit hour class would take you. But if you already have a full schedule to begin with and would rather not add another stressor, I don't think you should feel bad at all about not doing it.

Since I had to list my last-45 GPA on Penn's supplemental application card thingie when I applied, I'm assuming that they used that number... You could always call the school(s?) you're most interested in, and ask them what they look at.

 

[VeganSoprano]

I think you should evaluate the big picture. An extra class will cost money and will take away from time you could spend getting experience, preparing for the GRE, etc. But if the rest of your application package is already stellar, then it may be worth your while to milk every bit of possible advantage. So to me it's not a clear cut thing.

I'm not an adcom, of course, but to me if they are really differentiating that much between a 3.54 and a 3.62 (both of which are excellent), that's kind of depressing! An applicant is so much more than a 0.08 difference in GPA!

 

[jglovicz]

My two cents...there is a difference between a 3.54 and 3.62. Is there even a 1 credit fun class you could take? I think that because the tneths place in your GPA increases, it might be the difference between being invited for an interview or not. We all know how competitive vet school is- any advantage you can give yourself is worth it! Good luck!

 

[bunnity]

Most gym classes are 1 credit and pretty laid back - look into if there are any of those available over the summer. The only thing that would suck is that summer stuff is usually billed per credit, but if cost isn't too big of an issue then it sounds like a good idea.

 

[themightyfuzz]

Is it possible for you to get credit while you do a job internship?

I combined my volunteer/shadowing hours working in the vet clinic with an internship credit offered through my university.

I didn't have to attend a formal class, just handed in a writeup each month during the summer of what I learned and how it applied to my major.

But back to the original question...I would take that one credit. I think any competitive edge counts in the vet school applications.

 

[flyhi]

I think it is worth it as well....if you had a 3.51 and it was going to increase it to a 3.59, that just doesn't seem like a big difference, but going into the 3.6 range puts you well.....into the 3.6 group and out of the 3.5 group. This does seem like a bigger jump. We all know why certain products are advertised at say $19.99 instead of $20.00...because it sells more products. We are all trying to 'sell' adcoms on our application and this may be the one thing that gets you an interview.