Making My GPA Great Again - grade replacement questions

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Däs Stats:

AACOMAS cGPA: 3.31

AACOMAS sGPA: 3.35

MCAT: Not yet

Graduated

Not aiming for Harvard, believe me

Questions
  • 1: DO grade replacement totally replaces the old grade, correct? There's no averaging involved - only the newest grade goes on the application transcript, correct?

  • 2: I graduated from my school and strongly don't want to go back. How do you retake them at a different school? I literally have no idea how to take them somewhere else - do I have to apply? What's the process here?

  • 3: Most of my bad grades are concentrated. I have a lot of C's and a lot of A's. I ****ed up badly thanks to immaturity doing Lib Arts (English, etc) in 1st year and got C's in basic courses. I also got C's in Orgo and a few other classes. Which one should I focus on? I figure retaking English and basic classes will be a better ROI in terms of effort and time.

  • 4: Two of my worst classes were exclusive to my university and they don't offer it anymore. These are easy non-science classes that I ****ed up spectacularly. So, is there no way to replace that grade? Retaking them and only getting a B+ would raise my grade by .06.

  • 5: At what point am I better served by doing a Masters instead of retaking courses?

  • 6: Retaking about a semester's worth of easy nonscience classes - and only getting B+ in them (as a conservative estimate) - puts me at 3.46. Is that worth the effort?

  • 7: How equivalent does a class have to be? For example, I took Biological Anthro 101 and need to replace it. Can I take Cultural Anthro and have that do grade replacement? If the original course didn't have a lab, do I have to take the lab if the replacement course has one?
Thank you for any help you can give.
 
1. Yes
2. Apply to a new school.
3. Retake those classes, esp science ones.
4. Take similar class at new school?
5. High GPA > Masters
6. Get all A's in every class you retake. No excuses.
7. Look at the course lists/description to make this decision. Take labs for those required for med school.
 
Do your very best to get A's man. Avoid any hard professors/use ratemyprofessor. I am looking at a B now for my genetics retake...not good
 
About #5, it's not that I don't expect to do well. What I'm saying is that I can get the GPA up to at least, worst case scenario, to 3.46. Is that worth the effort?

We're gonna build a GPA folks. The best GPA. Tremendous GPA.
 
My opinion: an A in Orgo will mean much more than an A in English. Don't retake unless you really commit and jump through every hoop possible to get an A. Only you can decide if it's worth it. Keep in mind that retaking some of these classes may also lead to a higher MCAT score.
 
I think if you score 500 or higher, apply early and broadly (to at least 15 schools, including the newest ones), and have a DO letter, you should get in somewhere.
 
Are you allowed to do a grade replacement on classes with a C or better? Make sure, because I was told it had to be a D or F.
 
Kayce said:
Are you allowed to do a grade replacement on classes with a C or better? Make sure, because I was told it had to be a D or F.
Click to expand...

It's whatever the last attempt was. If you get a C and then retake and get an A, you get the A. If you got a C and retake and get a D, you're stuck with the D unless you take it a third time.
 
user3 said:
I think if you score 500 or higher, apply early and broadly (to at least 15 schools, including the newest ones), and have a DO letter, you should get in somewhere.
Click to expand...

This right here OP. I honestly don't think you need to retake classes. I would focus on wrecking the MCAT. With a 508 or higher you have a chance at every DO program. Break 510 and it will become more a matter of where you will go instead of if you will go.
 
Wait, it has to be below a B- to retake? I was gonna retake my B- classes.

When my transcript sends us its classes, it's not sending us its best and brightest folks. It's sending us its criminals. Its English classes, rapists and murderers folks. We're gonna build a wall folks, and we're gonna make em pay for it.
 
Kayce said:
Are you allowed to do a grade replacement on classes with a C or better? Make sure, because I was told it had to be a D or F.
Click to expand...
It's entirely dependent upon your school's retake policies. You could retake an A- as long as you were willing to pay for it at my university, they just wanted your money and that was that. Public schools and elite private schools tend to be less forgiving, the former due to lack of available seats in many classes and the latter due to wanting people to get their degrees and GTFO as quickly as possible.
 
Donald J. Trump said:
Wait, it has to be below a B- to retake? I was gonna retake my B- classes.

When my transcript sends us its classes, it's not sending us its best and brightest folks. It's sending us its criminals. Its English classes, rapists and murderers folks. We're gonna build a wall folks, and we're gonna make em pay for it.
Click to expand...
You should be fine, better than fine even, as long as your school has the good sense to allow you to pursue your five point plan to make your GPA great again. If they won't let you, find a school that will believe in you, because you're going to do this, you're high energy, and you're going to show up two years from now on interviews, and they're going to ask you if your GPA is small and you'll be able to assure them there isn't a problem there, it's perfectly fine.
 
Donald J. Trump said:
Questions
  • 5: At what point am I better served by doing a Masters instead of retaking courses?

  • 6: Retaking about a semester's worth of easy nonscience classes - and only getting B+ in them (as a conservative estimate) - puts me at 3.46. Is that worth the effort?

  • 7: How equivalent does a class have to be? For example, I took Biological Anthro 101 and need to replace it. Can I take Cultural Anthro and have that do grade replacement? If the original course didn't have a lab, do I have to take the lab if the replacement course has one?
Thank you for any help you can give.
Click to expand...

I feel like your priority should be to destroy the MCAT at any cost. It alone can make you great again. If you don't get 504+ ish on it then consider a 1 year DO SMP with a linkage. You're GPA isn't going to change very much with 1-2 semesters of retakes.
 
Why not take Orgo at UNE? Self paced and you can shorten the time it takes.
 
Geo16 said:
Why not take Orgo at UNE? Self paced and you can shorten the time it takes.
Click to expand...
Because it's not that easy and if he ****s up an online course that's going to set him back a lot, on top of online courses not being viewed in as high of regard as traditional ones. I recommend UNE for filling in a course or two on transcripts of those with decent apps, but not for GPA repair and building up weak apps.
 
Master's, Master's, Master's! Your GPA is not low enough to warrant grade replacement.

With a Master's, you get more challenging UL classes, which DO help you in medical school, far more than 100-level undergrad courses. You get a degree that really does help you in the job market if med school doesn't work out. You don't have to go back to your college again. OH YEAH, and you'll actually have a strong MD application when you're done if you're so inclined (if your MCAT is good and you do well).

If you get a good Master's GPA, I can't name a single DO school that will say "oh his master's GPA is great, but his undergrad GPA is a little too low. Shoulda done grade replacement, f**k this guy." I had a 3.1 GPA, got 2 interviews. I had a 4.0 masters GPA next cycle- 7 interviews.

IMO The only time you should do grade replacement instead of a master's is if your GPA is so low that even a master's won't bring you up to a 3.0, or if you got an unacceptably low grade in a prerequisite course.
 
Take the MCAT and focus on getting at least a 504. If you can, you will have near identical stats to mine and I've been relatively successful early in the cycle. If you can get at least a 504, apply broadly to DO and to state MD schools. Might be expensive, but it will be less expensive then retaking classes or doing a Master's.

Just my two cents, good luck!
 
it depends on how many units of science classes and other courses you've taken. if you haven't taken many science courses and retaking would make a significant difference in your sGPA (probably will make less of a difference for your cGPA), I'd say it's worth it.

I agree with others that your MCAT is a top priority, but I do think grade replacement is worth your time, especially if you're aiming for DO schools.

you can also retake courses anywhere you choose, not necessarily at just your undergrad institution. there are informal postbac programs you can do where you just take a few courses, formal postbac programs where you just take the courses you need, or any number of four-year institutions where you can retake courses with undergrads. I'd veer away from CCs (although some schools do accept them, but the general preference seems to be four-year universities).

science course retakes will probably be more important than non-science courses, but I'd have a good answer for why you didn't do well in non-science courses for interviews. for reference, I did a postbac with grade replacement and my sGPA is 3.7, cGPA 3.4 and this osteopathic cycle has been more than kind to me. I wasn't a science major and messed up some non-science courses as well, but chose to focus on science retakes and have an explanation for the other academic bumps.

best of luck. 🙂
 
Mad Jack said:
Because it's not that easy and if he ****s up an online course that's going to set him back a lot, on top of online courses not being viewed in as high of regard as traditional ones. I recommend UNE for filling in a course or two on transcripts of those with decent apps, but not for GPA repair and building up weak apps.
Click to expand...
I see.
Yeah, I thought one or two would be fine to take at UNE just right before applying (spring-summer bridge).
But definitely not for entire GPA repair.
 
I didn't even know medical schools accept online Orgo courses at all. Without a lab? Huh
 
Personally I'd focus on the MCAT first and foremost. If you do well on that you can likely have success without retaking anything at all. With a middling MCAT score it would be retake time.



^above poster
Organic chem at my university was organic 1 (no lab), organic 2 (no lab), and then organic lab as a separate, hellish class. There was no offering of an online class but I could easily see how it's possible.
 
pseud0 said:
I didn't even know medical schools accept online Orgo courses at all. Without a lab? Huh
Click to expand...
Some do, some don't (need to do research on w.e schools you are applying to). Most will probably look at it negatively compared to taking it live.
 
StocktonStudent said:
Thread seems so old school now without grade replacement

Sent from my SM-G935V using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

True but my confidential sources around Trump told me the he LOVES grade replacement. Trump is bringing back grade replacement in hopes of raising his miserable approval rating 🤣
 
SlugMD said:
True but my confidential sources around Trump told me the he LOVES grade replacement. Trump is bringing back grade replacement in hopes of raising his miserable approval rating 🤣
Click to expand...

Maybe if he didn't appoint a guy associated with a racist magazine and tweet about the dangers of vaccines, he'd be higher than 51%.
 
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