Multiple colleges&calculating GPA; Univ. of Wisconsin prerequisite expiration

[olddvmgirl]

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If you started at 4 year university College A, got mixed grades (from A's to F's), took some online classes at a community college (where you got low grades) and then took over 60 credit hours at a second community college where you finally got an over 3.5 GPA, then how does this factor into your overall or science GPA? I've been all over the web and can't really find anything about my particular GPA situation.

And for anyone who is interested, I wrote to the University of Wisconsin about the expiration of their prerequisites and this is the reply:


Thank you for your interest in the UW-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine. We do not have an expiration date regarding our required courses, however we highly recommend that if it's been a while to review especially the science courses either on your own with a book or through a course.

I hope this information will be helpful.

Sincerely,

Carmen E. Reamer
Student Services Program Manager

 

[ri23]

You have to calculate all of the classes that you took into your GPA. You should be able to add the points you got for each class (credit hours x grade in class 4.0:A 3.0:B etc.) for all of the schools and divide by the total number of credit hours you took to get your overall GPA.

 

[olddvmgirl]

thank you ri23!

When schools consider you for admission, do they calculate the overall gpa or do they calculate by the school attended and compare? I think I finally realized why some people say they have a deep hole to climb out of gradewise. I had ASS-umed that the only gpa that counts is the one that is "transferring" or pertinent, since I'm not transfering anything from the first two schools I attended and bombed in.

I'm still a long way from vet school but I'm transfering from the community college to *hopefully* UIUC next fall.

Any advice (mean and downright brutally honest) would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ri23]

No problem. I believe (not positive) that you have to include all of your undergraduate course work from every institution that you attended even if you didn't complete any prereqs from that institution - someone can correct me if I'm wrong on that.

If you don't mind my asking - what is your combined GPA for all of your schools? And how many more hours do you have to take? It can certainly be difficult as you said, to raise your GPA after a few bad grades - but it can be done and an upward trend is a good thing!

 

[pressmom]

I'd like to add one thing to ri23's great post: a lot of schools use the A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, B=3.0, B-=2.7, etc. Mine came out within hundreths of each other doing it that way and the all A=4.0, all B=3.0, etc. And yes, all those grades will count towards your pre-vet GPA. You're doing the best thing you can do, which is take LOTS of classes and do well in them. Build up a diverse group of experiences and write a stellar PS when the time comes!

Best of luck!

 

[kate_g]

I had ASS-umed that the only gpa that counts is the one that is "transferring" or pertinent, since I'm not transfering anything from the first two schools I attended and bombed in.

No such luck. I agree with posts above, you'll have to count all your CC courses, including the ones that you don't transfer toward a 4-year degree.

When you get to the point of applying, you'll need to request official transcripts from *every* CC you attended, including the online one and including the one whose credits you're transferring toward the bachelor's (even though those same classes will probably be listed as transfers on your official transcript from that university). I had a bunch of schools too, so a word of advice well in advance: Get the transcript requests in several weeks before the application deadline. For some schools you can request your transcript online, for some you have to mail a form in. Hopefully you don't have any that require you show up in person with an ID. Processing and delivery times also vary widely school to school, and with several schools to request from you can be sure at least one of them is going to screw something up... 🙄

 

[olddvmgirl]

Thank you everyone for your help!

ri23, I'm too embarassed to tell you!

But these are the final numbers:

When I finish taking all my undergraduate courses for my degree, my undergrad gpa will not budge higher than 3.02.

I do have another question. My undergraduate degree requires a lot of transfer credits because it's a new program and I will be taking some credits as a "Student-At-Large" at Northwestern University at the undergraduate level. Do those too, then (hopefully) factor into the undergraduate gpa? Even when some are taken after I've graduated at undergrad (to get vet school pre-req's)?

Thank you again for your help! The people on this forum are amazing, helpful and hardworking (and yes I am sucking up to those whose opinions/knowledge I need).

 

[pressmom]

Yes, those undergrad classes you take after finishing your degree will count towards your GPA. I took almost all my pre-reqs after I finished my poli sci degree. Most people refer to these as post-baccalaureate or post-bacc classes and a lot of schools will recommend them if your GPA is less-than-stellar.

 

[Angelo84]

I don't know how it works at the school you are transferring to but at my undergrad the courses you needed specifically for your degree weren't all the courses you needed to graduate. That is you needed these specific twenty classes but you also needed 120 credits and to fulfill the general education requirements. This can help boost a low GPA quite a bit.

As far as vet schools calculating your GPA all will look at your cumulative undergraduate GPA from all the schools you have attended. However most if not all will also calculate a prerequisite GPA or science GPA and/or a last 45 credit GPA (which includes all courses from the semester the last 45 credit falls in). In all these cases assuming your bad grades weren't in prereqs they drop out of those GPAs. So your general GPA will still hurt you but if you can do well in your courses from now on that will balance out the earlier bad grades.

Some schools also drop courses taken X number of years ago.

 

[olddvmgirl]

And this is why I love this forum. Less than an hour ago I posted my question and now I've got everything I need for the next couple of years, which I will spend breathing and studying. 😱

 

[ShelterGirl]

I have grades from a bunch of schools too, and to make matters more complicated, some schools were on semesters and others on quarters!

Strongly recommend popping them into an Excel spreadsheet, if you have access to Excel. Makes it WAY easier to calculate last 45, science, overall, etc.

Also, definitely second what kate_g said about getting transcripts early. I had them all sent to me, requested that they seal each transcript in a separate envelope, and will be assembling a transcript "package" for each school I'm applying to so that I can send certified mail. I just don't trust that the schools will get it right amongst themselves 🙂