Non-Degree Graduate Student Course Classification?

[skeletor06]

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Question: I took ~50 hours of undergraduate courses in psychology a couple of years ago, after completing an M.S. degree in Child Development. I needed the UG courses because I was considering a Ph.D. in Clinical Psych.

My university did not allow undergrad post-bacc students, but they would allow me to take the undergrad courses as a non-degree "graduate" student. The 50 UG hours were taken AFTER my graduate degree was awarded. I was a non-degree-seeking student. However, due to a technicality with the Registrar, all 50 of those hours, even though they were UG courses, were recorded on my transcript at the "graduate", instead of undergraduate level.

AACOMAS rules state that Graduate courses are "Courses taken while enrolled in a graduate degree program". Since I was a non-degree graduate student, taking undergrad courses, would those be classified by AACOMAS as undergrad or grad credit? The reason I ask is because it would greatly help my undergrad GPA. I got 50 hours of 4.0 credit.

I will probably talk to AACOMAS, but wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts. Thanks!

 

[NeuroLAX]

I always recommend contacting AACOMAS about course questions instead of posting on an internet forum where you can get a wide variety of opinions.

Perhaps someone on here does have some prior experience with undergraduate courses as a non-degree seeking student. I wouldn't classify those as graduate courses, but I honestly have no idea how AACOMAS would view them.

Just out of curiosity, what are the course numbers for the courses? are they 1000-4000 level or higher?

 

[crappyjones123]

I went to back to take pre req's after I finish grad school. AACOMAS told me they counted as post bacc. Call them nonetheless. Your case particulars might be slightly different.

 

[dsoz]

I always had good luck calling AACOMAS with questions about my application. I probably called at least 5 times and all but one of them talked with a real person that answered the phone. The other time I left a message that was returned the next business day.

I was very pleased with the customer service that I paid for with my application fees.

dsoz

 

[NeuroLAX]

I always had good luck calling AACOMAS with questions about my application. I probably called at least 5 times and all but one of them talked with a real person that answered the phone. The other time I left a message that was returned the next business day.

I was very pleased with the customer service that I paid for with my application fees.

dsoz

Ditto. I think I fudged something up on my course list and they notified me and offered to walk me through it. I called and it was fixed the same day. Great customer service. Of course, if I'm spending $500+ on their application then I better get good customer service. 😎

 

[skeletor06]

Perhaps someone on here does have some prior experience with undergraduate courses as a non-degree seeking student. I wouldn't classify those as graduate courses, but I honestly have no idea how AACOMAS would view them.

Just out of curiosity, what are the course numbers for the courses? are they 1000-4000 level or higher?

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'll definitely check in with AACOMAS to see what they say. That was my original plan, just figured I'd give a shout and see if anyone had seen this before on SDN.

NeuroLAX, they were upper division, junior and senior undergrad courses (300/400 level). They just show up as graduate credit on my transcript because I was technically classified as a "graduate student. I asked the college to see if there was a way to get them dropped to undergraduate on my transcript; no joy.

One more follow-up question: Even if I removed those 50 hours from my UG career, I'd still have 170 UG hours. My last 120 hours are much better than the first 50, so would that make a difference in applications? As in, how much weight would AMCAS and/or AACOMAS give to the fact that my last 120 hours are averaged at a 3.6 or so, even though the total GPA of the 170 hours is around a 3.45? Just curious.

Thanks again!

 

[coolingglasses]

Definitely check with AACOMAS but it sounds like they should still fall under post-bacc in the application system.

And upward trends are definitely noticed, but your total GPA is your total GPA.