Old grades from a prior school.. with a twist!

[Isande]

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ETA: I have made judicious use of the search function and have learned that AMCAS does check for this information and that the classes will be figured into my overall picture as a student. It's frustrating that this is the case. I'm sorry to not have used the search function before and apologise for contributing to the flood of nontrads asking about grades.

Hello, nontrads! I'm a 28 y/o female in my sophomore year at a junior college (4.0 GPA, Phi Theta Kappa member, have worked full-time in direct patient care for six years; four of them in emergency/critical care and am currently working full-time, clean criminal/driving record). I have volunteer experience at a shelter for abused women/children and I'll (hopefully) be doing some volunteering/shadowing at the local sliding scale clinic as underserved populations/community care is my preferred focus. I'm on track to guaranteed admission to a top 25 school to finish up my BS and move on to the fun that is the medical college admission process. This all sounds great, doesn't it? And it is, except for one tiny fly in the ointment: I enrolled at a state school near my hometown when I was eighteen. I was an english/theatre double major, in greek life and active on my campus until I ran out of money to attend school during my third semester.

I didn't have any options as to funding due to poor economic circumstances and having to leave school triggered a terrible depression; consequently, I absolutely bombed my classes in the middle of a seventeen-credit semester. My transcript from that institution is As, Fs, and a few Bs. Like I said, this was close to ten years ago. When I applied to and interviewed at the local junior college (I left my home state in 2009), I disclosed my previous school records and was advised by the admissions counselor/interviewer to not worry about transferring my credits as my degree path would have limited opportunities for arts/humanities courses and that I was allowed to 'start over' if I wanted.

Since my previous institution of 10~ years ago won't have any mention on my junior college or 4-year uni transcripts, am I required to report those old grades? Does AMCAS have access to that information if I do not provide it? I would be shattered if those grades (along with JC credits which I hear can be questionable) kept me from attending medical school.

Thank you!

 

[DocWinter]

You have to report all grades on your AMCAS. What they were referring to by "starting over" is that your credits from there would not count (or most of them) towards the new degree you were pursuing, and you could simply leave them in the past. That's not how the AMCAS works, however.
Yes, you should have to list ALL credits taken on AMCAS. The As and Bs are nice, but the F's will pull your overall GPA down a bit. How many do you have?

The fact that it is 10 years old and you are now a 4.0 mature student will not be a concern for admissions. Don't worry about that, it's obvious you are not what that single semester a decade ago indicates. The Fs on the transcript will pull down your GPA; how much it does depends on how many.

 

[midnight0il]

As mentioned, all courses ever taken have to be reported on AMCAS and will be factored into your cum and sci GPAs.

Look into the Texas schools' policy on "starting over". It's something along the lines of your courses that are >10 years are wiped. I've heard it mentioned in other threads, but have no personal knowledge on it. Just thought I'd leave that little bread crumb for you to follow.

Also, DO schools do grade replacement so that could potentially benefit you as well.

Next time, less of a novel in your posting and I think you'd get more responses. Good luck.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

You know how sometimes you see a 3.2 getting into need school and wonder why? It is because they had background like yours. Prove yourself now and any ADCOM sound their job correctly will see the improvement.

 

[Keviñho]

Hello everyone, I have read multiple forums that pertain to this issue but i feel like none of them really answer my question, so i thought I would just ask here..

I am currently a transfer sophomore at the University of San Diego and have recently transferred between three different schools before arriving here, upon applying here I did not send in a transcript from one of my schools because I knew it would hinder my acceptance into this school, so currently I am here without any credits from one of the institutions I attended previously, on the application to the university of San Diego, I just mentioned that I never went to the school.

So my question is when I end up applying for medical school can I do the same through AMCAS, and just not mention that I ever went to the school that i did awful at or would they find out?

Thanks