If a school looks at just two chemistry classes and says that classes they take are: General Chemistry I&II, Organic Chemistry I&II, and or inorganic will I be able to chose to use the grades I got in the higher in if I took more than 2 classes? For example I got a C+ in General Chemistry I but got a B in Organic Chemistry I, would I be able to have them take the orgo over the general chemistry class to calculate towards the schools Pre-Req GPA?
Question about Grades
- Thread starter Mayomi
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As far as PTCAS calculations, you will have to mark the C+ grade for their purposes. But, you can contact individual schools and inquire about this. I always recommend getting it in writing if someone OKs using Orgo as a substitute for general chem.
I know many say it's better to look for schools that look at your last 60hrs since it helps more, but what if you didn't do as well on your last 60 hrs of undergrad, but did better in your first two years of undergrad? In addition to retaking additional courses after graduating for not doing well in your last two years of undergrad? Would then the Overall GPA be more at your advantage than the last 60 hrs?
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Hey there! I was in a similar predicament as you. I got a D- in gen chem 1, but an A in gen chem 2 and ochem 1. Definitely listen to starrgirl's advice! I contacted each school individually and I contacted PTCAS by phone. Thankfully, PTCAS told me that the pGPA is self reported and I was allowed to use gen chem 2 and ochem 1 as my chemistry prerequisites; HOWEVER, some schools don't use the PTCAS pGPA calculations and they did NOT allow ochem 1 as a substitute for gen chem 1. Hope this helps!
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Hey there, I would say that overall cGPA would normally be considered in all situations. Only a few schools look specifically at last 60 credits because they understand that some students lacked focus in the initial years of schooling; thus, they are willing to recalculate your GPA if they see a positive trend. In these cases, many of the schools would say something like: "3.0 cGPA is preferred; however, grade trend of applicant will be considered as well". Thus, as long as you have at least a 3.0 cGPA calculated by PTCAS, you should meet the minimum to apply to most schools.
What exactly do you mean by self reported? Do you mean they let you pick and chose what grades you want to count towards a certain GPA as long as it falls under their guidelines for that particular Prereq?
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Yep, that's basically it. So for each particular prerequisite that PTCAS specifies, you'd designate an equivalent course that you've taken, making sure to include any repeats if there are any.
For example, in my case.. PTCAS asks for 2 semesters of Chemistry + Labs. I designated Gen Chem II as my first semester and Ochem I as my second semester. This was acceptable with PTCAS because I've already received my GPA calculations without any message of an error. If you're uncertain about whether or not a course would be acceptable as a prerequisite, I'd definitely reach out to them rather than guess/hoping for the best when they calculate your GPA.
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Just realize that the schools will generally calculate their own specific pre req grades based on your classes so simply marking pre reqs as you would like on ptcas won't help unless the school also uses those exact classes in their numbers.
Thats really good to know! Thank you so much for the info.
