Retaking courses as non-degree student?

[RIP Taylor 21]

Hello guys

I was wondering if it is a good idea to retake some courses as a non-degree student in order to raise my GPA. I was hoping to raise it from a 2.9 to a 3.1 but I was told by someone in my college that my GPA on my bachelor's degree's transcript will remain the same. Would AAMC and medical schools include these new grades when calculating my GPA, or would I have to go to a formal post-bac program in order to try an raise my GPA?

Thanks in advance for the comments/replies!!

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[DrMidlife]

I was wondering if it is a good idea to retake some courses as a non-degree student in order to raise my GPA. I was hoping to raise it from a 2.9 to a 3.1 but I was told by someone in my college that my GPA on my bachelor's degree's transcript will remain the same.

True that your old grades stay unchanged. When you fill out the med school app, you enter your coursework line by line. Med school apps will completely ignore any GPA reported on a transcript - the app does its own GPA calcs. MD schools do not forgive an old grade for a course repeat; the old and new grades are included in your overall GPA. DO schools exclude old grades for repeats. With a 3.1 you'll want to find out what a DO is and what SMPs are.

The only GPA calcs that matter are your cumulative undergrad GPAs, overall and science, which will include any undergrad coursework taken after getting a bachelors. In the GPA breakdown there are separate lines for fresh/soph/jun/sen/postbac.

Would AAMC and medical schools include these new grades when calculating my GPA, or would I have to go to a formal post-bac program in order to try an raise my GPA?

Formal schmormal. If it's college coursework and it produces a transcript, it counts. Furthermore you won't get into a formal postbac if you've already done the prereqs. (Here are 80+ GPA "enhancement" programs.)

Note that for MD school GPA calcs, it makes no difference whether you take new coursework or repeat old coursework. Except that you can't have less than a C in any prereqs, so in that case you must repeat. But if you remember the material and got C's or better, take upper div science like microbiology or biochemistry instead of repeats.

Best of luck to you.

 

[RIP Taylor 21]

Thank you DrMidlife!!! very informational.