study abroad gpa

[michi]

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I have only seen people worrying about how study abroad GPA has affected their GPA when applying to medical schools, but none so far as to how dental schools normally deal with it. I don't want to assume that they do it the same way, so I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me what their experiences are.

Here's my situation: I am studying abroad through an arrangement made through my college with the foreign country institution. When I return, I just need grades above a C but none of them will get factored into my home college GPA. Do you think Dental Schools will factor my study abroad GPA into my overall GPA?

Sorry if this was somewhere else already and I couldn't find the answer.

 

[sketo43]

When I studied abroad, the grades showed up on my transcript but were not factored into the GPA. I studied abroad with an outside company, not my own university. I emailed AADSAS about how to enter these in my application, and here's their response:

"If you did your study abroad through your college then you must list the courses exactly as they appear on your official transcript. If your transcript does not list the grades then you should enter “CR” for Credit."

In the end, my grades did get factored into my GPA for my dental school application. So I think the GPA on my application is 0.07 lower than the GPA on my transcript. Not a big deal, but I just wanted to make sure I followed the AADSAS rules.

My advice: get better than a C while still having fun abroad!

 

[michi]

may i ask to what dental schools have you applied where they factor in the study abroad GPA, or do all schools factor it in? also, did the courses you took abroad affect your science GPA or was it just extra courses?

did the grades get factored into your GPA at your college or did the dental schools factor it in?

thanks for your help!

 

[sketo43]

My college listed my study abroad grades on my transcript, but ignored these grades as far as my GPA is concerned, and just counted the courses as credits toward graduation. It's not that specific dental schools factor in your study abroad grades, it's that AADSAS factors it in. AADSAS then submits this GPA to all the dental schools you apply to. I don't think the dental schools will even see the GPA that's listed on my transcript, just the one that AADSAS calculates.

If your college lists your study abroad grades on your transcript, then as far as dental schools are concerned, it is part of you GPA. If your transcript lists your grades as "Pass" or "Credit" or something like that, then it won't be part of your GPA for your dental school application.

I did not take any science classes abroad, so my science GPA was not affected. While abroad, all my classes were Spanish language, history, and literature classes.

 

[michi]

So I was emailing back and forth with AADSAS, and here are some responses:

"Study abroad coursework and coursework from foreign institutions do not get calculated into your AADSAS GPA. If the school you did your study abroad with was not affiliated with your school then you will need to list it as foreign institution under the Colleges Attended section of the application."

"AADSAS only forwards the dental schools your AADSAS GPA. It is up to each individual school whether they will take the AADSAS GPA into account or you schools GPA in to account when processing your application. AADSAS does calculate all of your US institutions together for an accumulative GPA."

"You would need to contact the dental schools directly to see if they would add your Study Abroad coursework into your GPA. That is up to each individual dental school."

So all in all, sketo when you said " It's not that specific dental schools factor in your study abroad grades, it's that AADSAS factors it in." then I hope that is the case because if they only were to only to count the GPA that AADSAS calculates, then whatever grades, good or bad, I get, won't be factored in.

I wonder what the likelihood is of dental schools only looking at/caring about/accepting the AADSAS GPA..... if this is answered anywhere, please let me know!

 

[sketo43]

Well, I guess I don't totally understand what they want! In my case, it barely affected my GPA one way or the other so I just listed the grades like any other normal class. I never thought about listing it as a foreign institution and what effect that might have. The instructions are not very clear, so I'm not totally sure how this works. I guess my best advice is to get good grades so you won't have to worry about how it's counted. I haven't talked to any other applicants about how this works, but maybe someone else can share their experiences?

 

[Omenino]

where did you guys go study abroad?

 

[sketo43]

I was in Seville, Spain - it's a great time there! If you're thinking about studying abroad, I highly recommend Spain