Undergrad Classes taken during Masters -> count in UndergradGPA?

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prettyslick

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I did a search on this and still it is unclear to me. Undergraduate level class taken WHILE DOING MASTERS, counts in your undergradGPA or is it with separate graduate/MS GPA? Thanks.
 
in the TMDSAS it does count as undergrad/post-bac.

for AAMC/AMCAS it is graduate work, not counted towards your undergrad GPA
 
armybound said:
in the TMDSAS it does count as undergrad/post-bac.

for AAMC/AMCAS it is graduate work, not counted towards your undergrad GPA
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Are you 100% positive on this? I read some posts here on SDN (while searching) saying otherwise.
 
armybound said:
I'm positive. I'm looking at my AMCAS application right now.
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Just so I'm understanding this properly - if you took, for example, Bio 101 as a graduate student and it was taken for undergraduate credit, it's still going into your graduate GPA!?
 
Maxprime said:
Just so I'm understanding this properly - if you took, for example, Bio 101 as a graduate student and it was taken for undergraduate credit, it's still going into your graduate GPA!?
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Technically, yes. If your degree program is listed as 'Msc' or other master's degree, then that class would be counted in your graduate GPA (at least at my school).

Its doubtful, however, that you would be taking bio101 for any reason as a master's student. If the master's student was taking courses to become familiar with their master's subject material, they'd be asked to take higher level courses. If the master's student wanted to take it as a med-preq external to their degree, most PIs would never give a master's student permission to do so. Most likely, the PI wouldn't want a superfluous course cutting into the research time. A Master's student would have to do it on their own time somehow.
 
I was actually considering doing this whole undergrad classes thing while taking masters classes. I'm starting an MPH program in the fall and the school i'm considering lets their students take any undergrad and grad classes as long as they can handle the load in addition to their masters. i need to take organic and physics for med school requirements, therefore i figured if i could take the undergrad science classes and have it count towards my uGPA, then i could save money by not going to a separate post bac program after i graduate..however, from what people have said on this thread, it seems that i will still have to attend a separate post bac program since any undergrad classes during grad school will contribute to my graduate gpa
 
snoofle said:
I was actually considering doing this whole undergrad classes thing while taking masters classes. I'm starting an MPH program in the fall and the school i'm considering lets their students take any undergrad and grad classes as long as they can handle the load in addition to their masters. i need to take organic and physics for med school requirements, therefore i figured if i could take the undergrad science classes and have it count towards my uGPA, then i could save money by not going to a separate post bac program after i graduate..however, from what people have said on this thread, it seems that i will still have to attend a separate post bac program since any undergrad classes during grad school will contribute to my graduate gpa
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Well you should definitely call the AAMC to be certain. Don't take a bunch of pre-meds word for it!
 
Vihsadas said:
Well you should definitely call the AAMC to be certain. Don't take a bunch of pre-meds word for it!
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When I was at HES, we chose whether or not to accept UG or grad credit for classes (had to do extra crap for grad credit). Of course, we weren't pursuing a real degree.
 
armybound said:
do you guys need me to take a screen shot of my application? I'm not making this stuff up.
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We are not doubting you, it's just its so unclear that this is confusing. If anyone finds out from AMCAS, please post it here as to what they say.
 
prettyslick said:
We are not doubting you, it's just its so unclear that this is confusing. If anyone finds out from AMCAS, please post it here as to what they say.
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explain to me better what you're asking then. is the undergrad class going to count towards your degree or not?
 
armybound said:
explain to me better what you're asking then. is the undergrad class going to count towards your degree or not?
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Well, could you give me an example of what your talking about in reference to YOUR AMCAS application?
 
This is from the help section for filling out the AMCAS app

·Assign Graduate (GR) status to any professional or graduate-level course work that is not applied to an undergraduate degree.
·Do NOT assign Graduate (GR) status to any professional or graduate-level course work applied to an undergraduate degree. Assign appropriate undergraduate status (FR, SO, JR, SR).
 
SketchLazy said:
This is from the help section for filling out the AMCAS app

·Assign Graduate (GR) status to any professional or graduate-level course work that is not applied to an undergraduate degree.
·Do NOT assign Graduate (GR) status to any professional or graduate-level course work applied to an undergraduate degree. Assign appropriate undergraduate status (FR, SO, JR, SR).
Click to expand...

Could you please translate that? I don't understand the AMCAS language! :laugh:
 
armybound said:
explain to me better what you're asking then. is the undergrad class going to count towards your degree or not?
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i want to know if the undergrad classes will count towards my undergrad GPA not my graduate degree GPA especially considering the undergrad classes ill be taking have nothing to do with my graduate degree i am seeking
 
prettyslick said:
Could you please translate that? I don't understand the AMCAS language! :laugh:
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It's saying basically what armybound and I said. If your current degree seeking status is 'MSc' or 'PhD' or any other graduate degree they are counting toward your Master's degree.

If your current degree seeking status is 'BSc' or 'BA', post-bacc or any other undergraduate degree they are going to count toward your undergraduate GPA.
 
prettyslick said:
Well, could you give me an example of what your talking about in reference to YOUR AMCAS application?
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I took undergraduate classes while pursuing a masters. For instance, I took BIO 4301, which is a senior-level undergrad class, which counted towards my degree.

the hours from that class were counted in my AMCAS "graduate" GPA, not as a post-bac or undergrad GPA.
 
armybound said:
I took undergraduate classes while pursuing a masters. For instance, I took BIO 4301, which is a senior-level undergrad class, which counted towards my degree.

the hours from that class were counted in my AMCAS "graduate" GPA, not as a post-bac or undergrad GPA.
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okay thank you for clearing it all up. in you're opinion does it matter where i do my post bac classes? like if i just go to my state college b/c of cost?
 
snoofle said:
okay thank you for clearing it all up. in you're opinion does it matter where i do my post bac classes? like if i just go to my state college b/c of cost?
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Are you done with your undergrad?
 
snoofle said:
okay thank you for clearing it all up. in you're opinion does it matter where i do my post bac classes? like if i just go to my state college b/c of cost?
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in my opinion it shouldn't matter at all, as long as you don't go to a joke community college for easy grades. If you need to, just be prepared to explain that you did so because of cost.

I got a masters instead of doing a post-bac because I basically saved $30,000 by going with a masters.
 
yup..im starting my masters this fall, but will wait til i finish my masters to start my post bac
 
armybound said:
in my opinion it shouldn't matter at all, as long as you don't go to a joke community college for easy grades. If you need to, just be prepared to explain that you did so because of cost.

I got a masters instead of doing a post-bac because I basically saved $30,000 by going with a masters.
Click to expand...

my uGPA isnt great at all and i still need to take most of pre-reqs so i figure its best for me to do a post bac to at least prove myself in the hard sciences
 
armybound said:
in my opinion it shouldn't matter at all, as long as you don't go to a joke community college for easy grades. If you need to, just be prepared to explain that you did so because of cost.

I got a masters instead of doing a post-bac because I basically saved $30,000 by going with a masters.
Click to expand...

Did you do well in masters and did it help you in your application process? Is it better to do a masters instead of a post-bacc if someone has a 3.2 GPA in undergrad?
 
Mandek said:
Did you do well in masters and did it help you in your application process? Is it better to do a masters instead of a post-bacc if someone has a 3.2 GPA in undergrad?
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i have the same uGPA =( ive often heard Masters dont help or hurt you in the med school application process
 
snoofle said:
my uGPA isnt great at all and i still need to take most of pre-reqs so i figure its best for me to do a post bac to at least prove myself in the hard sciences
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yeah, that's a good idea. I didn't know that masters grades didn't get factored into my GPA like uGrad, and I wish I had known.
 
Mandek said:
Did you do well in masters and did it help you in your application process? Is it better to do a masters instead of a post-bacc if someone has a 3.2 GPA in undergrad?
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I got a 4.0 in my masters.

do I think it helped.. yes, to an extent. it wasn't the savior I was expecting it to be. in an interview or two I was asked about my degree and how I was doing. one of them was extremely impressed by my GPA and the difficulty of the courses I had been taking, but I still haven't been accepted there. overall I see it like another EC, but it doesn't overcome my lackluster uGrad GPA

I do recommend a post-bac, if you can afford it.
 
armybound said:
I got a 4.0 in my masters.

do I think it helped.. yes, to an extent. it wasn't the savior I was expecting it to be. in an interview or two I was asked about my degree and how I was doing. one of them was extremely impressed by my GPA and the difficulty of the courses I had been taking, but I still haven't been accepted there. overall I see it like another EC, but it doesn't overcome my lackluster uGrad GPA

I do recommend a post-bac, if you can afford it.
Click to expand...

What was your uGPA if you don't mind sharing? Right now, I am debating between a masters and a post-bacc.
 
armybound, you mentioned about masters essentially being another EC. Is it a pretty significant EC "activity" or just another/minor EC to adcoms?
 
Mandek said:
armybound, you mentioned about masters essentially being another EC. Is it a pretty significant EC "activity" or just another/minor EC to adcoms?
Click to expand...
I obviously can't read their minds, but it didn't seem to win me any awards. Like I said I have a 4.0 and no acceptances. the other thing that grad school offered me was the opportunity to be a teaching assistant and do some research, which are also good on applications. LizzM (a committee member) has said they expect good grades in a graduate program, so my 4.0 wasn't even impressive. I think more schools decided not to interview me because of my undergraduate 3.3 than were impressed by my graduate 4.0.

the other good thing about the Masters is that it opens more job opportunities than a bachelors in case you don't get into medical school.
 
armybound said:
I obviously can't read their minds, but it didn't seem to win me any awards. Like I said I have a 4.0 and no acceptances. the other thing that grad school offered me was the opportunity to be a teaching assistant and do some research, which are also good on applications. LizzM (a committee member) has said they expect good grades in a graduate program, so my 4.0 wasn't even impressive. I think more schools decided not to interview me because of my undergraduate 3.3 than were impressed by my graduate 4.0.

the other good thing about the Masters is that it opens more job opportunities than a bachelors in case you don't get into medical school.
Click to expand...

Thanks 👍
 
armybound said:
in my opinion it shouldn't matter at all, as long as you don't go to a joke community college for easy grades. If you need to, just be prepared to explain that you did so because of cost.

I got a masters instead of doing a post-bac because I basically saved $30,000 by going with a masters.
Click to expand...

Saved $30,000? Doing an M.S was way cheaper? How?
 
armybound said:
my masters was free. tuition at that institution is not cheap by any means.
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When did you apply for MS? Spring before starting in the Fall? I think at my university, funding was not available from Spring but from Fall I think.
 
Mandek said:
When did you apply for MS? Spring before starting in the Fall? I think at my university, funding was not available from Spring but from Fall I think.
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I applied.. probably late December, maybe January. I know I took the GRE in December right before I graduated. I started in the fall.
 
Thanks for the clarification.
 
I am guessing it would be the same
 
i called AAMC about the whole GPA thing..and they told me that any undergrad classes i take as a grad student are classified as undergraduate and will factor into my undergraduate GPA as well as a Post Bac GPA. She said graduate classes are distinguished by their numbers, therefore an undergrad class would not be factored into my graduate GPA. She told me that this information was available on AMCAS' website as well. I copy/pasted this info from AMCAS help:

"Assign Post Baccalaureate (PB) status to any undergraduate level course work you enrolled in:
·After receipt of your initial BA/BS degree.
·While enrolled in a graduate program, if course work is not applied to a graduate degree."
 
how would they determine if it would count to your masters..or is that something i should ask the school? cuz i dont think physics, organic, and biochem would contribute to my MPH degree at all..but i dont want to get screwed

however id most likely still go into a post bac program bc id rather concentrate on my masters and research
 
snoofle said:
how would they determine if it would count to your masters..or is that something i should ask the school? cuz i dont think physics, organic, and biochem would contribute to my MPH degree at all..but i dont want to get screwed

however id most likely still go into a post bac program bc id rather concentrate on my masters and research
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the courses you need for your degree are determined by your graduate program director. if you take courses that are outside of your degree program and the hours don't count towards your degree, you can count them as post-bac

any course that you take that does count towards your degree will be on your transcript as a graduate course. your grad program will not sign you up for anything else.
 
It counts as grad GPA, at least, that's what its categorized for me.
 
this is why you need to specify what you're taking the class for.

if you're a graduate student and you decide to take additional classes outside of your graduate program which do not count towards your degree, it's the same as a post-bac class.

if it is an undergraduate class you're taking to complete your graduate degree, it's a graduate class.
 
armybound said:
this is why you need to specify what you're taking the class for.

if you're a graduate student and you decide to take additional classes outside of your graduate program which do not count towards your degree, it's the same as a post-bac class.

if it is an undergraduate class you're taking to complete your graduate degree, it's a graduate class.
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Would they prevent you to take an extra undergrad class THAT doesnt count towrds your masters and a class you don't really need, but only retaking it/doing it for boosting your uGPA?
 
i bet that depends on the school. some of the schools i was looking at for my masters said that i had to go through their distance learning programs and pay extra tuition for these undergrad classes to fulfill my pre med requirements b/c they just wanted me to stick to my masters load. i was lucky to get into the school i plan on going to, b/c they don't prevent their students from taking extra electives along with their masters classes
 
snoofle said:
i bet that depends on the school. some of the schools i was looking at for my masters said that i had to go through their distance learning programs and pay extra tuition for these undergrad classes to fulfill my pre med requirements b/c they just wanted me to stick to my masters load. i was lucky to get into the school i plan on going to, b/c they don't prevent their students from taking extra electives along with their masters classes
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yes, but how would AMCAS know if a particular uGrad class is counting towards masters or not. Wouldnt it be listed in same semester?
 
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