undergrad grades after 5 years

[Ronald Kris]

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so if I do this post-bacc, I'd be facing being 5 or more years out of undergrad. I had a decent GPA (3.42) but some of my courses like my core curriculum classes I seriously slacked in (yes there were a few C/C+/B-s in courses that shoulda been As and B+s). Will this affect me. The oldest courses by then will be near 8 years old. I'm doing well in my masters program now (relative to how out of practice in math I was) and hope to break 3.4 in sciences (orgo included).

Also, for the post-bacc, how important is orgo? What if I have a 3.3 sGPA and that included a C- or C in orgo II?

 

[DrMidlife]

All classes count, regardless of age. You have to submit every college transcript. My 25 year old coursework was in my GPA when I applied.

Retake prereqs if you got less than a B.

DO schools forgive a bad grade if you repeat the class for a better grade. MD schools will not do that.

Don't mix grad work with undergrad work. Those GPAs are not combined.

You need to be doing better than 3.4 in a grad program, if the point of your grad program is to get into an MD school.

Best of luck to you.

 

[NavyEnlisted]

All classes count, regardless of age. You have to submit every college transcript. My 25 year old coursework was in my GPA when I applied.

If I took Bio 1 w/lab (B/A) and Chem. 1 w/lab (A/B) ten years ago would you suggest retaking them or just moving on to BIO 2 and Chem II when I start classes back up?

 

[DrMidlife]

If I took Bio 1 w/lab (B/A) and Chem. 1 w/lab (A/B) ten years ago would you suggest retaking them or just moving on to BIO 2 and Chem II when I start classes back up?

You don't have to retake if:
- you remember the content well enough that you can do some review & get it back, so you don't get crushed by ochem or the MCAT or M1 classes
- you're vigilant about seeking out specific requirements at med schools that are pissy about aged prereqs (UMass, UMiami, maybe more)
- you won't get derailed if you get accepted pending an outstanding requirement such that you have to take another undergrad class in the months before you start med school, which can happen

In my experience, detailed review of your transcripts can happen after you get accepted. Anecdotally, in my first go-round, I got accepted in January and got a letter in March telling me I was missing required coursework because I had a C in ochem. I was able to negotiate the use of a completed biochem class instead of retaking ochem. There are stories around here of folks having to defer because they didn't have enough time to get a random class done. This kind of thing is a fringe event, not common, just giving you possibles.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Ronald Kris]

Retake prereqs if you got less than a B.

DO schools forgive a bad grade if you repeat the class for a better grade. MD schools will not do that.

Don't mix grad work with undergrad work. Those GPAs are not combined.

You need to be doing better than 3.4 in a grad program, if the point of your grad program is to get into an MD school.

Best of luck to you.

The classes I got poor grades in undergrad were classes like freshman diversity seminar, English 102 (tho I did well in 101 and consistently wrote for my school yearbook and newspapers), and an economics course (most of them I got Bs in tho). Also, my grad program is one which has nothing to do with science at all, its nearly all math/quantitative stuff.

 

[NavyEnlisted]

You don't have to retake if:
- you remember the content well enough that you can do some review & get it back, so you don't get crushed by ochem or the MCAT or M1 classes.
- you won't get derailed if you get accepted pending an outstanding requirement such that you have to take another undergrad class in the months before you start med school, which can happen.

Thanks again Dr. Midlife. You unravel the mystery a little more for me each time you respond to one of my questions. I think I had better retake them just to avoid any discrepancies since I am not in a time crunch. I mean med school will still be there in a year and I would rather only apply once with a solid application and retake can only help my chances on the MCAT.