Unique GPA Situation - Need Advice

[SolidLucidity]

Hey guys,

New to the forum and finding all the information very useful.

I had one question I was hoping you guys could help me with. I've been trying to discern my chances at Postbacc programs, but am dealing with a unique situation in terms of my GPA.

I went to Brown as an undergraduate and my first year got a cumulative 3.4 GPA, however, right at the end of the year, I became seriously ill and was forced to make a choice- either temporarily drop out or continue school but with the caveat of taking all classes Pass/Fail. Unlike a lot of colleges, Brown allows its' students to take any class Pass/Fail.

So, basically, I have a 3.4 GPA for my entire first year and all Passes for my classes sophomore, junior, and senior years.

Any idea how this will affect my chances of admission at either Postbaccs or future medical schools? Will it be accepted as a normal 3.4 gpa or a complete disaster and I should forget the notion of medical school entirely?

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[SolidLucidity]

Oh, and just to clarify, after I graduated college I successfully survived my medical condition and ended up finding working in a variety of fields from publishing to technology start-ups so there is no problem with my health now.

I plan to write my essays on surviving my condition and how it inspired a new perspective on science and my desire to become a doctor.

 

[heybubbaa]

I would call AMCAS and ask how your GPA will be calculated. If you were not thinking about medicine, but rather that you were just hoping to graduate from college, I would think that post-bacs and medical schools would at least consider the circumstances. Did you take the pre-medical courses at your school? Technically, a "C" is passing, but it would not fulfill the pre-med course requirements at most medical schools, so I am not sure if your prereqs would be accepted- in fact, I doubt they would be. You will likely need to take a post-bac with the medical school pre-reqs - and your post-bac gpa will probably be the biggest factor insofar as an adcoms assessment of your academic capabilities.

 

[SolidLucidity]

I did not take any math or science courses. I was an English major.

Do you have any idea how Postbacc programs will view my undergraduate transcript/GPA?

I.e., do you know if I would still be in the running at the top Postbaccs (Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Scripps, etc) or even second tier programs? Or, I'm completely dead in the water?

Thank you!

 

[heybubbaa]

I did not take any math or science courses. I was an English major.

Do you have any idea how Postbacc programs will view my undergraduate transcript/GPA?

I.e., do you know if I would still be in the running at the top Postbaccs (Bryn Mawr, Goucher, Scripps, etc) or even second tier programs? Or, I'm completely dead in the water?

Thank you!

Your not dead in the water - the good news is that you only have one year of courses calculated in your gpa. So if you do really well in a postbac then you could still save your gpa. A 3.4 is not competitive for the top postbacs, but it wouldn't hurt to apply. A 3.4 really won't be competitive anywhere, but you may still be in the running for some of the programs - but career changer post-bacs are really not my forte.