Weight of Post-Bacc/Masters and effect on GPA

[CAW]

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So, I'm trying to salvage a bad Ugr GPA and sGPA by doing a post-bacc or masters program, but I've heard all sorts of things regarding the way they affect your o-/s-GPA and how beneficial each program is for making you a more competitive applicant.

I've heard everything including:

Post-baccs merely add to your Ugr GPA
Post-baccs are better than masters because they add more to GPA
Masters and Post-Baccs are weighted the same
Masters GPA replaces Ugr GPA
The new GPA (either program, I suppose) is averaged with the old

I ask because I made a spreadsheet with my old credentials and some speculative new credentials and I find that my UTHSCSA is drastically different for post-bacc and masters (going by masters replacing the Ugr GPA and post-bacc averaging with Ugr GPA) and am trying to decide which route I should go down.

I plan on calling my prospective dental schools and asking directly what I should be doing, but in the meantime, can anyone knowledgeable on this topic help clarify things?

Thanks in advance! 😀

 

[lnngu]

Post baccs add to your ugr GPA.

Masters give you a graduate level gpa. It won't replace your undergrad. The adcom will look at both, and weigh the masters GPA a little bit more.

 

[PP2010]

Is it too late to apply to ANY Post-Bacc program for fall 2010???

 

[CAW]

@PP2010: No, it isn't too late. I know for a fact that Worcester State College and Harvard Extension School are both still taking people for the fall 2010 semester. That's just in MA, so I imagine there are more out there.

Besides, with most schools, you can do an informal post-bacc and just start out taking upper-level classes and then slip into a program for the next available cycle of post-bacc/masters programs.

My second question now that I know about the weight of those two programs:

I think this pretty much answers itself, but is there an advantage to doing a post-bacc program AND a special masters program? It seems like adding to Ugr GPA and then having a second, good GPA will be much better than one or the other.

Thanks again for all your help! 🙂