I started out by taking real easy classes my first year at a community college. The only sciences I took was Bio 1 and Bio 2. I decided to postpone most of the other sciences until I got into a university which I did the next year. I finished with a 3.5 GPA with 49 hours. I did REAL bad my first semester of the university by getting an F in Calculus and a D+ in Chemistry..I retook them both the next semester and made an A and B+ respectively. My current GPA for this last Spring 2008 semester is a 3.7 but my cumulative GPA is like a 2.184...which doesn't make any sense to me...if someone could explain how my cumulative GPA is so low. Did my F in Calculus affect my GPA that bad? Also, can any one give me advice on what I should do to improve from here on out? I know anyone can say to start making A+'s in all my classes, and even though that's my goal, I'm not really an A+ student...on avg. I'm like a B student...so what other things could I do along with my classes to improve chances of getting into pharmacy school and to make sure I have something to fall back just in case I fall short of my goal of an A? My head feels like its in knots because of things I need to get into pharm school. I don't know how where to start or how to juggle those things with schoolwork. I've already done some volunteer work over a full summer in a hospital pharmacy. I was also in a health club organization that helps you get volunteer hours in this past semester. I plan on taking Chem 2 over the summer...Cal II, Cal based physics, and Ochem 1 next semester. Any advice on what I should do to better my chances would be GREATLY appreciated
GPA are calculated on a 4 point scale. An A will get you 4 points and a F get you 0. If two classes are worth the same amount of units and you get an A in one and a F in the other; you'll get a 2.0. Your 2.18 sounds about right since the cummulative GPA at the university dont take into account of your junior college GPA. I'm not in pharmacy school, but my exroommate is currently a first year student at a pharm school in California. From what I remember, he had a couple F's and C's himself and he got in so it's not the end of the world if you get an F. Of course you want to get a few A's to cancel it out.
The school you go to now probably does not use Academic Forgiveness when calculating GPAs. From my experience at LIU, when you retake a class, both grades show up on the transcript, however only the highest grade is factored into the GPA calculation. So, at LIU, your GPA would be around 3.7.
