Hello everyone
I previously went to college in 2003-2004 and needless to say I wasn’t ready for a college commitment, so I dropped out. My wife and I spent the next 9 years or so working,and raising our son. I started back to college last summer and pretty much started over academically. The CC that I went to didn’t even count the attempted hours from 2003-2004 when calculating my GPA. I’ve maintained a good GPA for the past 3 semesters and now I’ve transferred to a four-year college. The university took the hours attempted from 2003-2004 and added them to my current hours. That dropped my GPA more than a point and a half and makes it impossible for me to even have a decent GPA. I have set an appointment with my academic adviser to figure this out,hopefully we can. Anyone have any advice or experience with this?
I didn’t think my past would come back to haunt me this bad!!! 
Thanks in advance
Yep
all classes count unfortunately when you apply to Med School. A trend upward however will be a big deal so keep it up, no matter what.
There is the option of taking many classes to help your GPA up, but it takes time and it can cost money. The other strategy here is to consider DO because DO school count only the latest attempt at a class. So if you retake the classes you screwed up in and ace them then your GPA (for the purpose of application to DO school) will be sustantially improved (unfortunately MD school don’t do that).
The latest option and my least favorite is the postbacc (but I don’t know much about that). Someone may jump in with more info.
If I may, and I do not want to sound rude, but it would help if you could give numbers. Now I understand that it is your private life, but with more info, the help you will get will be better. We are here to help, never to judge. The advice you may get will be different if your GPA is 1.5 or 2.8
Best of Luck.
My current GPA over the past three semesters is 3.31. I know that’s not great but it’s fixable. I had a really difficult fall semester last year, due to other obligations, and that brought it down from a 3.6. When they added the classes from 2003-2004 it brought it down to a 2.14 and because of that it is impossible to bring it up to what it needs to be with the hours I have left. I am thinking about DO school, but I assumed they used the same criteria as every other medical school, but its good to know I have options. I really appreciate the advice you gave! Medical school is hard enough to get into already, now I have to overcome something I did almost ten years ago.
Thanks
Redoitall has given solid advice. DO applications would favor you here if you can replace those grades that are bringing you down.
Something else to consider, especially if you do not see yourself as a DO for whatever reason, is that not every medical school will thumb there nose at you or screen you out of the admissions process because of a GPA. Look at average accepted scores at places like U of Minnesota, Duluth. I have poured over average accepted stats and found that there are plenty of medical schools that take students with oopses in their GPA, within reason of course. Getting into medical school is part GPA, part MCAT, part convincing the adcom that they will be proud to have admitted you into the world of medicine.
Do the best you can to take science units that will display an upward GPA trend for you. Give your future adcoms a reason to believe that your past is your past. Show them you want this. Strive for an MCAT score that will place you above your peers, and seek out quality help in putting together a solid application.
Most of the grades from 2003-2004 I’ve retaken and all of them where none science courses. I found out today that the school I’m enrolled at has a new start program. They forgive those old grades and only add my current and future grades when calculating my GPA. They told me what Redoitall said, that I would still have to give med-school all my transcripts, but at least they will see an upward trend more clearly now.
Thanks for all the great advice!!!
Helpful post here, thank you