Starting on May 1st, 2017 for the application for entry into the 2018-2019 class, AACOMAS will no longer use grade replacement in calculating your GPA.
The full announcement is here:
Notice: Change to AACOMAS Repeat Coursework Policy for 2017-2018 AACOMAS Application Cycle
In an effort to increase transparency, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) Board of Deans has approved the following resolution regarding the AACOMAS Repeat Coursework Policy:
Effective May 1, 2017, AACOMAS will include all course attempts in the GPA calculation. This change applies to students matriculating into the 2018-2019 academic year. In the event of multiple attempts of the same course, AACOMAS will no longer drop initial course attempts from the GPA calculation.
The current AACOMAS Repeat Coursework Policy drops initial course attempts from the GPA calculation. Over the past several years, this policy has caused confusion among applicants, pre-health advisors, and colleges, and is one of the top questions received by AACOMAS customer service. AACOM recognizes the need to streamline application policies and instructions, and we anticipate this new policy will ensure a fair, consistent, and transparent application process for all applicants.
In the upcoming 2017-2018 AACOMAS application cycle, applicants will continue to identify repeated courses during coursework entry, but they will no longer enter 0.00 credit hours for initial attempts. Credit hours for all attempts will be entered as they appear on the official transcript and all grades will be averaged. The AACOMAS application instructions will be updated in advance of the 2017-2018 application cycle to reflect this change in policy. We anticipate that this change will enable applicants to move through the coursework entry section of the AACOMAS application more quickly and with greater accuracy.
Effective May 1, 2017, applicants using the 2017-2018 application cycle Reapplicant feature in AACOMAS for matriculation into the 2018-2019 academic year must adhere to the new policy. Therefore, AACOMAS will automatically update previously verified repeated coursework to ensure all applications adhere to the new policy.
Osteopathic medical schools may continue recalculating and weighing applicant GPAs and repeated courses per their established admissions practices. The scope of this policy change is limited to the AACOMAS verified GPA calculation.
Sounds like the first step to merging to DO/MD programs. Or is it the second step, since the residencies will be joint soon too?
@Doc201X wrote:
Sounds like the first step to merging to DO/MD programs. Or is it the second step, since the residencies will be joint soon too?
Definitely not a step in that direction. They stated some other reasons in a more private forum, but pretty bad that they didn’t give students a transition period.