Hello everyone,
Following has been my performance since I started on this track about a year ago:
Bio I B+
Chem I A
Chem Lab A-
Chem II B-
Chem Lab A-
O Chem I projected grade B-
Physics I projected grade A
Ochem Lab projected grade A
GPA expected at the end of this sem : 3.36
I have a previous GPA of 3.8 for my masters. Anything before that was international.
I still have Phys II Ochem II and Bio II remaining.
How can I repair this GPA?
My advisor said that I can retake Ochem and my new grade will replace my old one on my transcript. Should I take this route?
I am working on pairing up my classes better to improve my chances at a better grade as I work 25 hours a week and have a commute as well.
-physio
Again, just one opinion, but I don’t think your GPA is terrible at all. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely respectable. Just keep going. Do your absolute best next semester with Bio II, Orgo II and the other things on your plate. I think an A in Orgo II is better than re-taking Orgo I. It’s totally doable with your part-time job and commute. I would say look forward and do as well as you can. Good luck.
How much of an improvement would it be if you retook Ochem and ChemII with projected grades of A. I mean you would win on two fronts: 1) remove the B- grades and 2) get As.
Have you calculated a projection. And you could possibly take both the same semester (as a redo). Would that hurt you a lot (financially? Application plans?)
I am pretty sure that folks got accepted with GPA lower than that. Nothing prevent you from applying and see what comes back. If nothing, then you could use the extra year to improve your grades. I don’t think there is any issue when an application applies multiple times (as long as the negative points are corrected).
My hope was to apply for Fall 2011, so repeating classes could be done but would not leave me with enough time to work on my MCAT. I will prioritize my MCAT as I have learned from so many threads on here and apply anyway like redo-it-all suggests.
Could I do this: apply as scheduled, take OChem and Chem II in the fall sem after the application, and submit the corrected grades later on? Have folks done this before?
- physio Said:
Could I do this: apply as scheduled, take OChem and Chem II in the fall sem after the application, and submit the corrected grades later on? Have folks done this before?
I posted this, realized how not smart that question was. Please disregard.
You may need to ask your advisor for a little bit more information about grades being replaced on your transcript. Most transcripts show courses by term (semester/quarter) with grades. So, if you retake a class and the grade is replaced, do they totally remove the first time you took the class from your transcript? In other words, exactly how do they show the two times that you took the class on your transcript?
As far as applying while still having two courses outstanding, it can certainly be done, but it may not be the best route to take. You want med schools to see as many of those new, great grades as possible. Decisions on rejections/interviews may well be made before you have grades to report for those pending courses. Also, medical schools do rolling admissions, so even if they end up offering you interviews after the pending grades show up, it is very late in the season and many schools may have filled their classes already.