Transcript Question

Hello Everyone,


I had a question which I could not find an answer to on this site. I am 32 years old and I already have two degrees. My BA is in History which a GPA of 2.45 and an MBA with a 3.25.


I plan on starting my pre reqs this summer and completing a 2nd BA in Biology. My question is this…would it look better if I did this 2nd degree at an entirely different university or return back to the university i received my first BA at?


If I go back to my original university any grades I get would just be calculated into my 2.45. However, at the other 3 universities I have been accepted to your GPA starts over. In other words, if I get a 4.0 in all of my pre-reqs it will be a 4.0 on my new transcripts…but at my old university it would be around a 2.7 maybe.


I know that everything is calculated together in the end but wouldn’t it look better to present an entire new GPA from a new school than go back to my old school? What do you guys think? Thank you for helping me out.

  • DetroitTigers77 Said:
Hello Everyone,

I had a question which I could not find an answer to on this site. I am 32 years old and I already have two degrees. My BA is in History which a GPA of 2.45 and an MBA with a 3.25.

I plan on starting my pre reqs this summer and completing a 2nd BA in Biology. My question is this...would it look better if I did this 2nd degree at an entirely different university or return back to the university i received my first BA at?

If I go back to my original university any grades I get would just be calculated into my 2.45. However, at the other 3 universities I have been accepted to your GPA starts over. In other words, if I get a 4.0 in all of my pre-reqs it will be a 4.0 on my new transcripts...but at my old university it would be around a 2.7 maybe.

I know that everything is calculated together in the end but wouldn't it look better to present an entire new GPA from a new school than go back to my old school? What do you guys think? Thank you for helping me out.



Welcome aboard.

1)You do not need second BA, rather just the required pre-reqs and some recommended additional courses.

2) are you sure they would calculated in the new GPA with a degree that you already have? Usually it is reported separately. In any event, med schools will see your original undergrad (up to first degree), then a separate post-bacc GPA, then those 2 combined, then a separate graduate GPA, then all of the above combined. At each level it will also be broken down into science non-science.

In other words, they should see your post-bacc GPA separate no matter where you go

Fwiw: My first bachelor’s degree yielded about a 3.16 GPA. When I did a second bachelor’s degree, they calculated my GPA separately, so I was able to get a 3.93. However, if I were to apply to medical school, they would look initially only at my original undergrad GPA. I don’t believe they would average my second BS GPA in with my original – bummer.

Thank you guys for your input. I am not sure what to do. I feel rather old returning to my original degree granting institution. I graduated from there 9 years ago and feel like a loser going back there. Currently I live in Michigan and the tuition is triple the amount of my university back in West Virginia. My only option here is community college because its inexpensive. Since I have been laid off in Michigan I really have nothing to lose by just moving back to West Virginia and attending WVU again. I am single, no kids and can move anytime. I guess I just feel like I have achieved nothing if I return back to WVU and start classes again. What do you guys think?


In regards to the GPA, yes, the other schools give you an entirely new GPA even though they transfer your credits over. At WVU its just averaged in with the GPA already achieved in my first BA program. Basically its treated as if I took a 9 year break and I am back now taking classes. The GPA is just calculated just the same. I am concerned that Medical School will see this transcript and not notice any improvements because I have over 155 credits, including over 50 W’s at my old school. Its a mess I know, and I hope I can overcome it.

DetroitTigers77,


Why do you feel like returning to your alma mater (WVU) to take more classes would make you “feel like a loser” who “achieved nothing”, but taking classes at another school would not make you feel this way? Would you feel any less old if you went somewhere other than your original degree-granting institution? You’ll be the same age regardless of whether you go to WVU or to another school. I wouldn’t worry about the age thing.


You should do what’s best for you financially, academically, and personally. In this regard, it seems like you have a compelling argument for returning to WVU and most medical schools prefer the prereqs be done at a 4-year university rather than at a community college. If you were to do a 2nd degree anywhere, you would presumably not be taking your general ed requirements again – only the requirements for the new major (biology) that were not taken as part of your original history program. This means any classes transferred to the new degree program would be averaged in to your GPA using the grades originally obtained at WVU for the classes you are transferring.


Also, Gonnif is on to something. You may not need a 2nd degree at all. Since you have a humanities degree, you probably didn’t take the premed prereqs the first time around. A post-bac may be a faster, less expensive way to boost your GPA while completing prereqs. I would encourage you to look into this option.


As far as your GPA is concerned, it doesn’t really matter where you complete the 2nd BA or post-bac because, in the end, regardless of whether you do it at WVU or another university, AMCAS will average the GPA of all course work completed regardless of where the coursework was taken and regardless of how WVU and/or another school would have calculated your GPA.

Thank you guys very much! You have been great in helping me with this matter. I am 90% sure I will be moving back to WV to finish my pre-reqs. I do want to complete the 2nd BA in Biology because I really need more science courses to improve my horrible undgrad GPA show med schools I succeed in hard sciences. I do not feel old, I guess going back there to WVU and seeing some of the same professors I had back in 2001 just makes me feel like I have not succeed. I have friends who have great jobs, married, etc…they will definitely look down on this move by me. However, I really do not care, I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself. This site is wonderful! I hope you guys understand just how helpful you really are to people! Thanks again!

I going to delve into psychology for a moment. It sounds like your going for a second degree to not simply prove to medical schools you are good at science but also to prove to yourself something. That motivation is perfectly acceptable as long as you understand it.


But if your goal is to get into medical school then I believe by taking a second degree that you are making the journey longer, harder, and more expensive. Since you are free to move, though may not have funds to go to any school, that you consider a post-bacc, whether formal or informal. You can start a second degree at UWV say in biology but your certainly do not need to complete it for medical school. By taking the required prereqs and some additional advanced courses in biology, and doing well, and doing well in the MCAT, you will have as best a chance to get in as you would in finishing a second degree.


On the other hand, I can see if you feel the need to get the second degree, before medical school because you need to show yourself you have what it takes to be a doc, to believe in yourself that you can be a physician, I can see that narrative and confidence in an application. I understand this completely.


My suggestion is to not have the idea of a second degree set in stone. You may feel after a year in school that putting all your energy towards what will get into medical school will take precedence.


Keep us update

I will Gonnif! I really appreciate the extra input. You are correct, I do want to prove it to myself that I can finish the 2nd BA. When I was a freshman at WVU I started out as a Biology major but changed during my 2nd year. I guess it has always bothered me that I did not complete this degree. However, my main goal is to achieve an acceptance into medical school (either DO or MD, I would prefer DO). With this being said I could actually afford to attend a University in Michigan (U of M, MSU, Oakland U or Eastern Mich) if I took 2-3 courses per semester only. This would drastically be cheaper than going full time anyway. So Gonnif, if I do just the necessary pre-reqs and a few additional upper division biology courses I could afford to stay up here in Michigan.

My situation is similar to a few of those delineated on this thread. I got a 3.2 BA in Lit at a name brand liberal arts school ten years ago but I’ve always felt I could have done so much better. As a result, I’ve chosen to finish the BS in Biology (at my local state university) in addition to getting all the pre-reqs done (just finished those up yesterday actually). It’s going to amount to one more semester, and that felt worth it to me.


I definitely acknowledge the wisdom from gonnif regarding the significance of the 2nd bachelors as being for me versus being for the adcoms. I would also add that since I’m a very Plan B/C/D… kind of person, getting the full degree makes me feel like even if I don’t get into med school, then that time spent taking biology/chemistry etc led to something concrete. It makes me feel better about the whole thing, thus, more confident. And confidence seems very important in all this.


Good luck and do what feels right for you. I will try to follow that advice myself.