I completely screwed up my undergrad, mother had cancer, went home almost every weekend, either failed, or withdrew from freshman year. Overall gpa 1.9…Fastforward 20 years later, almost finished with undergrad with gpa of 3.7. (will have finished undergad in 3.5 years with 3 children and working part-time) How does AAMC determine gpa, and what options might I have? I will be taking the MCAT next spring. Any ideas?
AAMC - averages every undergrad grade you ever got. Generates a separate bio-chem-physics-other science gpa. Showes a separate line for post-bacc courses gpa
If I average it out…I only have a 2.8 because of the awful freshman year. I guess my question is most schools have an automatic “filter” for gpa, of which I am guaranteed to be filtered out because of the freshman year 20 years ago, any suggestions on how to overcome the gpa? If they only looked at what I have done since, I am doing great.
Warning: I have very little experience with this, as I took 5 years to finish undergrade and wipe out a mediocre GPA.
I would STRONGLY suggest calling a few schools you’re interested in, and seeing if the cut off will affect you, or not.
Finishing your undergrad so fast may have worked against you. Perhaps spending another year or two taking some of the suggested-but-not-require d science courses will help, getting your sGPA even higher and allowing you to pad against the old GPA to get within that 3.0 mark.
Alternatively, a post-bacc, due to getting a separate GPA, might seem to help a lot more (very clear distinction in grades) but can be more expensive.
Finally, see what wiser heads than mine say on the matter! 
I’ll second what Pixie said about calling schools. Dont let a computer determine your fate. Apply and then talk to schools and ask them to take a look at your application as an exception because of x, y amd z.
Good luck!
Thank you Pixie & Doc Gray, this was a bit of a blow. Do either of you know anyone who has had success with calling and requesting an application be pulled? With or without success, I will be calling as this has been my dream and I’m not about to let this stand in the way of the excellent progress I have made. Again, thank you for your support, it means more than I can express.
Maui Mom:
I made a list of schools to which I was interested and sent an email to all the Assistant Deans of Diversity and Outreach. In the email, I simply introduced myself, talked about my past accomplishments, degrees earned, and asked if I could speak with them directly. Out of the 20 schools that I contacted, I spoke to 7 AD’s. 2 of the AD’s said they would pull my AMCAS and the rest said “I sit the the adcom, so…” ( you get the idea).
FWIW, I NEVER mentioned my GPA, yet, they commented how mature I was and wanted to talk more about the things I mentioned in the email. Each one of them wanted me to keep them posted as the year went on. I figured i would tiuch base with them about 3x during the school year.
As mentioned earlier, it doesn’t hurt to call, because you never know what the outcome may be!
Keep forging toward your dream of medicine.