How do I raise my GPA after graduating if I'm rejected from a school?

[premed55]

My friend told me that one of her friends was rejected from medical school and is going back to raise their GPA next semester (in September). And another friend, already graduated, is doing the same. My question is, how do you go about doing this?

 

I have heard of a "Non-degree status" where you can come back after graduation to take more courses, but when I called my school's registrar, they told me this would have no bearing on your GPA at graduation. I've seen a lot of people on the premed and OT/PT forums discuss returning to school to raise their GPAs. Do they just delay their graduation? That seems kind of odd to me considering OT results don't even come out until May.

 

Thanks for any advice!

[HC8]

The non-degree status courses taken have no bearing on the cumulative gpa of your degree, meaning you can't get distinction if you didn't have it at graduation. However, a lot of medical schools calculate your gpa based on their own formula. Meaning, they would include those extra courses when they calculate your gpa. make sense? sorta? You could delay your graduation or graduate and then take a "special year" as they call it. Each has benefits for different medical schools, you have to search to see which you want to apply too and which fits your situation

[not my real name]

Most (medical) schools only look at courses taken towards the completion of an undergraduate degree, so I would be concerned about taking courses if you have a "non-degree status" - it might not help you at all. Some people do delay graduation, which could work, but that may or may not be possible at your school. Others do a second undergraduate degree, which could take 2 years.

 

How much do you need to raise your GPA? If you gave a year-by-year breakdown (including how many credits / year), then people could help you out more... If it needs a slight bump, an extra year could help, but the impact of one year may not be huge. If your last year was very strong, and the extra year is very strong, then Queens would be a good option because they look at your two most recent years.

 

If you've followed Western's rules (https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/admissions/medicine/requirementsfaq) then Western could look at only 2 years, but you'd need to meet the MCAT requirement.

 

What province you are from also makes a big difference.

[canucks_14]

Most (medical) schools only look at courses taken towards the completion of an undergraduate degree, so I would be concerned about taking courses if you have a "non-degree status" - it might not help you at all. Some people do delay graduation, which could work, but that may or may not be possible at your school. Others do a second undergraduate degree, which could take 2 years.

 

How much do you need to raise your GPA? If you gave a year-by-year breakdown (including how many credits / year), then people could help you out more... If it needs a slight bump, an extra year could help, but the impact of one year may not be huge. If your last year was very strong, and the extra year is very strong, then Queens would be a good option because they look at your two most recent years.

 

If you've followed Western's rules (https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/admissions/medicine/requirementsfaq) then Western could look at only 2 years, but you'd need to meet the MCAT requirement.

 

What province you are from also makes a big difference.

 

 

I disagree I think that as long as you are taking courses then the GPA from those courses will count towards your medical school admission. Not sure about this but this is my personal opinion. I haven't read anything to state otherwise

[nick]

I disagree I think that as long as you are taking courses then the GPA from those courses will count towards your medical school admission. Not sure about this but this is my personal opinion. I haven't read anything to state otherwise

 

Depends on the school. Also, depending on the school, grad school helps. So does taking a second UG degree.

[not my real name]

I know for sure that Ottawa only considers courses that are taken "towards a degree" (just spoke to them about that, even taking full time course load would not change this... it needs to be towards a degree), McMaster considers only "degree courses" and McGill only considers Degree GPA. I am pretty sure many others have similar rules, but you would have to look at them one by one.

 

My overall advice stands; make sure that the extra year will count where you intend to apply, and will boost your GPA sufficiently to make a difference. Don't waste a year that may or may not actually help you.

 

Graduate studies help at a select number of schools, not as much as is commonly believed. Info:

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39007

 

Second degrees can help at certain schools:

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47067

[123456789trial]

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but do you guys think I should do a 5th year?

 

1st yr: 3.87

2nd yr: 3.58 (i have three 0.5 courses in the 70-79 range)

3rd yr: 3.85

4th yr: so far 4.0 from first semester, but I'm anticipating around 3.95-3.99

 

I'm most worried about my 2nd year mark since it affects Ottawa, Mac, and/or Queens. I'm not sure about non-Ontario schools, but likely any school that takes the cumulative GPA, my 2nd year will really be a hinderance

[Jordan87657]

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but do you guys think I should do a 5th year?

 

1st yr: 3.87

2nd yr: 3.58 (i have three 0.5 courses in the 70-79 range)

3rd yr: 3.85

4th yr: so far 4.0 from first semester, but I'm anticipating around 3.95-3.99

 

I'm most worried about my 2nd year mark since it affects Ottawa, Mac, and/or Queens. I'm not sure about non-Ontario schools, but likely any school that takes the cumulative GPA, my 2nd year will really be a hinderance

 

if you'll be getting around a 3. 95 I wouldnt. For schools like western that take 2 best years, youll have a 3.9 gpa. Which is competetive.

[123456789trial]

if you'll be getting around a 3. 95 I wouldnt. For schools like western that take 2 best years, youll have a 3.9 gpa. Which is competetive.

 

My 1st and 3rd year marks would suffice for Western, but getting 10/11/12 for western is the limiting factor. I don't want to hedge my bet on Western since I wrote the MCAT twice and have not gotten an 11 on verbal.

 

What about for the other schools, such as Ottawa, that place a very heavy emphasis on GPA? Would doing a 5th year better my chances?

[123456789trial]

bump

 

10char

[canucks_14]

I know for sure that Ottawa only considers courses that are taken "towards a degree" (just spoke to them about that, even taking full time course load would not change this... it needs to be towards a degree), McMaster considers only "degree courses" and McGill only considers Degree GPA. I am pretty sure many others have similar rules, but you would have to look at them one by one.

 

My overall advice stands; make sure that the extra year will count where you intend to apply, and will boost your GPA sufficiently to make a difference. Don't waste a year that may or may not actually help you.

 

Graduate studies help at a select number of schools, not as much as is commonly believed. Info:

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39007

 

Second degrees can help at certain schools:

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47067

 

can you state where exactly on the website it says those things? I was under the impression that it's fine to take non-degree studies as long as they are recognized university courses. any info on queens or university of Calgary or UBC?

[not my real name]

It depends on the school.

 

Queen's seems to be okay with it:

 

http://meds.queensu.ca/education/undergraduate/prospective_students/application_process/gpas

 

"Degree programs or individual courses are not considered a factor in the calculation of GPAs"

 

Ottawa is not:

 

http://www.med.uottawa.ca/Students/MD/Admissions/eng/eligibility_criteria.html

 

"three years of full-time studies (five full-year course/year) in any undergraduate program leading to a bachelor’s degree"

 

I have spoken to them, and this is strict. Independent studies, non-degree, certificates, etc.. don't count.

 

McMaster is not:

 

http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/academic_requirements.html

 

"Only degree courses taken at an accredited university will be considered."

 

And so on... I would like at the individual schools, the info is pretty easy to find.

 

Hope this doesn't affect you! I made the mistake of not looking this up properly before going back to school, so all of my science pre-requisites and other courses (4.18/4.30 over 40 credits) from that time don't count for some schools b/c they were part of a "certificate program". It doesn't matter if the courses are all identical to first year science courses. I can use them as my prereqs but they don't get factored into my GPA at some schools.