extra year of undergrad

[Guest acz]

Hey guys

I finished my BSc this year at UW but didn't make the cut for med school. To boost my GPA I've decided to take another year of undergrad at UBC (with no intention of completing another bachelors degree).

 

Three questions:

1) Are med schools going to care that I've switched schools?

 

2) I've been told that the marks I get in my extra year at UBC will count towards my overall GPA. Is this true?

 

3) Do I have to take a full course load?

 

Cheers

[Guest aneliz]

1) Yes and No... most schools expect you to be completing a cohesive degree program. So, if all of the undergrad years at both institutions are being counted by one institution or the other to grant a degree to you, then no. If one institution has already granted a degree and you have applied as a 'new student' in a 'new' degree program at the second school, then likely, yes.

 

2) Depends on the school you are applying to. Some schools like Mac count every post-secondary course you have ever done towards your GPA. Whether it is full time, part time, summer, whatever, it doesn't matter. Other schools count only those courses that are part of a full time year and/or part of a specific degree (ie your most recent). Often there are rules about how many years you must have completed from within that degree to be eligible to apply. As a general rule, you are not usually permitted to mix and match years or courses from different degrees in order to maximize your GPA. Usually they count full time work from your most recent degree only. Beware that starting a new degree and only completing one year of that degree may not be helpful.

 

3) At some schools yes, others no. Some schools, like UWO, only look at full time years. Others, like Mac, could care less. The important thing is to look into the rules at the specific school that you are interested in. They are all going to be different and no one answer is going to 'cover you' for all of the schools' policies.