Toxic Credits

[Teneo]

So, as a homeschooled high-schooler, I've taken a handful of Community College credits, in which I really haven't done very well. I've only gotten a few As, mostly B's and C's. I suspect that I might end up with a D in one of the classes I took this semester.

I'm looking at transferring to another state and finishing up at a public high school, and the credits probably won't transfer to the university level when I go. But I wonder, would and AMCAS application require the old CC credits? Would they damage my chances significantly? By the time I had finished my undergrad, those credits would be pretty old, and I like to think that they would consider my age at the time.

Should I worry?

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[chessknt]

AMCAS will require those credits and they will impact your overall GPA. Its impossible to give you #s without knowing how many units/what GPA they were at, but you are going into college with a deadweight on your back. You can probably explain it away as being an immature HS student, but it wont change the bottom line.

 

[Teneo]

So far I have 22 credits and about a 2.8...pretty bad. Exams are just finishing up so I don't have the info from this semester yet. I'll definitely be getting an A in a three-credit English Comp course, but it'll probably be either a C or D in a 4-cred Microbiology course.

 

[Vicviper]

By the time you graduate you'll have at least 120 units, and plenty of time to get that GPA up. While it will hold you down a tad, you can partially explain it away by the being young, and Adcoms always LOVE to see increasing trends in GPA.

 

[chessknt]

Well if you do the math: [120*3.8 (your entire college GPA assuming you get mostly As)+22*2.8]/142 total units=3.60=avg GPA of matriculants.

Not much you can do about it and ultimately not a huge negative, but you did eat up your freshman screwup room.

 

[Teneo]

Actually, what mostly worries me is the science GPA: I've taken 3 four-credit science courses; I've received a B, a C, and will probably receive a D...I suspect that my science GPA will be crushed. Hopefully it won't be beneath the cutoff point.

 

[chessknt]

Just think of it as eating up your buffer. When you go to college for real you need to hit the ground runnign and be serious because your margin for error is much lower now.

 

[WatchMeRise]

I don't understand why those college classes are counted toward your gpa if you took the classes during high school. that's ridiculous. in high school you are not up to par with the other students, so it's understandable you will not rank as high in the class. just the fact that you are challenging yourself with college classes while in high school is a feat. but i don't understand why that factors into your gpa for medical school, when your gpa is an accumlation of your college classes during your 'college' years.

 

[Vicviper]

Well, if you're taking like an HTML class or something you're right, it probably shouldn't have an effect on your application GPA, but if you're taking pre-reqs like Microbiology or Chemistry then they should.

Also, as long as they don't grade on a curve, as all of the CC's around me do, it doesn't matter how smart anyone else is.

All in all, don't stress, and your age will be taken into consideration.

 

[Instatewaiter]

if you dont report it to medical schools or to your college and use it for credit, how would they find out?

 

[Teneo]

if you dont report it to medical schools or to your college and use it for credit, how would they find out?

Theoretically, I could avoid reporting it. However, that would be risky move (if they find out that I lied, it could hurt my resume, and AMCAS says that it will undertake investigations if suspicious). Apart from that, I'm not fond of lying.

However, that's a decision that I neither can nor should make in the present anyway.

 

[El Nino]

Why don't you just call or email AMCAS explaining your situtation?

*Note: If you call make sure you get the persons' name you're talking to!

Though you took these classes at a CC were they a part of your homeschool curriculum your parent or guardian etc. set-up? If so, I believe you should not be worried.

 

[Vicviper]

if you dont report it to medical schools or to your college and use it for credit, how would they find out?

They track it by your Social Security number. They can easily find every school you've ever gone to - and if they don't have a transcript from each one, there can be very bad consequences.

If it was an honest mistake and you didn't report in like an A and 2 B's, I don't think there would be much of a punishment, but if you say had a few C's, and you were obviously doing it to help your GPA, you can almost assuredly expect to be kicked out or your offer of acceptance rejected. You then have to report that on all of your future applications, which will result in you very likely not being accepted again.

So in conclusion, a somewhat lower GPA is NOT worth the risk.

I've heard of a guy who didn't report his transcripts of 1 C at another community college when he was transffering to a UC, and the UC system found out about it and banned him from the entire UC system for life.

 

[MossPoh]

If you get a D in a course just retake it later on and get an A. If you apply to allopathic schools then it will be averaged and if you apply to osteopathic they replace grade for calculations. Nobody likes to retake classes, but getting an A in a few courses where you had Cs and a D will raise your gpa under both circumstances as well as show maturity and improvement.

 

[Teneo]

I ended up getting a C, so I should be fine if I work hard enough. And yes, it'd probably be better to be honest and report it. Overall it shouldn't destroy me, especially if they consider when the classes were taken.

 

[Vicviper]

Congrats! Don't stress =)