Transcript skeleton in the closet

[Joannavr]

To start off, I know that all of my grades will be available to my future medical school when I apply so this is probably a moot point, BUT:

I am on my second go round with college, I have been in my current school taking care of gen ed requirements for 3 semesters pulling a 3.8 or so. I am applying to the 4 year, a private university in the area and really my only choice and submitting my application. My question has to do with my first attempt at college. 8 years or so ago while I was married and in a bad situation I tried to go to school but my ex was very against it. I believe I have 5 F's and 5 W's (approximate) mixed in with 1 A and a C. When I started with the community college they said I could just choose not to transfer those credits, and start fresh. I have since learned to my dismay that this isnt true for medical school but thinking on a sooner basis, how is the 4year going to feel about it? I haven't disclosed my grades to them yet but I think they can see that stuff too? Will they care that it was 8 years ago? I wish there was some kind of statute of limitations on grades, say 10 years where you can choose not to disclose anything. So much can change in that time.

One of my main concerns is whether I should be xferring my credits to this CC or not, because I can avoid retaking the C and the A classes if I do. If I retake these classes and find out later I shouldn't have, I'll feel like a total dunce.

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[DrMidlife]

I vote for full disclosure. Look for a place on the private school's transfer app where you can explain past indiscretions, and don't hesitate to use words like "abuse." (...and then balance out any blame vibe with something like "I'm truly humbled to have another chance now, and am blessed with my newfound academic success.")

Just like med schools will in the future, the private school is going to take extenuating circumstances into account, and be impressed by your recent grades. I seriously doubt that you'll run into trouble with your great upward trend.

Finally, run some numbers to see how you'll end up, GPA-wise, after you finish up. If there's any way you can get your overall and science GPAs over 3.0, or preferably higher, then your past academic troubles turn into a personal statement gold mine.

Best of luck to you.

 

[DrMidlife]

One of my main concerns is whether I should be xferring my credits to this CC or not, because I can avoid retaking the C and the A classes if I do. If I retake these classes and find out later I shouldn't have, I'll feel like a total dunce.

For this part, don't worry about the CC's opinon about your transfer credits, because they're not granting you a degree (correct?). Furthermore, if you do submit the old transcript to the CC, the CC will not re-list those classes on the CC transcript - it would just have a line or two about how many transfer units were accepted and maybe from what school.

The university that's granting your degree will completely re-evaluate transfer credit. They could care less how the CC does things.

 

[thoffen]

You have to disclose these, both to your transferring institution and on your med school applications. This could put you at a serious disadvantage for allo schools. Re-taking the F's will replace the grades on the osteopathic application. You might want to consult the prior school if you had extenuating circumstances, and try to get the grades changed or erased.

 

[Joannavr]

Well it's not as bad as I thought. I just checked my transcript from the old college and the classes that I took in 1999 are showing an A, a C and 3 F's. It's nothing pretty, but I was expecting far worse. Of course, it's littered with W's but thank god I had at least the presence of mind to withdraw from some of them.

The F's are in: Computer Science, which I am testing out of soon, 1 credit hour, Psychology: Human Sexuality 3 credit hours, and English Comp 2 3 credit hours, which I am also going to either test out of or retake. My school does grade replacement, but assuming I go Allo what will 3 F's all retaken do to my GPA? I can't imagine that screwing up 7 credit hours will be the worst thing in the world, but I'd like to know what I'm looking at.

Assuming I get A's with a few scattered B's for the rest of my college career, will I be okay?

 

[crazydiamond]

DO schools will replace the new grades with the old. MD schools will average the two grades together. My suggestion is to retake those classes you got Fs in, making sure to get As this time. The allo schools will see your new grades as Cs and since there's only 3 of 'em, is certainly not the end of the world. Just do well in the rest of your classes and you should be able to bring your GPA above a 3.0.

Just a note, though, that "testing out of" a class does not change the grade as far as AMCAS is concerned. It sucks, but you're going to have to actually take the class if you want a chance at recovering from the F.

 

[thoffen]

MD schools will average the two grades together.

Common misconception or mis-wording. In fact, both grades will be calculated into your GPA as if they were completely different courses. Unfortunately this is worse for you.

 

[crazydiamond]

Common misconception or mis-wording. In fact, both grades will be calculated into your GPA as if they were completely different courses. Unfortunately this is worse for you.

But effectively, the end result is an average.

3 credit hrs at grade F = 0.00 points
3 credit hrs at grade A = 12.00 points

12.00 points / 6 credit hrs = 2.00, which is a C.

The Fs will still appear on the transcript, sure, so you'll need to still do some explaining. But your GPA will still be helped, so I think it's wise to re-take. This is especially true when the classes in question are BCMP, since you need to show you can handle science classes anyway.

 

[thoffen]

But effectively, the end result is an average.

3 credit hrs at grade F = 0.00 points
3 credit hrs at grade A = 12.00 points

12.00 points / 6 credit hrs = 2.00, which is a C.

The Fs will still appear on the transcript, sure, so you'll need to still do some explaining. But your GPA will still be helped, so I think it's wise to re-take. This is especially true when the classes in question are BCMP, since you need to show you can handle science classes anyway.

Sort of. But an average implies that the grade will only be counted once, i.e. 3 credit hours. An A and an F would be the same as 2 C's, not 1.

 

[NukeQuazar]

One of my main concerns is whether I should be xferring my credits to this CC or not, because I can avoid retaking the C and the A classes if I do. If I retake these classes and find out later I shouldn't have, I'll feel like a total dunce.

My 2¢...
I think you should do what you can to put those old grades behind you and start over, so forget about transferring them, because you don't want to bring that bad experience into the present. Of course your AMCAS will show every grade you have ever received, but do everything you can to get A's in every class you take from this point on, and have a good strategy to accomplish that. Especially, do not overdo it by taking too many science courses at once, etc. Your path into med school is going to require a near 4.0 postbacc GPA, a strong personal statement explaining your past problems, strong letters of recommendation, and showing that medicine is right for you through clinical volunteering. I think you can make yourself a good applicant, but you have work hard and do that.
Good luck!