Understanding the Impact of Withdrawals, Credit/No Credit, and Repeat Courses on Health Professions School Applications
This workshop series delves into how withdrawals, credit/no credit grades, and repeat courses can influence applications to medical, dental, and veterinary schools. Topics covered include the significance of transcripts, GPA, and course considerations for various health professions programs. Emphasis is placed on the importance of accurately documenting all courses taken, regardless of grading policies. Additionally, insights are shared on the differences in GPA calculations between academic transcripts and health professions school applications.
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Pre-Health Professions Programs Workshop Series Presents: Will this affect my application? Solving the Mystery of Withdrawals, Credit/No Credit, and Repeat Courses and How They Affect Applications to Medical, Dental, and Veterinary School. Fall 2010
Introduction This workshop is intended to help students understand how transcripts affect applications to medical, dental, and veterinary school. What we will discuss: General information about transcripts Withdrawals, Credit/No Credit, Repeat Courses How transcripts affect each application differently Decision making regarding grading options The Importance of GPA We will not be speaking specifically about applying, obtaining transcripts, or specific admissions requirements. Keep your eyes peeled for those workshops in the future!
Everything Counts! Every course that you have taken that appears on a college transcript (and even some that don t) must be listed on your Health Professions application This includes: Courses from other institutions, even if they are not on your Hunter Transcript College Courses taken through a special high school program AP Courses Every application has a different policy for courses taken overseas Be sure to read the guide book for the application very carefully to determine how you should handle courses that were taken at Non-US affiliated Overseas/International Institutions A good general rule of thumb to follow is this: If it s on a transcript it counts Even if it isn t calculated into the GPA it has to be recorded on the application
Hunter Transcript The Hunter transcript rules do not apply when you are applying to health professions schools. Expect the GPA on a Hunter transcript to be VERY different then then GPA that is on your Veterinary, Dental, or Medical School application. Unfortunately, the grading systems that AMCAS, VMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS use generally lower a GPA. Let s discuss why
Hunter Transcript Repeat Courses In many cases if you repeat a course at Hunter only the second grade is calculated into your GPA This rule does not apply to all applications for the Health professions Credit/No Credit At Hunter no letter/grade equivalent is given to C/NC grades Some applications assign grade equivalencies for C/NC Withdrawals Do not affect your Hunter GPA For the most part don t affect your GPA but if excessive can portray a student as being unable to commit and follow through. Let s Get More Specific
Veterinary School Veterinary Medical College Application System (VMCAS) VMCAS has a GPA calculation system, however many veterinary schools choose not to use it and instead calculate GPA s using their own system. Either way it is likely that your VMCAS GPA will be different than your Hunter GPA. Credit/No Credit and Withdrawals There are no outlined equivalencies for Credit/No Credit or Withdrawals on VMCAS Repeat Grades VMCAS calculates all repeat grades in GPA even if they were not used in the GPA calculation on the original transcript Because schools may calculate GPAs differently it is crucial to check with each veterinary school to see how they will calculate C/NC and withdrawals
Dental School Associated American Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS) The AADSAS GPA Calculation System: Credit/No Credit and Withdrawals Pass/Fail, Credit/No Credit, Withdrawals, Incompletes, CLEP, AP courses ARE NOT COUNTED IN THE DENTAL SCHOOL GPA CALCULATIONS Repeat Grades All initial and repeated coursework counts- even if it is not used in the calculation of the GPA on the original transcript All failed courses will be counted even if they are no longer counted in the original transcript GPA
Allopathic Medicine (MD) American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) AMCAS Calculation System Credit/No Credit and Withdrawals Credit is calculated in as a C NC = F (0.0) Withdrawals do not get factored in Repeat Grades All initial and repeated coursework counts- even if it is not used in the calculation of the GPA on the original transcript
Osteopathic Medicine (DO) American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS) AACOMAS Calculation System Credit/No Credit and Withdrawals C/NC and Withdrawals are not calculated into the AACOMAS GPA If you have taken C/NC or P/F coursework elsewhere this policy could be different Repeat Grades Only the last instance of a repeated course is calculated in the GPA
What Does This All Mean? The most obvious answer is always this: Avoid electing Credit/No Credit, Withdrawal options and/or repeating courses The reality is that it happens all the time so here are some things to consider
Withdrawing or Opting for C/NC Consider This Will withdrawing from this class affect the progression of my courses? For example: If a student is taking Biology 100 and decides to withdraw he/she will have to wait AN ENTIRE YEAR to start the General Biology sequence again due to the scheduling of Biology courses. Which can lead to postponing an application for an entire year. Will taking a Credit/No Credit affect my GPA? While it will not affect your Hunter GPA it will affect student s who plan on applying to Allopathic Medical School. Realistically, what grade will I be receiving? If you are certain you will not be earning a grade lower than a C it may be worth it to stick it out in order to avoid delaying your progress. For students intending to study Allopathic Medicine, a credit will be calculated as a C no matter what. If you know that the lowest grade you could possible earn in a course is a C, why not stick it out and see what happens. Maybe you will get a C+ or a B-! Please be cautious and remember it is OK to take an extra year to complete coursework. The Pre-Health Professions Office just wants you to be aware of all your options.
Repeating Courses Consider This Will this affect my application? Most likely. For all but the Osteopathic schools every grade on the transcript is used in GPA calculation regardless of it being a repeat course. What grade did I earn originally and am I certain I can do better the second time around? This is important. If you earned a C the first time around and you aren t sure how much better you can do, is it really worth risking another C or C+ being calculated into your GPA? Also, when you repeat the course you are taking study time away from other courses in which you could earn an even better grade the first time around.
The Importance of GPA Your GPA is CRUCIAL to applications for Medical, Dental, and Veterinary School. It may be worth it to take an extra year with your coursework if it means better grades. These are the Science GPAs students need to be reaching for: Medical Allopathic (MD) 3.6 Osteopathic (DO) 3.4 Dental 3.0 Veterinary 3.5 These GPAs are averages, not requirements or guarantees.
