I am a rising junior who just recently transferred from Seton Hall University to Rutgers-New Brunswick. I am continuing my studies as a biochemistry major at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, hoping to eventually get into medical school. I finished my sophomore year at Seton Hall with a 2.797 GPA. I took Organic Chemistry I and II in the summer and received an A and a B, bringing my GPA up to a 2.883. I know transferring means my GPA is starting from 0.0, but I also know that medical schools will be looking at my old transcript as well as my new. These are the grades I received in my science classes:
General Chem I/II: C+/C
General Bio I/II: C-/C+
Calculus I/II: A-/C
Organic Chemistry I/II: A/B
I am admitting that my first two years were really hard-- I wasn’t ready for college and was quite blindsided by a lot of family issues as well as not being happy at Seton Hall in the first place. My A/B in Organic makes me believe I have discovered my perfect studying routine and that I am starting an upward trend but I am still worried about the C’s in Gen Chem and the one C in Calc II. I am retaking Gen Bio at Rutgers, as they won’t take the credits for Gen Bio I because of the C-. Should I retake Gen Chem I/II?
I am also worried about how low my old GPA was. If I perform well at Rutgers and maintain a 3.8-4.0 GPA, how will my old GPA of a 2.883 affect my chances of getting into medical school?
It’s 84 pages long, but it’s a very good thing to review regarding the medical school application process, since it’s written by the people running the process:
https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/b2/23/b223c482-8ba3-44dd-bb1c-8835ac84f3e6/2020amcasapplicantguide-060419.pdf
But to answer your question: you’ll have a single GPA from all your college classes, based upon how AMCAS calculates that.
And if a course if repeated, both grades are used in the GPA calculation.
When you go to apply to medical school, AMCAS will calculate 2 GPAs for you–
–A cumulative GPA that includes every college level class you’ve ever taken (including any dual enrollment classes from HS)
–A science GPA (sGPA) that included every college level bio, chem, physic and math class you’ve ever taken
Your sGPA is the more important of the two.
All classes from all your undergrads must be reported and an official transcript sent from every school. AMCAS does not allow grade replacement/grade forgiveness even if your undergraduate does. This means both your original grade and any retake will be included in all GPA calculations.
Since med schools will not accept any pre-req coursework with a grade below C, you need to retake Bio 1 (and lab). However, I would recommend that you don’t re-take the other science classes that you passed. Adcomms would prefer to see you take higher level, more challenging classes and do well in those than repeat intro level coursework.
Your weak freshman year grades are going to hurt your GPA and sGPA. There’s no way around that. You need to continue to earn excellent grades from now on so that you can raise your sGPA. AMCAS reports grades and GPAs in a year-by-year format with each year in college having a separate page. Assuming your GPA/sGPA gets you past the initial screen out, adcomms will be able to clearly see any grade trends. With a strong upward grade trend, adcomms will focus on your upper level grades, not your freshman grades, when they review your application.
Because you need to raise your GPA/sGPA, I suggest that you plan to apply to med school only after you have graduated from college to give yourself some extra time to raise your GPA. Start planning now for how to productively use your gap year(s).
I also strongly suggest that you make an appointment with Rutgers’s health profession advising office to discuss your situation.
https://hpo.rutgers.edu
Frankly, knowing the academics of both Seton Hall(prof. at SH and a local of S.O.) and Rutgers NB, you will have a tough time to advance your GPA that much at Rutgers NB so you can get over the average requirements of any med schools. Unless you are getting all As in your first semester at Rutgers, you should seriously consider something else other than a physician. Perhaps NB, PA or PD the like.