GPA and Transfer questions

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello. Just wanted to first thank everyone for taking the time to help out people like me. </p>

<p>Mine is a long story, but I will make it as brief as possible.</p>

<p>I took my GED when I was 16 and nearly aced it. I then took the ACT twice, first made a 22 and then a 26. I entered Troy State University in Troy, Alabama, made all F’s for the Fall Quarter and then left. I quit going to class and never withdrew. This was in 94.</p>

<p>I moved back to my hometown in Florida and attended a local community college for a year or so, once again made all F’s because I quit going and never withdrew. I wanted to be an art major at the time (Computer Animation).</p>

<p>Fast forward to now, I am now 29 years old and would like to go to medical school. My current GPA is a 2.71, but that factors in grade forgiveness for grades that are over 10 years old. I am currently enrolled in my last semester and will graduate with my AA (yes I know they’re worthless) and plan to transfer to a 4-year university. </p>

<p>What I would like to know is:</p>

<li><p>Will my current GPA be wiped once I enter upper-division? Could I then attend a local university for a year and then use that GPA to transfer to say, the University of Florida with a 4.0 versus what I have now?</p></li>
<li><p>Will a university take my past and present performance into account or is everything pretty much cut and dry, and based mainly on GPA. And will being a non-traditional student (I’m almost 30 remember) help me at all?</p></li>
<li><p>Would completing my upper-division courses with a 4.0 or close to that enable me to get accepted into a medical school? I am not unrealistic and realize that I could never get into Harvard, John Hopkins, etc, but I also do not want to end up in the Bahamas or something. Ideally I would like to enter University of Florida for medical school.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I look forward to any advice or criticism, positive or negative.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Congrats on your achievements! My fiance ran into very similar problems and is still trying to get back into the swing of things, I know it is hard.</p>

<p>1)</p>

<p>No, your GPA will follow you. When you apply for transfers and medical school, they will ask for all of your transcripts and average the GPA. If you get a 4.0 at your local U, I doubt it UFlorida will reject you due to a 2.7 at CC. You may want to look into UFlorida right now, many universities will automatically accept those with an associates, it does hold weight, especially for an adult student with a poor previous record (it shows that you can stick with something and overcome previous problems). </p>

<p>I am unsure if they will take into account your coursework from over 10 years ago, but even if they want to see it, I doubt it will be weighted much. </p>

<p>2) </p>

<p>Yes, universities are more forgiving towards non-traditional students. Normally this starts at most universities when you reach the age of 25. I would go and personally talk to admissions counselors at the schools you are looking into to explain your situation to fully. That way you can get to know them and evaluate your chances more easily. You may want to look into specific programs for non-traditional students. Some excellent universities will give you conditional admittance due to non-traditional status.</p>

<p>3)</p>

<p>I have no clue, I'm more familiar with non-professional graduate school admissions (I'm a PhD student), but I'd look into smaller medical schools that will take into account your whole story and is not purely numbers-based (again, I don't know where that may be).</p>

<p>Good luck! I wish you the best. :)</p>

3

<p>Thank you for your reply and kind words. I'm glad there is a place like this that I can turn to with my questions.</p>

<p>If anyone else has anything to add I am all ears.</p>