GPA and transferred credits - How does it all work?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Kevin La Barre, Mar 7, 2002.

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  1. Kevin La Barre

    Kevin La Barre New Member

    I've been lurking for a bit and now my questions begin. .. and there are quite a few, but for now we'll start with this one.

    First, some background on my situation. I have a couple years of college in which most of the classes were GE, some math, some CS; all working towards a BSCS. Being young and unfocused I didn't do as well as I wish I had. There are some good grades, some OK, and a couple I'd like to forget about. That was about 10 years ago and now I want to work towards a degree.

    I would like to know how the transfer of credits works in regards to the calculated GPA. I would like to keep my options open as far as my education goes beyond a BS and I don't want to be limited by a so-so GPA. Let me use an example to explain what I'm getting at. Let's say I took 4 classes at a school, of which I received an A in 3 of the classes, and Failed the fourth. If this transcript were submitted for review to be tranferred and the 3 A's were accepted for transfer, would my GPA with that new school start at 4.0 or will the GPA still reflect that F class which was not transferred?

    Now let's pretend that F was a C instead, making it a possible candidate for transfer. I would rather forget about that C class altogether and take another class than mess up my GPA. When you submit a transcript do you have any say in which classes you want reviewed for transfer, or will that C still detract from my GPA? Ideally I would like to pick all the classes in my transcript that I got acceptable grades in and only have those submitted for transfer. I realize that the school's admittance GPA requirement would look at my entire transcript for the GPA, but once I get my degree at the new school, I would rather those classes that were not transferred do not interfere.

    I'm even considering starting from scratch if necessary. Get an AA or AS by taking class #1, and then going from there.

    Any light on this subject would be greatly appreciated. =)

    Kevin
     
  2. Hille

    Hille Active Member

    GPA and transferred credits

    Hello, Your transcript is a legal document. The grade of F does not transfer. If I were you I would look at a credit display for each degree that you are considering at a college. If your short term goal is the higher GPA for a better graduate school choose the school and degree that will use your higher grades. I hope this gives you a starting point. Some colleges will forgive a F or D if taken over. That might be worth a try. Have a great weekend. Hille
     
  3. Andy Borchers

    Andy Borchers New Member

    Kevin - Good news. At least at many (if not most) schools, GPAs don't transfer. Typically, a GPA is based on courses taken at a given school, not at prior schools.

    Schools either accept the course for transfer or not. Typically, you need to have earned a C or better. The place you may lose ground is that some courses may not be consider equivalent to a course at your new school. In these cases they not grant credit or they may apply the course as an elective.

    Also, many schools require a minimum number of credits at their institution to graduate. Often, the requirement is at least one year of study. Regents, TESC, etc. may be exceptions to this.

    Regards - Andy

     
  4. kgec

    kgec New Member

    Re: Re: GPA and transferred credits - How does it all work?

    Edspeak for this process is "transfer articulation" and Andy is correct about GPAs. Most institutions only want to "grade" work that has been done with them. Anything prior is either acceptable or not.

    Good luck.

    TommyK
     
  5. Kevin La Barre

    Kevin La Barre New Member

    So, does this mean...

    I believe I understand so far. GPAs don't transfer.

    So, does this mean if I transfer a bunch of classes over to a new program, then under the new program earn a 4.0... I've graduated with a 4.0? I'm thinking about my education beyond the Bachelors, admission requirements, resume, etc. What I'm hearing is that once the credits are transferred, they don't affect the GPA at the new school at all; you just get credit for the transferred classes themselves.

    Kevin
     
  6. DCross

    DCross New Member

    Re: So, does this mean...

    For the most part, this is correct. However, If you apply to Law School or Perhaps Med School, they will want to know the combined GPA for the particular category they are asking for. They intend for you to look at all of the schools you attended.
     
  7. kgec

    kgec New Member

    Re: Re: So, does this mean...

    Actually that's probably true of most graduate programs. When I applied to grad school they wanted to see transcripts from everyplace I'd attended, including the two schools at which I'd taken one course each for my Regents/Excelsior degree. (Although come to think of it, Regents/Excelsior did count those grades as part of my GPA, while they counted everything transferred from my earlier work as "pass." I suspect that they are unusual in this regard.)

    Regards.
    Tommy K
     
  8. Kevin La Barre

    Kevin La Barre New Member

    Ugh.. that puts me in an odd position. After about 70 credits at one school I have a lousy GPA of 2.55 (Stupid unfocused kid at the time). Now I want to continue my education and finish my BSCS. It is very likely that I'll want to continue to a Masters program and beyond. On the low end I'm finding GPA requirements for Masters programs to be a 3.0. If they do intend at looking at all my transcripts and calculate things out... I'll have to pull a 3.5 average for the rest of my BSCS work. Very doable but I'll be cutting it close. Then if I ever want to continue beyond that, I know most Doc. programs require a 3.2 or better. To pull that off I need at least the 3.5 average, maybe 4.0 for the rest of my classes. Talk about stress.

    I hate to think about it one option is to scratch everything and do it all over via DL. Wasted money and time but GE and beginner CS classes should be a breeze now with my experience. This would allow me to pull out with a real GPA. .. just all that work and time.. ugh.

    Are there any other ways to bring a GPA up? Take some extra classes, etc.? Would these classes NEED to be part of the degree program for this to count, etc.? I have no problems doing some extra work. Five full time semesters to do over would hurt however.

    Funny how interests change as you grow up. *smacks himself on the back of the head*

    Kevin
     

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