What exactly do they mean by "last two years of coursework" for GPA?

[jriveracal]

Do they mean the last 60 units? [since 120 units for 4 years, cut in half would be 60 units for 2 years...]

For example, my last two years were not done at FT status...So would I be calculating the last 60 units? Are summers included in that?

Helllppppp

[TakeruK]

Usually, when schools say this, they are writing the instruction for "conventional" students that are full time, 30 units per year for 4 years. So the best answer for anyone not in this situation is to contact the school and ask what they want. If this is not possible for some reason, then I think you should try to report the GPA that is closest in spirit of "last two years" as defined above and let the school know what you did. 

For example, if you were attending at 60% time instead of full time then you probably want to report the most recent 60 units. If your school offers summer courses that are the same as the fall/winter versions and you took them in the summer due to your schedule, then I would include them. But some places don't offer regular courses in the summer, only fluff electives, so if including summer courses means including many more electives than the typical/convention situation above, you may want to reconsider including them. 

Also, if you were almost full-time but not quite, you might just report the last 2 years anyways. Especially if dipping past two years means including lower level courses and/or electives from another major etc. 

So all of this is really dependent on your course history. Again, ask the school if in doubt, otherwise try to apply the "spirit" of the request to your GPA calculation.

[jriveracal]

5 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

Usually, when schools say this, they are writing the instruction for "conventional" students that are full time, 30 units per year for 4 years. So the best answer for anyone not in this situation is to contact the school and ask what they want. If this is not possible for some reason, then I think you should try to report the GPA that is closest in spirit of "last two years" as defined above and let the school know what you did. 

For example, if you were attending at 60% time instead of full time then you probably want to report the most recent 60 units. If your school offers summer courses that are the same as the fall/winter versions and you took them in the summer due to your schedule, then I would include them. But some places don't offer regular courses in the summer, only fluff electives, so if including summer courses means including many more electives than the typical/convention situation above, you may want to reconsider including them. 

Also, if you were almost full-time but not quite, you might just report the last 2 years anyways. Especially if dipping past two years means including lower level courses and/or electives from another major etc. 

So all of this is really dependent on your course history. Again, ask the school if in doubt, otherwise try to apply the "spirit" of the request to your GPA calculation.

Thank you! Good idea about contacting the schools. I have a few P/NP courses [they were only offered as P/NP] so I am not sure if I should be counting those towards the "last two years" of units for my GPA, since they don't count towards GPA anyways. The difference could be between a 4.0 or a 3.91 so I think it may be best to just contact the schools individually.

[sociopolitic]

By the time applications are due, I won't yet have my grades for my 7th semester and won't have started my 8th. What GPA should I calculate? Just my 3rd year GPA, or 2nd-3rd years?

On 6/19/2018 at 12:47 PM, TakeruK said:

Usually, when schools say this, they are writing the instruction for "conventional" students that are full time, 30 units per year for 4 years. So the best answer for anyone not in this situation is to contact the school and ask what they want. If this is not possible for some reason, then I think you should try to report the GPA that is closest in spirit of "last two years" as defined above and let the school know what you did. 

For example, if you were attending at 60% time instead of full time then you probably want to report the most recent 60 units. If your school offers summer courses that are the same as the fall/winter versions and you took them in the summer due to your schedule, then I would include them. But some places don't offer regular courses in the summer, only fluff electives, so if including summer courses means including many more electives than the typical/convention situation above, you may want to reconsider including them. 

Also, if you were almost full-time but not quite, you might just report the last 2 years anyways. Especially if dipping past two years means including lower level courses and/or electives from another major etc. 

So all of this is really dependent on your course history. Again, ask the school if in doubt, otherwise try to apply the "spirit" of the request to your GPA calculation.

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by sociopolitic

[Sandmaster]

53 minutes ago, sociopolitic said:

By the time applications are due, I won't yet have my grades for my 7th semester and won't have started my 8th. What GPA should I calculate? Just my 3rd year GPA, or 2nd-3rd years?

 

2nd-3rd year probably.