Last 60 hours - start at 60 earned or count back?

[speechietobe]

Hi everyone!

I just made an account to post this question but I stalk the site quite frequently

 

So most of the schools that I'm interested in applying to at the end of fall semester say they look at the last 60 hours GPA. I always assumed that that meant that they counted back from the last semester you finished before applying- I'm applying after fall semester, so I thought they would include that semester of 15 hours, and then my previous 3 semesters to equal 60. 

 

However, I emailed someone at Florida State because I had a question and she ended up telling me that, for FSU, they actually start counting at the 60th credit hour that you earn and include everything after that. 

 

I was pursuing a different degree before CSD, so after my 60th hour I will have an additional 90 hours not just another 60. The difference in my GPA when calculated FSUs way versus the way I had assumed is substantial, so I was just curious if anyone knew if that was just the way FSU does it or if that's the standard way to calculate last 60.

 

Thank you so much and good luck to everyone!

[twinguy7]

That is the first time I have heard it being counted that way. So I guess other schools could count it differently as well, but I think a majority count the last 60 units no matter what. As for FSU, maybe you could put your last 60 GPA in your statement letter to highlight how well you did the last actually 60 units. Just a thought!

[speechietobe]

Thank you @twinguy7 that's a great idea! My last 60 hours counted backwards will end up somewhere between a 3.8 and a 3.95, but my last 60 counted FSU's way is a 3.58, which is a pretty significant difference so I was kind of panicking! Hopefully if I address it in my statement they'll see that I received nearly all A's in my CSD related classes and ignore that awful semester of C's in my business classes that I detested!

[jpiccolo]

I had a professor tell a class they did the last 60 earned (probably before applying) but it would exclude certain classes. If I remember right it would focus on classes that were 3-4 credits but not any that were 1 or half credit music ensembles or exercise classes or easy filler classes. I guess the focus would be major classes and GE classes which is more indicative of your academic abilities instead of fun easy elective classes. Luckily those classes helped boost my overall gpa which is higher than my comd gpa.