The Office for Academic & Pre-Professional Advising is closely monitoring how COVID-19 is affecting our allied health students as they transition to professional health schools.
The grading policy changes that have been implemented for the Spring 2020 semester are in line with our peer institutions; however, we cannot say at this point what the long term effects will be.
At this time, not all professional schools are making exceptions and/or changes to their admissions policies. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you contact your prospective professional schools directly to learn what, if any, changes are being made to their admissions policies due to COVID-19. They may give you some insight as to how they are viewing the decision to change your grade to P/F.
Additionally, before deciding whether or not to change your grade to P/F, we recommend you consider the following:
- Courses that are taken as P/F are not factored into your science GPA, your cumulative GPA, your prerequisite GPA, or your overall GPA. This places greater emphasis on the courses that have not been taken as P/F. It may also affect other distinctions or honors.
- For applicants that choose to take some prerequisites as P/F, greater emphasis may be placed on standardized tests like the PCAT or GRE.
- In an interview or personal statement, you may need to speak to your decision to conceal a basic metric of your performance. Doing so may mask an important piece of evidence that speaks to your UMBC grit and determination.
Keep in mind that in choosing to enter the health professions field, you have already made the decision to enter a challenging working environment, where circumstances may not always be ideal. You will need to perform where there are no P/F grade change options. You will be judged on your patients’ well-being and in some cases, their survival. Cultivating the ability to stay focused and motivated to do your best will benefit you and your patients in the long run.
We in the Office for Academic & Pre-Professional Advising are here to support you. If you would like to schedule an appointment with an advisor in our office to talk about your next steps or you need advice on your next steps, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can find the link to our page to schedule an appointment HERE