RE: What sort of GPA do you need to get into medical school?

The higher the better. Its not all about the GPA though. You have to be well rounded with good MCAT scores, volunteering, leadership positions, a good essay, and other extra-curricular activities. Stay active and involved in your school if you want to help boost your odds. If you're finding freshman year hard you'd better keep hitting the books; don't expect classes to get any easier!!

That being said, I am not in med school (considering it and keeping it an option as a junior) but my girlfriend is gung-ho on getting in so I get to hear about the requirements a lot! She doesn't have the greatest GPA but she paid her entire way through undergrad, is graduating this year (3 years) and has a shit ton of extra-curriculars, volunteering, and drive! Since she doesn't think she will get in straight out of undergrad she is looking at one year grad programs that gaurantee you an interview at their respective med school if you graduate with a 3.5 or better.

The average GPA for those accepted to US MD schools is pretty close to 3.7. Keep in mind that they also calculate your science GPA separately so that you can't get away with lots of "padding" with fluff classes.

Of course, if you want to become a doctor, undergrad is the easy part. If you're shying away because you are afraid to work hard, you probably will not enjoy the practice of medicine.

I had a 3.67 and was slightly below average GPAwise for my school. I had a 35 on my MCAT however with 14PS, 12verbal, 9Bio. Ironically, now that I am in medical school biology is my best subject. Most medical students have a 3.8+ in undergrad, but they will let in a few people in the 3.3-3.5 range if they have astronomical MCAT scores. My advice is to take classes that are intellectually challenging. I went to a pretty competitive liberal arts school and took a lot of philosophy, religion, and literature in addition to my core science classes (I was a chem major). Despite what many people might lead you to believe, medical school is not all about memorization. In fact, understanding concepts is paramount because there is way to much information to ever explicitly remember. Therefore, building your critical thinking skills in undergrad is way more important than taking excess science classes, such as anatomy, where you are learning things at a superficial level anyway.

Maker of Procrastination Juice wrote:

If any letsrunners got into med school, I'm just wondering what sort of grades you had.

I'm a freshmen, and trying to do decide if I should go as pre-med. The courses seem pretty challenging, but if I need a 3.9-4.0 in these hard classes then I'll go a different route.

(Sorry for making you my advisor(s), mine a school is botanist..)

I got in with a 3.89 but know people who got in with much less. It really depends on where you want to go and what you get on your MCAT. Get a 35+ on your MCAT and you will have a good shot of getting in with a 3.5 or so. You'll probably find some better advice here:

be warned though, many of the posters at that sight are extreme type A "gunners" so take their advice/criticism with a grain of salt.

This thread might be especially helpful:

download the selector spread sheet and you can get a pretty good idea of what it takes GPA and MCAT wise.

Good luck.

Persistence is probably the important thing. If have a 3.0-3.5 and a decent MCAT and you keep going like that master's and post-bac poster, you'll get in eventually. The question is how long can you persist.

Worry about your GPA and MCAT.

One of the most ridiculous myths about grad schools is that they care about "extracurriculars".

Business schools might care a little, and they might break ties, but numbers carry the day.

Take a look at the stats for some med schools that you might be interested in attending. You might be able to find them online, but the med school guide books will give all the info you need. They'll list average overall GPA, average GPA for core classes, MCAT, etc for all accepted students over the past year or two.

You don't have to major in pre-med (if your school has it) to be pre-med. Just fulfill the requirements.

The medical school that I'm thinking of weights the junior year (I think 3x) the most and the freshman year the least in order to reward improvement. The thing is, I've done progressively worse as school has gone on going from a 3.9 to a 3.4. Am I screwed?

I am also thinking of pharmacy school. Maybe it would suit me more. What would that be like? Are there jobs in the pharmaceutical industry for PharmD degree holders? I have studied abroad and wonder if I could get a job at a Swiss or French pharma company. Is that possible?

........................... wrote:

Worry about your GPA and MCAT.

One of the most ridiculous myths about grad schools is that they care about "extracurriculars".

Business schools might care a little, and they might break ties, but numbers carry the day.

I think that you're clueless.

Bear of Bad News wrote:

........................... wrote:

Worry about your GPA and MCAT.

One of the most ridiculous myths about grad schools is that they care about "extracurriculars".

Business schools might care a little, and they might break ties, but numbers carry the day.

I think that you're clueless.

No, that poster's basically right.... they have to be there, but for the vast majority of the people applying they don't matter that much (exceptionally good/bad soft factors can help or hurt, but obviously that isn't where most people fall).

........................... wrote:

Worry about your GPA and MCAT.

One of the most ridiculous myths about grad schools is that they care about "extracurriculars".

Business schools might care a little, and they might break ties, but numbers carry the day.[/quote]

I sit on an admission committee at an "middle" tier medical school. What you don't learn as an undergrad is that we take the best GPA's and MCAT scores and put them in order from high-low. The only time we care about extracurricular activities is when your competing against someone on equal score, we want to see how had high scores while being well rounded.

So, if your GPA is below 3.4 and your applying with average MCAT scores...you are applying with a disadvantage to others. Do people think they get to be a doctor based on life experience? Hell NO! We want well rounded people with test scores that surpass their peers.

Bear of Bad News wrote:

........................... wrote:

Worry about your GPA and MCAT.

One of the most ridiculous myths about grad schools is that they care about "extracurriculars".

Business schools might care a little, and they might break ties, but numbers carry the day.

I think that you're clueless.

Whatever. Apply to Harvard Law, or Stanford Medical, or an MIT post-grad Engineering program with a 3.2 GPA and see how much they care that you ran track and volunteered at a homeless shelter 4 times a year.

He is mostly right. They screen based on the numbers. For med school, its GPA and MCAT. If you don't get through the first round of cuts, your extracurriculars won't even be looked at. Worry first about a high MCAT and GPA. Extracurriculars, especially those with a direct tie to clinical medicine are great. But above all, be able to have a conversation with somebody--about something other than schoolwork. Not just for the interview, but just to be a halfway balanced person.

........................... wrote:

Whatever. Apply to Harvard Law, or Stanford Medical, or an MIT post-grad Engineering program with a 3.2 GPA and see how much they care that you ran track and volunteered at a homeless shelter 4 times a year.

An acquaintance of mine applied to the same program at MIT that I applied to. He had a lower GPA, but had started a successful non-profit community development corporation. He got in and I didn't because he had done something impressive outside of the classroom.

I'm not saying that GPA and test scores aren't important, but I think that your post is an incredible over generalization. There are very few things that you can say about admissions at "grad schools" as a group. There are differences between fields. There are differences between individual schools within fields. There are differences between faculty at individual schools.

seebelcherrun wrote:

He is mostly right. They screen based on the numbers. For med school, its GPA and MCAT. If you don't get through the first round of cuts, your extracurriculars won't even be looked at. Worry first about a high MCAT and GPA. Extracurriculars, especially those with a direct tie to clinical medicine are great. But above all, be able to have a conversation with somebody--about something other than schoolwork. Not just for the interview, but just to be a halfway balanced person.

I agree with this. Worry first about MCAT and GPA and then extracurricular. I disagree that extracurricular don't matter at all.

I got in with around a 3.5? Not entirely sure because I went to two schools that had slightly different scales for grading. I had about a 3.2 my first half and a 3.88 in the second. My science GPA was pretty low (maybe a 3.25) due mainly to 2 C's in organic a B- in Botany (ugh kill me), but I was a science major who did well in the 2nd half in my upper level classes. However, my saving grace was my MCAT 35- 13 bio, 12 phyiscal, 10 verbal... without that realistically I would have had no chance to get in that cycle. I also did no research, volunteering, and minimal shadowing while in college (tho I did do some the spring semester after I graduated). MCAT COUNTS.

I have very a very similar gpa and gpa trend and nearly identical MCAT to yours. I applied and didn't get in last year - I'm applying again after working a year at a hospital. Do you have any specific advice for interviews/explaining weak 1st years/etc.?

Medical school has long been my dream, and it still is. I am at a prestigious ivy-league (but not ivy) caliber school that is rigorous and I have struggled mightily my first semester but am turning it around. I will probably get a C- in my first semester of Bio and a B in calculus. Medical school is my dream, but realistically, should I try something else, or could I improve a eventually get into an MD or DO program without getting straight A+ from now on?