3.7 vs 3.8

[625233]

Do med schools look at a 3.77-3.78 GPA, more so as a 3.7 or 3.8? I feel like I have no shot at top 20s that have a median GPA of 3.9/3.9.

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[NeuResurgens]

I think due to human perceptual tendencies, .78 will be seen as lower than .8 on first glance. Hopefully you can add a strong MCAT as well, because 3.78 is a pretty good GPA when combined with a great MCAT. You will find it difficult to be competitive at top schools, however, unless your MCAT is 36+ and you have good ECs.

 

[Pasmal]

I'd say they probably look at it as a 3.77-3.78...

As UNMedGa said, if you want a crack at top 20 then get a 36+.

 

[efle]

There are several Top 20s with very accessible median GPAs for you (for example Icahn 3.78, Michigan 3.79, Duke 3.80, UCSD and UCLA 3.77 and 3.78).

But without your MCAT score this is a moot discussion, because even 3.8+ is common, with over 25% of applicants in the 3.8-4.0 category in Table 24.

 

[ridethecliche]

I think they use an abacus ask they can conceptualize the difference.

 

[jsquared91]

Do med schools look at a 3.77-3.78 GPA, more so as a 3.7 or 3.8? I feel like I have no shot at top 20s that have a median GPA of 3.9/3.9.

Accepted at top 20 with a cGPA <3.75. sGPA was <3.8. Kill the MCAT.

 

[Goro]

You're in decent striking distance.

A good list can sometimes be just as important as the stats.

Do med schools look at a 3.77-3.78 GPA, more so as a 3.7 or 3.8? I feel like I have no shot at top 20s that have a median GPA of 3.9/3.9.

 

[GrapesofRath]

A simple MD applicant search will find you a bunch of applicants who had success getting into top 25 med schools with under a 3.8. Just because you find people who do, doesn't mean you can just rely on those examples coming true to you. The MCAT obviously is the key and there's no point even having this discussion without an MCAT score to reference but also important is to have something that makes you stand out when were talking about applying to top med schools. Extensive research with publications, strong clinical experience(say like working as an intraoperative neurophys assistant not say volunteering), leadership that really impacts a community, those are the types of things that make a difference on applications for top med schools not the difference between say a 3.83 and a 3.78.

 

[jl lin]

Most students seem to fear that the initial "lower" GPA will get them rejected/cut at first glance. Most adcoms do not work that way. Generally, an initial cut is based on a loose grouping of applications that just lead to "high" group (Exceptional, outstanding, must interview) "middle" (above average, solid) and "low" or similar spectrum. After secondaries, LOR then interviews, evaluations become less direct GPA driven (though still important) to more evaluation driven (opinion of readers, interviewers, and adcom) competitiveness of that year's pool and the dynamics of the committee.

This makes sense. Interview means they are now going to look at the whole picture, not just your GPA/MCAT screenshot.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Are you really fussing over a 3.7ish gpa?

 

[Hospitalized]

A GPA above 3.6 will not be the reason you don't get into medical school. It will be something else at that point.

 

[jl lin]

Have you seen @breakintheroof's MDApps profile, OP? A pretty good MCAT score and good ECs can easily "make up for" a 3.7-3.8 GPA.

Not to be off topic, but all I can say is thanks for the incredible avatar jb!

 

[tenniseagle92]

I got into two top 5 programs with a GPA in that range. I also had a 37+ MCAT, though.

 

[OrbitalOverload]

I had the same issue coming from a just-okay college. I slayed the MCAT when it came down to it. Received interviews at top 10s and 20s.

 

[Kay293T]

I had a 3.75 GPA from an no-name private school, and received 2 top 10 interviews.

Edit: These interviews were at Duke and WashU, to contradict @GrapesofRath "worst case" that an interview at an especially high average GPA school like WashU is not possible. I also agree with everyone that your MCAT score will be what tips the balance.

 

[625233]

3.78 = Harvard Medical School

3.77 = Dairy Queen

Work harder.

Hahahahaha

 

[625233]

I had a 3.75 GPA from an no-name private school, and received 2 top 10 interviews

That's very comforting, as I am also attending a no name private school.

 

[GrapesofRath]

This data is five years old but it basically dispels any wrong notion people have that you can't get into very good schools without at least a 3.8.

http://career.ucsd.edu/_files/ucsd-admits-2008-10.pdf

These are median GPAs. Half the class has a lower GPA than the one listed here. Some fantastic schools such as Emory, Case Western, Rochester, Maryland, UNC and Washington have median GPA's lower than 3.8.

Take this a step further and look at those with median GPAs even a bit over which means a sizeable number of students at that school have under a 3.8. Michigan: 3.84, NYU 3.8, Stanford 3.81, Columbia 3.82, UCLA 3.81.

Obviously far more with these stats get rejected than get accepted(just look at the numbers of UCSD kids that apply to some of these schools and get accepted: 1 kid out of 184 applicants from UCSD got into Jefferson Med School as an ex) but this nonsense you hear from alot of people that a 3.85+ GPA is mandatory to even apply to top schools is garbage.

 

[efle]

a 3.85+ GPA is mandatory to even apply to top schools is garbage.

MSAR publishes 10th-90th percentile GPA ranges, which for some of the very best schools are ~3.70-4.00, and the median is middle or a bit towards the upper end (eg. 3.92 Harvard, 3.87 Chicago and Wustl, 3.85 Stanford and Penn). If you're white (or god forbid Asian), coming from an average/unknown university, and lack some huge compensating factor like major research pubs, then yeah you're gonna have some issues applying with a 3.77

But again all of this is moot without an MCAT score

 

[GrapesofRath]

Do you have a link for the actual data; i doubt it has changed more than a couple hundreds of a point in terms of GPA over 4 or 5 years from when UCSD published that data. Like I said above the median GPA at a school like Michigan is 3.84, at a school like Emory it is a 3.76, at NYU it is 3.8. This from 2010(and I'm not talking about WASHU or Harvard, those schools yeah a 3.77 is a bit low). Of course there are going to be a number of kids with a 3.77 at Emory or NYU and not all of them will be from top private schools, its simple math.

Are there many kids with 3.77's who don't get into top schools, and heck even struggle to get into med school at all? Of course. To give some rather meaningless anecdotal evidence, I have a good friend who did not get into ANY med school this past year with a 3.8 and two publications. I also have another one who is going to Case Western next year with a 3.58 from a state school(not a URM). Many factors are at play. No MCAT makes all this moot like you said; the kid going to Case Western had a 36 on his MCAT while the one who got shut out from everywhere with a 33 MCAT and a 8 on the verbal(after retaking a 7).

But this idea people have that a certain GPA like 3.85 is mandatory is nonsense. There's a middle ground but the bottom line is just to apply. A 3.77 at worst will exclude you only from the very top schools like WASHU with a 3.91 median GPA, Harvard with a 3.87 or Johns Hopkins with a 3.89 to name a few.