Master's program GPA....

[Karina 07]

What's a good/bad GPA for a master's program?

If one's trying to rectify a low undergrad GPA?

Here's my boyf's new profile, in case he has to apply again (he's still on waitlists):

Undergrad: 3.33 (technically 3.28 but pushed up by AMCAS for uni courses done in high school....)
Grad: 3.51 (it was a one year course in genetics that's often used as a post-bacc type pre-med thing)
MCAT: was 33, he had to re-take cuz it was expiring and doesn't know yet what he got this time

Thanks!

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[armybound]

4.0 is good, 3.5ish and below not so good.

They expect you to do very well in a masters program. They don't count them like a post-bac or undergraduate degree either, so (I've heard) they place little importance on the master's grades, they just expect them to be good.

 

[Haemulon]

Yeh, I think I would agree with this. Grad grades do not count as much as undergrad grades, mainly because grad programs usually require a higher average to even continue in the program, let alone do well. The real benefit in grad studies lies in the experiences you get with upper level course work, research, teaching, grant writing, and other types of activities. It does help some to have good grad grades if your undergrad grades were less than stellar, but it is better to have good undergrad grades to begin with.

 

[brainfry]

I'm in a master's program and was wondering the same thing. All the profiles for students in grad programs I've seen on MDapps say 4.0, which is also my GPA. I think the grad grades would be more important because they would be a better indicator of how you would do in med school (more similar course difficulty.) If I was on an admissions committee, I would be more likely to take a person with a slightly lower undergrad GPA who excelled in a difficult master's program than a person with a 4.0 undergrad and less than 3.5 grad GPA. I also think an adcom would pay more attention to the most recent coursework. However... if his master's program wasn't a heavy hitter, I might be a bit concerned about the 3.5 That's just my opinion though.

Good luck to him!!!
S

 

[armybound]

I'm in a master's program and was wondering the same thing. All the profiles for students in grad programs I've seen on MDapps say 4.0, which is also my GPA. I think the grad grades would be more important because they would be a better indicator of how you would do in med school (more similar course difficulty.) If I was on an admissions committee, I would be more likely to take a person with a slightly lower undergrad GPA who excelled in a difficult master's program than a person with a 4.0 undergrad and less than 3.5 grad GPA. I also think an adcom would pay more attention to the most recent coursework. However... if his master's program wasn't a heavy hitter, I might be a bit concerned about the 3.5 That's just my opinion though.

Good luck to him!!!
S

Just make sure you write your essays to try to convince them that the masters grades are more important

 

[Nokternal7]

I have a masters in public health, and our program was graded on the "honors, high-pass, pass" system. These grades were not even assigned an AMCAS equivalent. So I don't think anyone really cares about your masters grades. It is widely known that there is grade inflation at the graduate level. I even spoke with the director of admissions of a medical school, and he said masters grades are not very important.

 

[Instatewaiter]

MPH is very different from a masters in say, biochemistry or another basic science just because it is less relevant to the types of courses you will take in medical school. That said there are plenty of people w/ MPHs in med school and in my class.

Everyone on SDN loves to say that masters grades don't count for much and that there is grade inflation. In reality, the courses are much more difficult than undergrad (and even than med school in some cases) but the slackers have been weeded out. So those who say it doesnt matter or won't count for much are plain wrong. In my med school class alone I can think of 20+ people who have been to a science based grad school.

People trying to go to med school (from grad school) realize that this is a last ditch opportunity and treat it as such. So the grades are higher, but they have been earned. At the same time there is no paucity of people who have gotten a high 3.x or 4.0.

So to answer the OPs question: generally you would like to have a 3.7 or above. A 3.5 won't stop you from getting in, but there are plenty of people who have 3.5 graduate GPAs.

 

[Karina 07]

Well, it was pure science courses, so hopefully that'll help?

His BCMP in undergrad sucked. It was something like 3.0, possibly even 2.98 or so.
It would really bite if they looked at this 3.5, filled with science courses of same/greater difficulty, and just didn't care about it at all .