3.68 vs 3.70

[Hopetocure2012]

How much worse does a 3.68 vs a 3.70 look to a medical school? Would this and a 38 MCAT be competitive for top school, or is it important to have the 3.7?

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[Double Trouble]

How much worse does a 3.68 vs a 3.70 look to a medical school? Would this and a 38 MCAT be competitive for top school, or is it important to have the 3.7?

Idk... psychologically they aren't going to see the 3.7X or whatever but I mean its just a 0.02 difference

And I think for top schools (or any school), your ECs and interview matter as well.

 

[dreamweaver1988]

How much worse does a 3.68 vs a 3.70 look to a medical school? Would this and a 38 MCAT be competitive for top school, or is it important to have the 3.7?

A 38 is your ticket out of any messy situation. Seriously, that's like 99th percentile. As long as your GPA > 3.5 with that MCAT, and you have good ECs, you're good to go.

 

[SpecterGT260]

I dont think .02 is going to be a messy situation unless we are talking top schools only.

 

[Stumpyman]

Good God... this should be #SDNproblems

 

[wololololololo]

With your numbers at a top school, it's all about the ECs brah. In addition to your typical ECs you need your 'I'm unique' schtick to hook your reader, so get started on becoming state watermelon juggling champion. It's a roll of the dice.

 

[music2doc]

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[Hopetocure2012]

Would taking 9 credit hours in the summer of 100 level courses (assuming get all A's) to get grades by June 23 be worth it? Or is it better to apply on June 1 with the 3.68?

 

[Stumpyman]

Would taking 9 credit hours in the summer of 100 level courses (assuming get all A's) to get grades by June 23 be worth it?

No.

 

[Hopetocure2012]

This is to get a 3.7, thus you are saying it is better to apply on June 1 with the 3.68?

 

[Stumpyman]

This is to get a 3.7, thus you are saying it is better to apply on June 1 with the 3.68?

It's not so much the date that matters, but the fact that you'll be jacking up your GPA with intro courses (and med school adcoms can see right through that). And try finding other things in your application you can work on, no one will careabout a 0.02 difference in GPA.

 

[Hopetocure2012]

Thank you for the reply.

 

[LizzyM]

It's not so much the date that matters, but the fact that you'll be jacking up your GPA with intro courses (and med school adcoms can see right through that). And try finding other things in your application you can work on, no one will careabout a 0.02 difference in GPA.

All true, but if a school sorts by gpa the cut point is going to be 3.59/3.60, 3.69/3.70 and so forth so the 0.02 does matter.

For someone with a 38, the 0.02 might not make as much as a difference as it would for someone whose MCAT is closer to the 60the percentile.

 

[tantacles]

All true, but if a school sorts by gpa the cut point is going to be 3.59/3.60, 3.69/3.70 and so forth so the 0.02 does matter.

For someone with a 38, the 0.02 might not make as much as a difference as it would for someone whose MCAT is closer to the 60the percentile.

heeeeeey. That's me. Wish I had gotten it up to a 3.6 . . .

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Would taking 9 credit hours in the summer of 100 level courses (assuming get all A's) to get grades by June 23 be worth it? Or is it better to apply on June 1 with the 3.68?

Submitting on June 1st is the way to go. I submitted June 22nd and those who submitted the earliest date started getting interviews a month or two earlier than I did. The small GPA boost won't help you enough.

 

[pooghe]

There is no difference between those two GPAs for a top tier med school. What will make or break your application are your ECs and experiences.

 

[SpecterGT260]

Just don't make the mistake of thinking numbers alone will get you in. I did that and had to reapply after getting my volunteer on for a year.

 

[Hopetocure2012]

Do you really think some schools would really "cutoff" a person who has a 3.68/69 versus a 3.70 GPA? Do you think I should e-mail some admins to see if raising it to a 3.7 would matter?

 

[abruzz75]

Putting aside the OP's situation of also having a 38, more generally speaking, do you think medical schools actually put aside the psychological impact of the difference between a 3.59 and a 3.6 and simply see it as just a 0.01 difference? I would hope that they just act like computers and just see it as a 0.01 difference, but there might be a human element to looking at the difference that might put those at a 3.59 at a disadvantage.

I know, as someone above said, #SDNproblems. But it's interesting to think about.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Idk... psychologically they aren't going to see the 3.7X or whatever but I mean its just a 0.02 difference

And I think for top schools (or any school), your ECs and interview matter as well.

It's true about human nature. It looks "prettier" as a 3.7 than a 3.68 even though they are both pretty much the same score.

 

[maybemed2013]

OMG I am in the same situation as you I have a 3.75 and was considering taking more classes to raise my gpa to a 3.7.

 

[seafood92]

agreed. #SDNproblems