ADCOMS look at sopomore/junoir years more?

[Chris127]

I talked with an advisor today about potentially dropping my chem class. We went over a few things, and eventually she told me that when applying to med school, as long as my GPA is reasonable (>3.4, I geuss?), then the adcoms will be looking at my sopomore/junoir grades and the grades I recieved in those upper level courses.

Is this true?

 

[thegymbum]

My freshman year, first semester, I was a slacker and got just below a 3.0. That was sort of a big wake up call, so I started working my butt off, got overly stressed, got really sick, missed nearly half the semester. Coming out of my freshman year, my gpa was well sub-3.0. But fortunately I hadn't really taken any important classes. Since then, however, I've gotten a 4.0, including summer classes and in all my pre med requirements, and now have like a 3.65.. I was talking with my pre med advisor, and he was saying that a lot of schools would look at the improvement and really like what they saw, maybe even better than just having the same #'s all across the board, since it sort of shows that I really "got my act together" and made a big improvement, etc. And I've gotten similar answers to everyone else who I've spoken with about it.. so I'd say that an improvement would definately be an asset

 

[solitude]

My freshman year, first semester, I was a slacker and got just below a 3.0. That was sort of a big wake up call, so I started working my butt off, got overly stressed, got really sick, missed nearly half the semester. Coming out of my freshman year, my gpa was well sub-3.0. But fortunately I hadn't really taken any important classes. Since then, however, I've gotten a 4.0, including summer classes and in all my pre med requirements, and now have like a 3.65.. I was talking with my pre med advisor, and he was saying that a lot of schools would look at the improvement and really like what they saw, maybe even better than just having the same #'s all across the board, since it sort of shows that I really "got my act together" and made a big improvement, etc. And I've gotten similar answers to everyone else who I've spoken with about it.. so I'd say that an improvement would definately be an asset

Schools will definitely give you more credit than the 3.65, but I think it's a stretch to say that you will get more love than someone who got the same 4.0's (or close) across the board. While you both probably deserve the same consideration, schools sometimes resort to mere numbers at times, and in that sense, the other guy would get nod. Great job on pulling up though!

to the OP: yes, schools will consider your other years grades somewhat more. But like I said, part of this is a numbers game, and you will need to make pre-secondary GPA cutoffs, and the actual number (not just trends) will factor in later. In the end, I think the freshman GPA is worth a lot more than some people claim: 1/3 of your AMCAS GPA. Which is to say, a lot.