Cumulative GPA vs. Individual grades and Freshman Year

[Hejman]

Good morning SDN,
I have three general questions. What matters more to the adcom; the cumulative gpa/science gpa or grades in individual classes. I ask because although my cumulative/science is competitive (>3.8) I have two or three B grades,(in prereqs Sophomore year) and a C+, in a prereq freshman year.

My second question is, does freshman year count? I know, for instance, that at MIT, the entire freshman year is graded Pass/Fail, and even if you take Organic chem and/or physics/or other pre-reqs during that year, medical schools do not request letter grades from that year. (This might be due to receiving AP/IB credit for gen chem, etc.) This is somewhat unfair, in my opinion, but it also lends some credibility to the statement that freshman year grades are not too significant in the big picture.

The last question I have is, will adcoms screen out my app and consider me in a different light than people who have no C+/B grades in their pre-reqs, but have the same GPA as me? This could happen if the person received a few A- grades in non-pre-reqs/pre-reqs.

In other words, if I have a 3.9 with the aforementioned grades, and another person has a 3.9 with a few A- grades, and the MCAT is more or less the same, what happens? Are we considered in the same light academically? I would hope so

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[OhioDoc]

Good morning SDN,
I have three general questions. What matters more to the adcom; the cumulative gpa/science gpa or grades in individual classes. I ask because although my cumulative/science is competitive (>3.8) I have two or three B grades,(in prereqs Sophomore year) and a C+, in a prereq freshman year.

My second question is, does freshman year count? I know, for instance, that at MIT, the entire freshman year is graded Pass/Fail, and even if you take Organic chem and/or physics/or other pre-reqs during that year, medical schools do not request letter grades from that year. (This might be due to receiving AP/IB credit for gen chem, etc.) This is somewhat unfair, in my opinion, but it also lends some credibility to the statement that freshman year grades are not too significant in the big picture.

The last question I have is, will adcoms screen out my app and consider me in a different light than people who have no C+/B grades in their pre-reqs, but have the same GPA as me? This could happen if the person received a few A- grades in non-pre-reqs/pre-reqs.

In other words, if I have a 3.9 with the aforementioned grades, and another person has a 3.9 with a few A- grades, and the MCAT is more or less the same, what happens? Are we considered in the same light academically? I would hope so

It's tough to say whether individual grades, the cumulative GPA (cGPA), or science (sGPA) is more important. Let's put it this way though - a bad cGPA or sGPA will likely get you screened out, but a somewhat below average single grade (C+) will not (unless of course, you have a lot of these). That being said, schools might ask about these single instances of poorer grades on the secondary/interview, so be prepared to answer the question.

Freshman year does matter. Schools will take into account upward (or for that matter, downward) trends in your grades, but you can't just blow off a single year.

 

[Hejman]

Thanks for the reply. So I wont be hurt in any way by three or four mediocre grades early in my college career?

 

[sonia1177]

Thanks for the reply. So I wont be hurt in any way by three or four mediocre grades early in my college career?

My freshman year was a challenging experience. And yes, I did have some B's that year. I would say it is fine as long as you demonstrated a strong upward trend (you said your GPA is 3.9 so that's very good). But like the poster above me said, make sure you have some reasons to explain why those grades were lower than your other grades. I think the science, cumulative, and individual grades are all important, minor/rare hiccups will probably questioned but your application probably won't be extremely scrutinized because of those grades since your GPA is very strong. Good Luck