do med schools factor in difficulty of a major when looking at gpa?

[ser1218]

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I can't help but think that it is more difficult to have a high gpa in certain majors, particularly in a field such as engineering. Do med schools take that into consideration?

 

[Neuronix]

For the most part, no, medical schools don't take this into much consideration. There may be some consideration at the deciding whether to accept stage, but your 3.0 Engineering GPA from MIT is still going to hurt you significantly vs. a 4.0 state school psych major. Sorry.

 

[pekq]

med schools want a diversity of majors. You'll basically be competing with other psych majors if you are a psych major. So if you are psych, better have a 4.0. If engineer, you can get away with a lower GPA unless all other engineer applicants have 4.0s.

 

[stoic]

For the most part, no, medical schools don't take this into much consideration. There may be some consideration at the deciding whether to accept stage, but your 3.0 Engineering GPA from MIT is still going to hurt you significantly vs. a 4.0 state school psych major. Sorry.

I disagree. I know several Chem E's who got into med school with GPA's in the 3.0 to 3.2 range. They had MCAT's from 27-31 and pretty much average applications.

And honestly, enginering is harder than biology (I can't even spell it). I'm confident that adcoms understand this.

 

[Shades McCool]

Yep, as a former chemical engineer, molecular biology is a joke in comparison.

 

[dhoonlee]

.

 

[Shades McCool]

A 3.5 in ChemE is better than a 3.5 in all Biology derivatives. When you stop and think about it, there is nothing hard about biology. Just material to learn. Now in engineering, haha, those tests were interesting to say the least.

 

[derf]

For the most part, no, medical schools don't take this into much consideration. There may be some consideration at the deciding whether to accept stage, but your 3.0 Engineering GPA from MIT is still going to hurt you significantly vs. a 4.0 state school psych major. Sorry.

definitely disagree here. many schools say straight up they consider the difficulty of the school and major, although i agree that a 3.0 in anything won't get you far.

 

[davedavedave]

at my case interview, my interviewer was very impressed by my gpa (3.7 something) given the difficulty of my biomed major... so i think (and hope) difficulty of major is taken into account, provided u pass the initial numbers screen

 

[evajaclynn]

I disagree. I know several Chem E's who got into med school with GPA's in the 3.0 to 3.2 range. They had MCAT's from 27-31 and pretty much average applications.

And honestly, enginering is harder than biology (I can't even spell it). I'm confident that adcoms understand this.

GOOD, because I am a ChemE major and though I did awesome in my bio courses, the chemical engineering courses kicked me in the butt. 😀

 

[oldman]

if you look at the MSAR you can see the breakdowns by major. i remember seeing the biomed engineers almost all got into med school.

 

[i61164]

How Med Schools come up with the REAL GPA:

Major: Adjustment

Math/Physics: +.3
Engineering: +.2
Biology: +0
Political Science: -.1
Agricultural Science: -.2
Drama/Dance: -.3

 

[evajaclynn]

How Med Schools come up with the REAL GPA:

Major: Adjustment

Math/Physics: +.3
Engineering: +.2
Biology: +0
Political Science: -.1
Agricultural Science: -.2
Drama/Dance: -.3

Where did that info come from?!

 

[Pinkertinkle]

The wild blue yonder no doubt. Here's one thing thats for sure: computer screens don't care much for your major. Anything below a 3.0 no matter how hard the school/major will have a hard time getting past the UC screens, at the very least.

 

[i61164]

Where did that info come from?!

That's straight out of the "Secret ADCOM member training manual."

 

[jammin06]

That's straight out of the "Secret ADCOM member training manual."

what bout a double major in biomed and religious studies (kinda lookin into medical ethics as a part of the reli major)

 

[evajaclynn]

That's straight out of the "Secret ADCOM member training manual."

OOOOOOHHHHH! Sure, the "SECRET ADCOM member training manual". Every new ADCOM gets one of those as part of their initiation. Wonder if they haze?