Do medical schools look at individual grades?

[bluefire185]

I understand the overall GPA is important to medical schools. Do they also look at individual grades or just the semester's GPA and move on to another semester's GPA? I completed the first semester, and my GPA isn't THAT bad for the first semester--3.57. But the only thing that brought my GPA low is C+ in chemistry lab. Will medical schools say "Oh he got a C+ in chemistry lab" or "He got 3.57 the first semester"? 3.57 doesn't sound TOO bad (although it isn't as good as 3.6 or higher) for the first semester unless you find out that C+ is included in that GPA. Any advice?

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[EBI831]

they look at individual grades too. sorry buddy. i know this b/c at my interview i had to explain a B- in physics.

 

[airshad8]

they look at individual grades too. sorry buddy. i know this b/c at my interview i had to explain a B- in physics.

Yeah...I've heard similar. Thought in terms of interviews it just depends. Not all interviewers will ask you about your grades, from what I've read on the interview feedback forums, it seems many people have a pretty chill time. But you can bet the adcomm look at individual grades.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

They do look at individual grades, so you may have to explain that grade - it's certainly not fatal. I was an older non-trad, and I got questions about grades that were 20 years old!!

However, if you're all thumbs in lab, you need to work on improving. It's a common rumor, but I do believe that your organic chemistry grades get a little extra scrutiny. It's a tougher science and it requires you to do some more advanced thinking as will be needed in medical school. You don't want poor Orgo lab grades, and microscale orgo experiments take a little bit of skill.

 

[datsa]

Yuck. I just took Orgo for the 3rd time (got a D, then a C -- both in 1985). Retook it again, just missed an A and got a B. Very frustrating.

These aren't the first B's in post-Bacc. I also got a B in Gen Chem II, Calculus II, and Physics I. I can't seem to do anything right no matter how much I study.

So what to do next? Obviously, get better grades. But I can't undo those B grades.

Can more upper division work compensate for mediocre grades in the pre-reqs? Or have I just killed my chances?

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Can more upper division work compensate for mediocre grades in the pre-reqs? Or have I just killed my chances?

Good heavens, yes, some A's in upper-division science courses will pull your GPA right up. A "B" in organic is nothing to be ashamed of! Good luck.

 

[GujuMD]

Yes...the school looks at individual grades especially for the pre-req courses.

 

[bluefire185]

Yes, I need to improve, although it may be quite difficult to do that, especially at my school. The general chemistry lab is curved to 84%, and the highest grade is B+ (it was an A but thanks to the curve). I'm really worried about orgo lab because it's much worse than general chem lab. Actually, 50% of the lab students get a C!

 

[szhao]

we can ask the question do they look at, at least 32 different grades (4.0 credits, 128 to graduate) or do they examine a single number. i think either end is fairly radical, in particular there is a loss of information from 32 distinct variables to one distinct variable (though not perfect class as grades tend to be correlated). therefore, the answer perhaps should be somewhere in between, perhaps science GPA w/ gpa trend, and subject wise grades (ie. orgo, gen chem, physics, biology)