Do the medical schools ever care about your high school marks ?

[tennisball80]

What if I am applying to an american medical school with a undergrad degree from the U.S, do the medical schools still look at your high school grades and extracurricular activities completed during high schoool years ?

My high school grades and extracurricular activities are not that great 🙁. But I will start to work very hard in college.

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[DrYoda]

No, with regards to grades and extracurriculars college is a clean slate.

 

[yeasterbunny]

I had one school ask about for my high school transcript/ACT scores. Duke I think?

 

[LossForWords]

One school I applied to had a place on the secondary application to fill out leadership/extra curricular activities from high school. I'm not sure how much they factor into the admissions but might be more for talking points during interviews.

 

[deleted74029]

For 95% of schools high school doesn't matter at all. For the 5% that do consider it, its probably so minute that you can just consider it negligible.

 

[kdburton]

no

 

[BloodySurgeon]

If you continued your high school extracurricular activities in your college career then that would be something you could mention on your medical school application, but this is entirely optional. Excluding rare occasions, medical schools do not care about your high school career including grades and extracurricular activities unless it is somehow tied to your college years (i.e., if you have been fencing since you were five and now you are an All-American fencer in college, it may help to mention that you had been dedicated to this long-term goal and you had succeeded in obtaining it). Once you start college, you truly have a clean slate. So if you are worried that your off at a bad start, don't worry, you will always have a second chance in college.

 

[GoGreen]

I applied to med school last year and was put on the waiting list at my top choice. I waited for nine months, only to hear on the first day of classes that I was not accepted. I visited their office on numerous occassions, had a solid MCAT score, etc. I was told that the only thing 'wrong' on my application was my high school grades. I took some classes for dual enrollment credit (through a community college) in high school, so I had to report them on my AMCAS grades. I didn't do very well in them, so I retook all of those science classes in college. Unfortunately, the admissions committee didn't look at the breakdown of my grades, so they didn't see the separation between my high school and college grades.

I'm now reapplying and talking to the admissions counselors even more to assure that this doesn't happen again!!

 

[HumidBeing]

I applied to med school last year and was put on the waiting list at my top choice. I waited for nine months, only to hear on the first day of classes that I was not accepted. I visited their office on numerous occassions, had a solid MCAT score, etc. I was told that the only thing 'wrong' on my application was my high school grades. I took some classes for dual enrollment credit (through a community college) in high school, so I had to report them on my AMCAS grades. I didn't do very well in them, so I retook all of those science classes in college. Unfortunately, the admissions committee didn't look at the breakdown of my grades, so they didn't see the separation between my high school and college grades.

I'm now reapplying and talking to the admissions counselors even more to assure that this doesn't happen again!!

Yes, even though the courses taken purely for high school credit lose any significance once you are in college, the courses taken for dual-credit stick with you whether or not you use them for transfer credit. Those wind up factored into your GPA when you apply to med school.

 

[yeasterbunny]

I applied to med school last year and was put on the waiting list at my top choice. I waited for nine months, only to hear on the first day of classes that I was not accepted. I visited their office on numerous occassions, had a solid MCAT score, etc. I was told that the only thing 'wrong' on my application was my high school grades. I took some classes for dual enrollment credit (through a community college) in high school, so I had to report them on my AMCAS grades. I didn't do very well in them, so I retook all of those science classes in college. Unfortunately, the admissions committee didn't look at the breakdown of my grades, so they didn't see the separation between my high school and college grades.

I'm now reapplying and talking to the admissions counselors even more to assure that this doesn't happen again!!

This is kind of a special exception case. In general it is a very true statement that your med school doesn't give a rat's ass what your grades were like in high school. The only difference it makes is to get you into a good undergrad program, and of course people who are lazy and/or stupid in high school often tend to repeat it in undergrad.

 

[yeasterbunny]

If, that is, the above scenario is even true. I admit my first reaction on reading the post was: TROLL.

In general med schools are not going to tell you why they did not accept you.

 

[docB]

If, that is, the above scenario is even true. I admit my first reaction on reading the post was: TROLL.

In general med schools are not going to tell you why they did not accept you.

One thing about SDN and the internet in general is that anytime you make a blanket statement like "Med schools never care about HS grades." someone will pop up with an anecdote to refute it. I don't think he's trolling, he just had an unusual situation that contradicts the prevailing wisdom. I agree with and would expand on what ejay 286 said about the instances where your HS grades matter being either very rare or of negligible impact.

 

[tennisball80]

Thanks you guys replying on this thread so far. 🙂

 

[GoGreen]

This is kind of a special exception case. In general it is a very true statement that your med school doesn't give a rat's ass what your grades were like in high school. The only difference it makes is to get you into a good undergrad program, and of course people who are lazy and/or stupid in high school often tend to repeat it in undergrad.

Thank you for the vote of confidence, yeastebunny. I admit I made some mistakes in high school, but at the time I wasn't completely decided on going to medical school and I certainly didn't think that taking courses for dual enrollment credit was going to hurt me later down the road.

Also, I am not a troll. I've been lurking on SDN for several years, but when I saw this post I knew I had to respond from my personal experience. Maybe it is a rare case, but it happened to me, so it does happen.

 

[Ella Shepherd]

What if I am applying to an american medical school with a undergrad degree from the U.S, do the medical schools still look at your high school grades and extracurricular activities completed during high schoool years ?

My high school grades and extracurricular activities are not that great 🙁. But I will start to work very hard in college.

For most schools it really doesn't matter. Don't worry about it. Just do well in college. That's what matters more. 🙂 Good luck!

 

[Doodledog]

If, that is, the above scenario is even true. I admit my first reaction on reading the post was: TROLL.

In general med schools are not going to tell you why they did not accept you.

Actually, at our school and at many others, a large number of applicants will ask for a meeting with a dean or adcom member to discuss why they were not accepted. Exactly what is told to them of course varies by the school and person they are talking to, but it would certainly not be uncommon for an unsuccessful applicant to be informed that their GPA was a limiting factor or that they needed more medical experiences. It requires the applicant to be a bit determined in asking for this information, and it may not be as specific as this in many cases, but it can be. There is nothing trollish about indicating that a school informed an applicant that their GPA was a reason for their rejection.

With regard to the original question, Humid has it correct. Medical schools don't care about high school grades UNLESS they were taken in a situation in which they are reported as part of your overall AMCAS GPA, such as those taken at local colleges. I had to report the grades I got in 12th grade in calculus taken at a local college on my GPA on my med school application in the 1970's so this isn't a new idea. Activities done in high school are relatively unimportant unless carried over to college or a major part of why you chose medicine. Many students do discuss them however in their interview.

 

[DPT2MD]

No

 

[NonTradMed]

Generally speaking: no. The one person who shared his/her experience is an exception but as long as your high school career doesn't include college classes that needs to be counted for med school, you are fine.

However, doing well in high school will help you get into a good college program, and it teaches you good study habits that will help you do well in college---which *is* very important for med schools.

Focus on doing well in college. Good luck.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

No they don't. College is a clean slate so enjoy yourself but make good grades. 🙂

 

[ertraumashield]

It depends of the medical school. Some med. students have their high school grades looked at while others don't. Just make sure you get straight "A"s in college.

Best of luck. 🙂

By the way, Richie Truxillo, I LOVE your profile pic. lol

 

[smq123]

It depends of the medical school. Some med. students have their high school grades looked at while others don't. Just make sure you get straight "A"s in college.

- I can't think of a single allopathic medical school in this country that looked at my high school grades. I can't speak for the osteopathic ones, since I didn't apply to any, but I highly doubt that they'd look at your high school grades either.

- Getting straight A's in college is MUCH easier said than done. Be sure to put the work in.