Does anyone else worry that their undergrad was too easy?

[Lannister]

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I come on SDN and I see all these people posting about how only one person in their biochem class got an A, or the average in their ochem class was a 20%, or whatever. It just seems like in comparison, my undergrad was really easy. The average grade in all my pre-reqs was a low to mid B, in fact the average in the upper-level anatomy class I'm taking right now is an A! Seeing all these posts just makes me worry that the only reason I did well in my pre-reqs is because they were easier than everyone else's pre-reqs, and that I'm going to be super behind in med school. Does anyone else feel like this? I mean it's not like I go to some sketchy school, I go to a pretty reputable university. Do people on SDN just exaggerate how difficult their classes are?

 

[wasteofspace323]

People on SDN exaggerate everything.

 

[Giovanotto]

I feel the same way, OP. I had a fairly easy route to success in my undergrad education. That is not to say however, that I didn't study my butt off for certain classes. I always covered my butt, and over-studied, just in case.

 

[DrShephardWannabe]

The average GPA for undergrad science students at my university is a 2.98.

Although this could be the reason the difference between a ~3.6 and a ~3.8 at my school is night and day. Most people with a 3.8+ are the robots, while my 3.5-3.6 friends are rocking stellar EC's and great social lives. Coincidentally the average matriculation GPA from my school is a 3.6.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Do people on SDN just exaggerate how difficult their classes are?

Yes

You'll be fine

Thread/

 

[medic86]

Hm.

Is there a place you can look up thr average GPA of your school's graduating class?

Or is this information usually published by the institution itself?

 

[ivorypearls]

Hm.

Is there a place you can look up thr average GPA of your school's graduating class?

Or is this information usually published by the institution itself?

I heard that adcoms for medical schools have a list/a general gist of the average GPAs for most undergraduate institutions. Not sure if it's available to the public or there's any universal site for each and every college, but the average statistics of students in our college was made available on our school website. There's so many factors affecting GPA (types of programs, majors, credit hours, etc) that I doubt it's really useful though

 

[SuperSlim]

I worry about this all the time. I will be cruising to a summa honors. Class averages were usually around 70s tho. I slacked off in high school and went to closest state uni. I killed my mcat 515, but I'm still worried that I'm gonna get killed in med school. Lol.

 

[Lannister]

Average GPA for my school is a 3.3, but that doesn't really mean much because at least half the students here are engineering students so obviously their grades are gonna be a bit lower.

 

[Flashfan]

I worried about that until I compared tests with my friends at the state publics. Specifically, we compared O-Chem national test scores (ACS). My school was a lot higher, and my score was good, so I relaxed.
You go to a tough school. You have a good MCAT score. You will do fine in med school.

 

[Spector1]

Your undergrad Case Western is no joke. I wouldnt worry about it

 

[Lannister]

I worried about that until I compared tests with my friends at the state publics. Specifically, we compared O-Chem national test scores (ACS). My school was a lot higher, and my score was good, so I relaxed.
You go to a tough school. You have a good MCAT score. You will do fine in med school.

Your undergrad Case Western is no joke. I wouldnt worry about it

See that's what I thought! I've always been told that Case has a reputation for having a pretty heavy workload. So that's why I get confused when I see all these posts about how hard classes are, like where do these people go to school lol

 

[ChillDawg]

Anyone know what the average graduating gpas are for the UCs?

 

[tenblackalps]

I'm doing engineering, so no. At my institution it's not difficult to pass engineering courses, or even to get B's, but getting As in statics, dynamics, circuits, heat transfer, hydro, thermo, etc has not been a walk in the park. During one semester I recall going through an entire 500-sheet pad of engineering paper.

That said, I've heard from a lot people (mostly doctors) that engineers tend to do really well in med school since they are already accustomed to the workload necessary just to get the engineering gpa sufficient for an acceptance. I will find out next year!

 

[goldy490]

I doubt Case was very easy (especially when combined with putting up with those God aweful Cleveland winters). That said I know quite a few people who went to states schools who made 3.8+ by studying the night before an exam for classes like biochemistry and anatomy. Those people are screwed. You can usually find them in WAMC with a 3.95 and a 499

 

[Lawpy]

I'm doing engineering, so no. At my institution it's not difficult to pass engineering courses, or even to get B's, but getting As in statics, dynamics, circuits, heat transfer, hydro, thermo, etc has not been a walk in the park. During one semester I recall going through an entire 500-sheet pad of engineering paper.

That said, I've heard from a lot people (mostly doctors) that engineers tend to do really well in med school since they are already accustomed to the workload necessary just to get the engineering gpa sufficient for an acceptance. I will find out next year!

I don't think there is any school (including massively grade-inflated schools) where engineering is easy to get an A. The concepts, problem sets, labs, and applications are inherently difficult that can't be eased out.

 

[MSclerosis]

Have you tried research?

 

[Turkishking]

I come on SDN and I see all these people posting about how only one person in their biochem class got an A, or the average in their ochem class was a 20%, or whatever. It just seems like in comparison, my undergrad was really easy. The average grade in all my pre-reqs was a low to mid B, in fact the average in the upper-level anatomy class I'm taking right now is an A! Seeing all these posts just makes me worry that the only reason I did well in my pre-reqs is because they were easier than everyone else's pre-reqs, and that I'm going to be super behind in med school. Does anyone else feel like this? I mean it's not like I go to some sketchy school, I go to a pretty reputable university. Do people on SDN just exaggerate how difficult their classes are?

Yeah like my Bio course... I thought most people should have at least an 80+ but I guess that's not the case.. Maybe I just study too much

 

[TooMuchPressure]

I come on SDN and I see all these people posting about how only one person in their biochem class got an A

Haha that was me 😉

 

[WedgeDawg]

There are people here from "easy" undergrads and they're all doing just fine. Don't worry about it. If you get in, you almost certainly deserved to do so.

 

[lcm2020]

I believes it all come down to the fact that some people need more time than others to grasp the exact same content. We are not all equal

 

[mr.mkitty]

I worried about that until I compared tests with my friends at the state publics. Specifically, we compared O-Chem national test scores (ACS). My school was a lot higher, and my score was good, so I relaxed.
You go to a tough school. You have a good MCAT score. You will do fine in med school.

I have a similar story. While taking organic chem, the class seemed rather easy in comparison to all the stories I had heard. So I knew it either was that my professor was phenomenal, or he was simply dumbing down the material. Our school also does ACS and we found that much of the class was landing in the mid 90th percentiles.
I really think that many professors at other universities make a class much harder than it actually needs.. (Without it actually benefiting the students)

 

[~bleepbloop~]

I think comparing grades it pretty futile, there's way to many lurking variables, IE: The average for my chemistry test was a 63, and that was definitely not because that the test was hard. On another note, the benefits of exercising critical thinking skills are modest if at all.

 

[moisne]

Average GPA for my school is a 3.3, but that doesn't really mean much because at least half the students here are engineering students so obviously their grades are gonna be a bit lower.

It's just different... Especially if you were an engineer. Everything changes. the way you learn, the way you practice, the way you memorize, how much time you spend in studying...

 

[Hospitalized]

MCAT is the great equalizer. GPA is subjective, the MCAT is not. Both test discipline in different ways.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

I'm doing engineering, so no. At my institution it's not difficult to pass engineering courses, or even to get B's, but getting As in statics, dynamics, circuits, heat transfer, hydro, thermo, etc has not been a walk in the park. During one semester I recall going through an entire 500-sheet pad of engineering paper.

That said, I've heard from a lot people (mostly doctors) that engineers tend to do really well in med school since they are already accustomed to the workload necessary just to get the engineering gpa sufficient for an acceptance. I will find out next year!

My brother was a CS major (taking most of his classes in engineering), and he is finding med school boring (just memorize a lot, not really problem solving yet, but he is still an M2). He still works as a programmer part-time during med school, and he is not a rocket scientist by any stretch. Like you said, you are use to working really hard, not wasting time, thinking creatively, applying math/logic to problems. Med school isn't that hard, just different. Should be a breeze, as long as you can memorize stuff without being bored to tears with it. Good luck to you.

 

[Hospitalized]

My brother was a CS major (taking most of his classes in engineering), and he is finding med school boring (just memorize a lot, not really problem solving yet, but he is still an M2). He still works as a programmer part-time during med school, and he is not a rocket scientist by any stretch. Like you said, you are use to working really hard, not wasting time, thinking creatively, applying math/logic to problems. Med school isn't that hard, just different. Should be a breeze, as long as you can memorize stuff without being bored to tears with it. Good luck to you.

I think he probably could be a rocket scientist if he wanted.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

I think he probably could be a rocket scientist if he wanted.

If his company gets bought out, he may just do that, and chuck Med School!! As my parents are paying the tuition, it is driving them crazy about how little effort he puts in for med school, and how much time he spends coding.

 

[panda16]

A good gauge is talking to people who went to your undergrad who you may know are in med school. That's what I've been doing at my med school interviews if I can find someone who went to my school to see how the school and being in a science major (since they are all pretty similar in rigor where I go) prepared them for med school.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

There are people here from "easy" undergrads and they're all doing just fine. Don't worry about it. If you get in, you almost certainly deserved to do so.

Oh thank god. Now @efle and the other Wash U kids can sleep at night knowing that they'll do just fine in med school.

 

[Lawpy]

MCAT is the great equalizer. GPA is subjective, the MCAT is not. Both test discipline in different ways.

No. GPA is objective. It's just a weighted average of all the grades and credits received in courses. It just isn't standardized, for which the MCAT becomes key.

 

[Hospitalized]

No. GPA is objective. It's just a weighted average of all the grades and credits received in courses. It just isn't standardized, for which the MCAT becomes key.

I'm talking about the process of obtaining a GPA. That's subjective. For instance, I know people who took organic chemistry in the summer with a professor I took a laboratory for. I know his style, and I talked to them about the course. He's a tough teacher. They had to do about 3 times the homework problems, tests were not curved, and the course was taught a different way. I took it in the fall. We had less homework, extra credit on tests, and supplemental instruction. They are performing at about the same level in some of my biology classes right now, yet they were 1-2 grade points below where I was in Ochem, but they put in probably 2-3 times the amount of work. That's why GPA is subjective. Some hard-working individuals can really get slammed by a bad instructor, or be on the beneficiary end and have an easy professor. It's all about working the system correctly. I attribute at least +.4 of my GPA to ratemyprofessor (you might think I'm kidding but I'm not).

EDIT: Not only that, but some universities only have one professor for a subject. That can really be detrimental to a GPA.

 

[WedgeDawg]

GPA is an objective way to display data that has the possibility of being subjectively generated

 

[wasteofspace323]

I'm talking about the process of obtaining a GPA. That's subjective. For instance, I know people who took organic chemistry in the summer with a professor I took a laboratory for. I know his style, and I talked to them about the course. He's a tough teacher. They had to do about 3 times the homework problems, tests were not curved, and the course was taught a different way. I took it in the fall. We had less homework, extra credit on tests, and supplemental instruction. They are performing at about the same level in some of my biology classes right now, yet they were 1-2 grade points below where I was in Ochem, yet they put in probably 2-3 times the about of work. That's why GPA is subjective. Some hard-working individuals can really get slammed by a bad instructor, or be on the beneficiary end and have an easy professor. It's all about working the system correctly. I attribute at least +.4 of my GPA to ratemyprofessor (you might think I'm kidding but I'm not).

EDIT: Not only that, but some universities only have one professor for a subject. That can really be detrimental to a GPA.

Nah, anyone with a brain knows ratemyproffesor is the best thing since white rice.

 

[Hospitalized]

GPA is an objective way to display data that has the possibility of being subjectively generated

Nailed it.

 

[Lawpy]

I'm talking about the process of obtaining a GPA. That's subjective. For instance, I know people who took organic chemistry in the summer with a professor I took a laboratory for. I know his style, and I talked to them about the course. He's a tough teacher. They had to do about 3 times the homework problems, tests were not curved, and the course was taught a different way. I took it in the fall. We had less homework, extra credit on tests, and supplemental instruction. They are performing at about the same level in some of my biology classes right now, yet they were 1-2 grade points below where I was in Ochem, but they put in probably 2-3 times the amount of work. That's why GPA is subjective. Some hard-working individuals can really get slammed by a bad instructor, or be on the beneficiary end and have an easy professor. It's all about working the system correctly. I attribute at least +.4 of my GPA to ratemyprofessor (you might think I'm kidding but I'm not).

EDIT: Not only that, but some universities only have one professor for a subject. That can really be detrimental to a GPA.

GPA is an objective way to display data that has the possibility of being subjectively generated

GPA is a concrete number used for objective comparisons between applicants. Of course the method of achieving the GPA is subjective, just like the method of doing well on the MCAT is subjective. The method itself is individualized, but the results are objective.

 

[Markymark15]

I'm talking about the process of obtaining a GPA. That's subjective. For instance, I know people who took organic chemistry in the summer with a professor I took a laboratory for. I know his style, and I talked to them about the course. He's a tough teacher. They had to do about 3 times the homework problems, tests were not curved, and the course was taught a different way. I took it in the fall. We had less homework, extra credit on tests, and supplemental instruction. They are performing at about the same level in some of my biology classes right now, yet they were 1-2 grade points below where I was in Ochem, but they put in probably 2-3 times the amount of work. That's why GPA is subjective. Some hard-working individuals can really get slammed by a bad instructor, or be on the beneficiary end and have an easy professor. It's all about working the system correctly. I attribute at least +.4 of my GPA to ratemyprofessor (you might think I'm kidding but I'm not).

EDIT: Not only that, but some universities only have one professor for a subject. That can really be detrimental to a GPA.

Isn't that the case with everything? There's a difference in curriculum and other things between medical schools and there is a difference between professors in the same medical school. For rotations, you will have different attendings. I think it's all about how you can adapt to different situations and still obtain good grades. There are still those people that can get high grades in any environment.