Does UG GPA matter for Residency?

[chrisv]

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I was just recently accepted to medical school, and I have started to think about residency. Does your undergraduate GPA matter for residency programs? If so, how much? Does it vary by residency programs?

I am particularly concerned about this because I have deferred my decision to go to med school by one year, and during this year off, I was thinking of taking a deeper interest in my hobbies by taking a photography class at a community college...just not sure how my grade will turn out there.

Side note: I did try to search for questions this topic, but I couldn't find any. Please feel free to direct me to a similar thread.

 

[DeLaughterDO]

no

 

[KaiserDoc]

If you're not serious about medicine and you have "deeper interests" why dont you give up your spot to someone more deserving than you, so they can take advantage of the oportunity. I bet you will be one of the lazy med students everyone complains about.

 

[GatorMedMan]

I was just recently accepted to medical school, and I have started to think about residency. Does your undergraduate GPA matter for residency programs? If so, how much? Does it vary by residency programs?

I am particularly concerned about this because I have deferred my decision to go to med school by one year, and during this year off, I was thinking of taking a deeper interest in my hobbies by taking a photography class at a community college...just not sure how my grade will turn out there.

Undergrad grades don't matter. Have as much fun as you can during your year off, because most of the fun ends once you're and MS1, at least temporarily.

If you're not serious about medicine and you have "deeper interests" why dont you give up your spot to someone more deserving than you, so they can take advantage of the oportunity. I bet you will be one of the lazy med students everyone complains about.

So this is your first post on this site? Yeah sure. Someone please boot this troll.

 

[dpmd]

There was one program that I saw asked for UG transcripts (for ortho), but I don't know how much it actually factored in (I got the idea it was just a way of weeding out people who didn't read the instructions for applying, or didn't want to pay for their school to send transcripts). Just make sure you don't actually fail or you med school may have something to say about it.

 

[werewethere]

There was one program that I saw asked for UG transcripts (for ortho), but I don't know how much it actually factored in (I got the idea it was just a way of weeding out people who didn't read the instructions for applying, or didn't want to pay for their school to send transcripts). Just make sure you don't actually fail or you med school may have something to say about it.

Actually the SFMatch people (NSGY, optho) request all undergraduate records. I have never heard of that affecting anyone's ability to match, though. After all, did your high school grades matter when you applied to med school (assuming you didn't apply to an early med school admissions program)?

 

[Winged Scapula]

As noted above, programs through the sfmatch and some of the more competitive residencies do request them and sometimes your MCAT scores, but its not common and I don't know how it would make a significant difference unless you and another candidate were equal in every other way.

 

[Top Gun]

If you're not serious about medicine and you have "deeper interests" why dont you give up your spot to someone more deserving than you, so they can take advantage of the oportunity. I bet you will be one of the lazy med students everyone complains about.

Give the guy or girl a break. Maybe (s)he wants to find time to broaden his/her horizons before starting med school. (S)he will work hard enough once (s)he actually starts.

 

[chrisv]

Thank you everyone for responding. So, I gather that the general consensus here is that even if they do ask, it doesn't seem like it would matter much (unless you failed a bunch of classes or had a ridiculously low GPA). So, if anyone out there has a different opinion, please let us know!

Side note: In response to KaiserDoc...next time, try to be more polite when trying to make a point. And my primary reason for taking a year off was related to my family matters, so I figured that while I'm taking a year off, why not just take a photography class. I've worked really hard to get to this position and I intend to work my butt off in med school. I'm not taking a year off to just bum around and take pictures.

 

[Coastie]

doesn't matter in the slightest....

go have fun doing photography..who knows..maybe you'll hit it big and you can kiss the whole medical field goodbye..wouldn't that be fun?

 

[Mumpu]

That C you got in Home Ec in 6th grade is SOOOOO coming back to haunt you.