Dropped senior year GPA - how does it affect things?

[shrooberry]

Hi all,

I'm planning to apply to med school this upcoming cycle, and I wanted to get input regarding my GPA. I graduated in spring 2023.

Senior year I received my first B- (in my business major class) with the rest being A-/A+/B+'s and I am worried about my downward trend in my last semester/year of college:
1st year GPA: 3.7
2nd year GPA: 3.89
3rd year GPA: 3.82
4th year GPA: 3.45

cGPA: 3.75 sGPA: 3.72 [factoring in classes I took in CC during summers]

My goal is to attend (ideally) CA medical schools due to wanting to stay near my family, which I am unsure if it would be an uphill battle for. How bad would this downward trend look to the adcoms? Especially considering I have a non-science major and my last year was essentially just completing my major requirements.

I was also wondering if I should take additional science classes this summer/year to show that I can still handle the course load (even if the grades don't initially get submitted)? My senior year (specifically, the last semester) had the dip due to family emergencies. To be completely transparent, my younger sibling had a serious mental health crisis that I was the primary individual who had to keep going home to handle, navigate, and push for her to receive help, as my parents are immigrants and didn't quite understand. I don't know if this would even be something appropriate to talk about in my application to explain what happened; though, looking back, I know I should've sought support with my professors, communicated well, and taken some other things off my plate to ensure I could perform well in school. It definitely taught me a lot about learning how to balance, prioritize, and compartmentalize when inevitable life events happen, something I will definitely take with me moving forward.

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks everyone!

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[Alejandro]

Well, I think it seems you have learned from some of this. Part of the premed educational experience is to learn/reflect on things that happen in life, rather than just what happensin the classroom.

I think if you can reflect on it in your PS and/or have your letter writers discuss this (if they feel convinced that this is what happened), then I think it should be fine. blips along the way do happen. You can take additional classes to remedy this if youd like. I will say that your GPA doesn't seem like a huge liability, but it should hopefully be discussed somewhere in your application to make sure you're not looking like you're slacking.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Too hard to say without a transcript.

Where in California did you grow up?

 

[LunaOri]

I wouldn’t discuss this in your PS, but most schools have a place on the secondary application to explain things like this.