Getting in with a 3.3GPA

[kidflip]

Hi everyone

Here is the situation:

Bachelor of Business Degree GPA 2.91 (with a very steep upward trend!! from 1.1 to 4.0)

2nd Bachelor of Science Microbiology 4.0

But total GPA= (2.91+4.00)/2= ~3.3

Do they just look at the most recent marks or all of the marks?


Is it over for me with a 3.3?

Thanks alot for the input and advice!!!!

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[FLY]

guess that is it for you friend...

 

[FLY]

did I scare you? JK, U STILL GOT A CHANCE.. if you make like 39+ on the MCATs and have tons of extracurricular activities...

 

[FLY]

39 on an MCAT?? what am I talking about... that is like even more impossible than getting into a medschool with a 3.3...

 

[Triangulation]

Extracurrics and MCATs is what you need to worry about. Those can compensate for your GPA. It's never over.

 

[imtiaz]

A 3.3 is a decent GPA. If you're not shooting for top 10, you'll fare well. You need around a 30 on the MCAT though. Good luck.

Originally posted by kidflip:
•Hi everyone

Here is the situation:

Bachelor of Business Degree GPA 2.91 (with a very steep upward trend!! from 1.1 to 4.0)

2nd Bachelor of Science Microbiology 4.0

But total GPA= (2.91+4.00)/2= ~3.3

Do they just look at the most recent marks or all of the marks?


Is it over for me with a 3.3?

Thanks alot for the input and advice!!!!•••

 

[kutastha]

I had a 3.3 out of undergrad - no interviews

I had a 3.7 for my Masters - no inteviews

I went for a PhD, GPA is meaningless, but a 3.7.

I hope it doesn't come to this for you, but I agree on the MCAT and extra-currics. The MCAT can save your GPA (I think it did on mine), but the extracurriculars make you a well-rounded person - even if you don't go to medical school.

Good luck

Andrew

 

[Dr. Kermit]

My friend was accepted to Jefferson and NY Med last year with a 3.3 and a 36-38 MCAT (13-15V, 10P, 13B). She applied to over 15 schools and had three interview offers. Good luck.

 

[shorrin]

DiGiTaliZed,

your advice is inapropriate and harsh. I think it is possible to get into school with a 3.3. There are MANY other factors than contribute to an application... but I don't need to tell -you- all this.

kidflip,

advice from my advisor at uofc: they first and foremost look at you science gpa - which is probably pretty strong for you. However when you apply through amcas they combine all your grades to give a cum. grade. In my opinion you might get rejected right off the bat for some schools if they have strict numerical cut-offs. Other schools will pay attention to all your grades and upward trends are a plus.

The others are definately on track when they say ec's are important as well as some sort of volunteer work.

I'm not guaranteeing anything but I have a 3.31 and one interview so far.

If it is really what you want to do - just do it.
good luck

 

[racergirl]

Hi kidflip!
Don't listen to those who say you have no chance. I just finished my undergad last semester with a final GPA of 3.06! Like you, I had a steep upward trend, 3.96 for the past three years. I did well on the MCAT (37-39). ECs and essays were good I guess, but not stellar (I didn't invent the wheel or cure a disease or anything). I applied this cycle to 10 schools. So far I have two acceptances--Both at top-30 programs.

Your recent work will DEFINATELY be looked at. Yes, they will see your bad old grades, but they will also look on your upward trend favorably. Make sure you do well on the MCAT to get over the initial numbers cut-offs, apply early, and you will have a great chance.

Good Luck!

 

[mongoose]

kidflip, are you my evil twin? Your story is so similar to mine, it is downright scary!! I finished a Bacelor's degree (Business Administration) in '98 with a 2.4 GPA. In 2000, I started back to school to become a physician and now my GPA is quite a bit better (3.5) in my Chemistry major. That equals 2.71 according to the official AMCAS calculator. I have received 7 interviews out of 22 total applications. I applied to 24 schools but didn't complete 2 of the secondaries. I recently received my first acceptance at an out of state public institution and am anticipating my second acceptance within the next week. I still have 2 interviews to attend, and am turning down one interview offer. If you do well on your MCAT (~30) and have good volunteer experiences, then GPA will not hold you back. Anyone that tells you it will is full of $#!t. NEVER let anyone else tell you what you can or can't do!

 

[mpp]

kidflip,

I would recommend that you calculate your actual GPA combining all coursework the way that AMCAS does so that you have a better idea of what your tru AMCAS GPA is. Then compare that to GPA's of accepted applicants at the schools you are interested in to see if it is worth applying. Remeber the <a href="http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/famg62001a.htm" target="_blank">mean GPA</a> for all accepted applicants last year was only 3.60 with a standard deviation of 0.29. This means two-thirds of all applicants were in the range of 3.31 to 3.89. Granted most were probably in the higher end, but some had to be in the lower end to have the mean 3.60 with such a large standard deviation. Figure out what your actual GPA will be first. AMCAS nor the medical schools will just average your GPA's. They will calculate the GPA from all classes taken. Stick around this forum, it's a good resource and support through the frustrating application cycle. Cheers and good luck!

 

[megkudos]

Hey look at it this way --the average GPA for med students is a 3.5. So there are definately plenty of people with 3.3s cuz we know there are people with 3.7s. Well you get what I mean. Schools take upward grade trends into consideration too. Good luck!!

 

[FLY]

I am sorry man.. I didn't mean to be like that..

I thought.. u know... well..I don't know what I thought.... but.. the point is this...

U were a lousy student once, and in Business.. u know.... then you had a change of heart and you went back and majored in MICRO-BIO...

Bachelor of Business Degree GPA 2.91 (with a very steep upward trend!! from 1.1 to 4.0)

2nd Bachelor of Science Microbiology 4.0

But total GPA= (2.91+4.00)/2= ~3.3

Do they just look at the most recent marks or all of the marks?
••
and you have a 4.0....

and if that 4.0 is from a fairly decent school and you have fair enough MCATs and extracurriculars... then it should be a NO Brainer..

 

[spanky]

Hey kidflip!

I'm in the same boat as you, BA in Business with a 2.5, now have 4.0 post bacc, but only a 2.9 cum and a 3.5 BCPM. I have contacted a couple of med schools to discuss this situation and they replied that they do pay attention to trends and also the relative age of your grades. In my case, I graduated from college the first time over 10 years ago. I was told that life experience comes into play as well. The school that I spoke with said they were looking for diversity, in the sense that they were impressed with by people have come from unusual backrounds, given up good careers, etc. to now study medicine.
My advice is to contact schools that you're interested in attending to find out what they are looking for in a successful applicant. Also, you did not mention what state you're in. I have found this can make a huge difference.

Question for Mongoose: Since you were successful with the application process, what do you think made the difference in your case? 30-something on the MCAT is possible, but to those who are suggesting that acceptance isn't possible unless you have a 37-39, are they for real?

 

[mongoose]

Spanky -- I had a 30 MCAT (10 V, 10 PS, 10 BS, O WS). The number of people getting in the 37-39 range is so damn low you probably will never meet anyone that has such a score. The average MCAT is a 24 and the standard deviation is 2.5. So a 37 is better than 5 standard deviations above the mean. If you know anything about statistics (as a business degree holder, you should), you know what an unbelievably small percentage of 37 MCAT scores this translates into. I had two supervisory level jobs (shift supervisor) that I worked at until I decided medicine was right for me. I think the demonstrated leadership skills from that were invaluable. Also, I have volunteered at a Children's Hospital for a while now, and that is important. Obviously, I had a strong upward trend in my GPA and that helped, I'm sure. My MCAT is not too shabby and that probably helped as well. I was able to overcome the weakness of a poor GPA with a well-rounded application in my opinion.

 

[shimmer118]

DiGiTaliZed raised a good point: your undergrad/pre-med school makes a difference. A 3.3 from many top-ranked schools is often hard to come by....whereas a 3.3 from other schools is easier. Med schools definitely take your undergrad school and course choice into consideration.

 

[CoffeeCat]

Conclusion = well rounded application + high MCATs can balance out GPA?

 

[Thewonderer]

Originally posted by mongoose:
[QB]Spanky -- I had a 30 MCAT (10 V, 10 PS, 10 BS, O WS). The number of people getting in the 37-39 range is so damn low you probably will never meet anyone that has such a score. The average MCAT is a 24 and the standard deviation is 2.5. So a 37 is better than 5 standard deviations above the mean. If you know anything about statistics (as a business degree holder, you should), you know what an unbelievably small percentage of 37 MCAT scores this translates into. [QB]••

Sorry to be a little picky on this but saying that 37 is 5 standard D above the mean is plain wrong. Mean is 24 if you times together all three mean scores on the MCAT, provided by the AMCAS. But then people who tend to do well in PS also do well in BS (and often there is a slight correlation between verbal and the science scores as well; after all, there is lots of reading involved in the science sections as well). The simple answer is that you can never know what the SD for the overall score is unless AMCAS provides you with more info (which it does not).

Getting a score of 37+ is also not as hard as most people think. I have known quite a few people with those scores and with number of people I know, definitely 37+ cannot be 5 SD above the mean!

 

[eagle26]

Of course it's 5 s.d. above the mean. With a s.d. of 2.5, 5 standard deviations would be 5 * 2.5 = 12.5. Since the average is 24, 5 standard deviations above the mean would be 24 + 12.5 = 36.5. Actually, a score of 37 would be ABOVE 5 standard deviations. Using the Empirical Rule, 99.7% of observations are within 3 standard deviations above and below the mean (assuming MCAT scores are normally distributed). Therefore, those with a score of 37 acount for less than .1% of test takers. You do the math.

 

[mongoose]

I stand by my previous post. The Standard Deviation is 2.5 and the mean is 24. That is included in the information I got back with my MCAT score report and I sat for the MCAT in April 2001. I can't understand why they would include this information if the distribution didn't at least resemble a normal distribution.

 

[mpp]

The problem here is that they don't give a mean composite score only the mean for each section. You cannot assume that the mean composite score is the sum of the means of each section since each score is not independent. A high score on one section favors a high score on another.

You can however figure out what the minimum chance to score a 37 or greater is. The minimum set of scores that will do this is 12V 13PS 12BS (there are only 28 possible sets of scores that will equal 37 since you cannot score above a 13 on verbal).

Only 5.2 percent of April 2001 test takers scored a 13PS or better. So it is possible (however very unlikely) that 5.2 percent of April 2001 test takers scored a 37 or greater. Since we do not know the mean of the composite score, we cannot know how many of that 5.2 percent did not score 12 or better in the other two sections. My guess though it is quite a small number...less than half of those 5.2 percent.

So a conservative guess is that 2.6 percent or 658 total applicants scored a 37 or better.

Q.E.D.