good masters GPA>undergrad GPA for med school?

[unpolloloco]

How important is my undergrad GPA if I have a high masters GPA? I did my undergrad (engineering) in three years, but my GPA suffered a bit (still >3.0, but barely). My masters (management at the same top-50 school) was >3.9. I'm currently in the corporate world but am starting to consider med school. How important is my undergrad GPA? If it is important, how can I fix it?
Thanks!

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[FutureDrB]

How important is my undergrad GPA if I have a high masters GPA? I did my undergrad (engineering) in three years, but my GPA suffered a bit (still >3.0, but barely). My masters (management at the same top-50 school) was >3.9. I'm currently in the corporate world but am starting to consider med school. How important is my undergrad GPA? If it is important, how can I fix it?
Thanks!

Most people will tell you that your Masters GPA really isn't that important, unless it was a science-intensive degree. This claim is based on the idea that most graduate course grades are inflated...which I have to admit is true in my experience. I easily got a 4.0 in my graduate degree, and a 3rd grader could've done it.

However, it will help out your cumulative GPA since your graduate courses will be figured into that. But you still have the undergraduate GPA and science GPA to contend with. As far as raising those, you need to retake any undergraduate courses you did poorly in. The newest (and hopefully higher) grade will be used to calculate your final GPA. Keep in mind this only applies to D.O. schools and not M.D. But if you only have a 3.0 uGPA, you can go ahead and stop worrying about getting into an M.D. school.

 

[Dharma]

But if you only have a 3.0 uGPA, you can go ahead and stop worrying about getting into an M.D. school.

This is assuming you don't go the SMP route and nail the bejesus out of that thing (with a kick @$$ MCAT score to boot). Easier said than done, however it's certainly been done. (theWUbear on the UMDNJ-GSBS thread comes to mind; I believe his uGPA was a 2.7 or something close to that. He followed that with a gnarly post-bacc ~3.8, a solid MCAT of 33, and then kicked some butt in UMDNJ's GSBS program. I believe he was accepted to the MD school).

Make a plan, along with a plan-B as well, and attack.

 

[FutureDrB]

This is assuming you don't go the SMP route and nail the bejesus out of that thing (with a kick @$$ MCAT score to boot). Easier said than done, however it's certainly been done. (theWUbear on the UMDNJ-GSBS thread comes to mind; I believe his uGPA was a 2.7 or something close to that. He followed that with a gnarly post-bacc ~3.8, a solid MCAT of 33, and then kicked some butt in UMDNJ's GSBS program. I believe he was accepted to the MD school).

Make a plan, along with a plan-B as well, and attack.

This is true and I wasn't trying to be pessimistic in my first post. Anything is possible. But the OP would be better (IMHO) to forego spending large sums of money on an SMP and simply retake a few undergraduate courses to get his/her uGPA in the 3.2/3.3 range for D.O. Of course as you mentioned, he/she will likely still need a good MCAT score (28+) to offset the lower GPA.

 

[LingoLaine]

Unfortunately a lot of schools use an auto-screen algorithm that takes into account your undergrad cGPA and MCAT only. If you don't make it past that process (unlikely unless you have an extremely high MCAT to compensate), they won't even know about your excellent grad GPA.

 

[DrMidlife]

How important is my undergrad GPA if I have a high masters GPA? I did my undergrad (engineering) in three years, but my GPA suffered a bit (still >3.0, but barely). My masters (management at the same top-50 school) was >3.9. I'm currently in the corporate world but am starting to consider med school. How important is my undergrad GPA? If it is important, how can I fix it?
Thanks!

Engineering coursework is understood to be difficult, and getting done in 3 years is interesting. You still have to hold up to comparison with other students where average undergrad GPA is about 3.6 (maybe 3.5 for DO) and average MCAT is about 31+ (27+ for DO).

Management grad coursework, on the other hand, is not an academic asset in med school admissions (it's a nice extra curricular - be prepared to talk about it in interviews). Med school admissions people are looking at your academic record to see if you'll do well under a massive crushing load of all science for multiple years - an MBA (or whatnot) isn't helpful for that inquiry. Also note that taking management coursework (which is meh) isn't the same as having a leadership role with responsibility (which is great).

In your shoes I'd get the prereqs done with straight A's at the school of your choice (CC not recommended), also take upper div bio science and get straight A's, and kill the MCAT. Your cumulative undergrad GPA will still leave you exposed; you can follow with an SMP if you want some more confidence in your app before you apply.

Most people will tell you that your Masters GPA really isn't that important, unless it was a science-intensive degree. This claim is based on the idea that most graduate course grades are inflated...which I have to admit is true in my experience. I easily got a 4.0 in my graduate degree, and a 3rd grader could've done it.

Grade inflation is one issue; lack of standardization is another. A med school adcom can look at undergrad GPA, and if that's consistent with the MCAT score, then there's a reason to believe in the GPA. There's no standardized exam for grad work that will lend credence to a grad GPA.

However, it will help out your cumulative GPA since your graduate courses will be figured into that.

This isn't true for MD schools. Grad GPA is entirely separate from undergrad, unless a given med school decides to do extra stuff with the data from AMCAS. But cumulative undergrad GPA does include postbac undergrad coursework. Here's what the MD app (AMCAS) report looks like:

Best of luck to you.

 

[TriagePreMed]

How important is my undergrad GPA if I have a high masters GPA? I did my undergrad (engineering) in three years, but my GPA suffered a bit (still >3.0, but barely). My masters (management at the same top-50 school) was >3.9. I'm currently in the corporate world but am starting to consider med school. How important is my undergrad GPA? If it is important, how can I fix it?
Thanks!

Your masters, especially in management, will be seen as a complete fluff. Graduate programs, especially those in business, have a reputation for inflating the grades of students. And if you magically went from 3.0 student to 3.9 in management, that seems to fit the mold. But even if it wasn't, it likely won't be seen as much more than a nice EC. You will have to work on your undergraduate GPA if you really want a shot at medicine.