GPA, GPA, GPA: is it everything?

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stat3113

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From the little I've read, I can't help but come to the conclusion of how incredibly important it is to have a sky-high ug gpa (and bcmp.)

If upon entering college, I had known for certain I wanted to go to med school, I would have picked the easiest possible major (basket-weaving), taken all the pre-reqs, and there's I'd be another one of these 3.98s.

Most of these kids I see with gaps of 2-5 years between when they graduate college and when they can enter med school have gpa problems. And I'm certain that almost all of them could have managed a skyhigh gpa in one of the myriad easy-A majors that abound at every college (ivy league or state school.)

My Gpa is pulled down because of all these incredibly hard courses I took (upper level math, physics, etc) that so many of these "gunners" will never see. I guess thats what irks me. These adcoms, if they see 2 people with similar bcmp gpas (say 3.6) and similar mcats, but one has a 3.8 cum gpa with a journalism major and the other has a 3.3 cum gpa in a mechanical engineering major, they will in 99/100 cases pick the journalism 3.8, b/c they don't want to mess up their average.

And that sucks.
 
I appreciate your sentiments. However, you should be acquainted with the reality of things that it is possible to get above a 3.7 in mechanical, electrical or chemical engineering, or any other "hard" major that you can think of. In fact, people at my school do it regularly, and I go to one of the top 3 engineering schools in the country.

As far as the easiness of the major/classes is concerned, that is where the MCAT comes in, the great equalizer. If one has truly mastered the fundamentals, he/she should expect to excel at the MCATs.
 
Also, Journalism can be a pretty hard major depending on your strengths/weaknesses.
 
Please allow me to introduce: a chorus conducted by the late Mstislav Rostropovich, raised from the dead specifically to attend this occasion:

+pity+ +pity+ +pity+ +pity+ +pity+ +pity+ +pity+ +pity+ +pity+

220px-Mstislav_Rostropovich_1978.jpg
 
However you put it, within a particular school, some majors have a more skewed distribution of gpa than others. i.e. at my school, to graduate with honors required a minimum gpa cutoff, which varies by major. For engineers, it may be 3.6, for Liberal Arts its 3.85.

Yes, MCAT also matters a lot, but it deserves to matter. I really don't think GPAs across different majors are comparable, yet this is done. So assume three students, all have the same bcmp, and the same MCAT: A) 3.8 English major, B)3.4 Engineering major, C) 3.8 Engineering Major

What you were trying to say is that C should be chosen over B, and I agree. But what's messed up is when A is chosen over B. There certainly exists SOME major in which B could have easily gotten a 3.8, so it is ridiculous to grant some huge preference to A just because numerically he has a higher GPA. In terms of medical apititude, in this scenario I see no reason to prefer A over B, yet in the real world, B would probably have to do a post-bacc of 1-2 years just to bring his GPA up to par.
 
stat3113 said:
However you put it, within a particular school, some majors have a more skewed distribution of gpa than others. i.e. at my school, to graduate with honors required a minimum gpa cutoff, which varies by major. For engineers, it may be 3.6, for Liberal Arts its 3.85.

Yes, MCAT also matters a lot, but it deserves to matter. I really don't think GPAs across different majors are comparable, yet this is done. So assume three students, all have the same bcmp, and the same MCAT: A) 3.8 English major, B)3.4 Engineering major, C) 3.8 Engineering Major

What you were trying to say is that C should be chosen over B, and I agree. But what's messed up is when A is chosen over B. There certainly exists SOME major in which B could have easily gotten a 3.8, so it is ridiculous to grant some huge preference to A just because numerically he has a higher GPA. In terms of medical apititude, in this scenario I see no reason to prefer A over B, yet in the real world, B would probably have to do a post-bacc of 1-2 years just to bring his GPA up to par.
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The difference (though I know you're just making a point) between a 3.4 and a 3.8 is getting straight 89's through college and getting straight 94's. Straight B+'s vs. a balance of half A-'s and half A's. And that's a huge difference no matter the major if you add up all those credit hours.
 
It really depends on your skills and interests...what is hard for one person is easy for another. One of the intro classes for my major has a lot of civil engineering students in it. I breezed through with A because I read quickly and writing comes naturally to me...the engineering majors? Not so much...many really struggled in the class and walked out with Cs. Presumably, their GPAs would have been a lot lower had they stuck with the social science major. Adcoms think if you love engineering enough to major in it, you should be good at it. I think it's problematic when you start valuing one type of knowledge over the other...

All of this being said, I have tremendous respect for engineering majors becuase I know that is something I couldn't do...
 
Even though I am an engineer, I would still pick the 3.8 English major over the 3.4 Engineering major.

My reasons would be that the 3.8 shows:
a) the drive of the person
b) ability to work the system
c) record of proven success

Since all three of the above I would consider to be criteria for evaluating one's aptitude, the person with the higher GPA will once again be more favorable regardless of major.

Additionally, if the person who picked engineering and wanted to eventually go into medicine, knew that he/she were not good at acing engineering tests, and was getting slaughtered, then he/she should have switched to a different major.

Lastly, you also have to consider factors like: Engineering majors often find themselves access to incredible amount of research opportunities that the English major probably doesn't enjoy. Since medical schools most often consider the overall package when evaluating a candidate, in the end, it should all balance out.
 
stat3113 said:
But what's messed up is when A is chosen over B.
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except an english major with a 3.8 and a competitive mcat score is like crack for med schools.

why would med schools want engineers?
 
If Engineering is too hard, switch to something else.

Nothing I hate more than the "My school/major/professor is the hardest place/thing/person in the world" crowd. If English is so easy, major in that and pull the 3.8.
 
Jew Alcindor said:
If Engineering is too hard, switch to something else.

Nothing I hate more than the "My school/major/professor is the hardest place/thing/person in the world" crowd. If English is so easy, major in that and pull the 3.8.
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You hit the nail right on the head.
 
Isn't it a moot point though? I thought most places gave a boost to engineering majors.
 
Jew Alcindor said:
If Engineering is too hard, switch to something else.

Nothing I hate more than the "My school/major/professor is the hardest place/thing/person in the world" crowd. If English is so easy, major in that and pull the 3.8.
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Yeah, I agree. You get to choose your own major, so the fact that you pick a "harder" major and not do so well in is not really a good excuse. Major in something you like and what you do well in.

At least, it's not like some other factors in med school admissions that you cannot change (example: race, gender, etc.)
 
What's important is MCAT MCAT MCAT!!!!!
 
English is not easier than science, it's different. My Science GPA is around 3.85, my English is a 3.4. So don't sit there and whine about how they took the easy way out.
 
spanamit said:
Even though I am an engineer, I would still pick the 3.8 English major over the 3.4 Engineering major.

My reasons would be that the 3.8 shows:
a) the drive of the person
b) ability to work the system
c) record of proven success

Since all three of the above I would consider to be criteria for evaluating one's aptitude, the person with the higher GPA will once again be more favorable regardless of major.

Additionally, if the person who picked engineering and wanted to eventually go into medicine, knew that he/she were not good at acing engineering tests, and was getting slaughtered, then he/she should have switched to a different major.

Lastly, you also have to consider factors like: Engineering majors often find themselves access to incredible amount of research opportunities that the English major probably doesn't enjoy. Since medical schools most often consider the overall package when evaluating a candidate, in the end, it should all balance out.
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First of all I think you are being a bit harsh when you equate a 3.4 with getting slaughtered, and secondly I don't think that the journalism student with the 3.8 necessarily shows a greater drive than the engineering student with the 3.4. Lets say that the average engineering gpa at a particular school is 3.3 and the average journalism gpa is 3.7. Wouldn't both students have similar drive if they both had gpa's .1 points greater than the average student? There are probably just fewer A's given out in engineering.
 
Koch said:
English is not easier than science, it's different. My Science GPA is around 3.85, my English is a 3.4. So don't sit there and whine about how they took the easy way out.
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i agree, the difficulty of different majors largely depend on each individual. Some people will excel in engineering (and also like it) while not do well in biology. Others will set the curves in biology classes while not doing so good in physics classes.

And hopefully you will be able to find a major in which you can get a good GPA, and at the same time, enjoying it
 
I think what people are trying to say is that medical schools expect you to major in things that you're interested in. Given that, they also expect you to excel in the subjects that you're interested in. Sure engineering subjects are harder, but if that is what you're passionate about, you should put in the extra hours and get the grade.

Bs should never be chosen over As, no matter what context we use them in, because every course is different. My major covered mostly physics and math, and I excelled in that. If I were to switch to an "easier" major like English, I'd probably be graduating with a 2.8 GPA given by writing ability.

Every major is different, and it is unfair to say "Oh I COULD had done this and gotten a 3.9!"
No, you can't. A student capable of sustained excellence in Public Health, the field of his choosing, is MORE intelligent then the student who selected a field he could not excel in. There is no way the chemical engineering kid who is making a career out of being average in a major deserves to be considered over another student who is consistently scores amongst the highest for his major.

In the end, while each class may curve different, you still need to be one of the best students to get a 3.9 in your major. I'll be damned if there is a major whose graduates average a 3.9.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that life is tough. Quit complaining about to make yourself feel better. Being mediocre in a hard major does not prove your superiority over a 4.0 student in Basket Weaving. The difference is that the kids with a 4.0 in basket weaving was tested and succeeded. Sure, the test might not had been very hard, but we don't know their full potential. If medical schools don't know what cards they're holding, all they can see is the excellent MCAT score. The kid with a 3.3 in Chemical Engineering had just shown his hand. College tested him and exposed his limit.
 
littlealex said:
Being mediocre in a hard major does not prove your superiority over a 4.0 student in Basket Weaving. The difference is that the kids with a 4.0 in basket weaving was tested and succeeded. Sure, the test might not had been very hard, but we don't know their full potential. If medical schools don't know what cards they're holding, all they can see is the excellent MCAT score. The kid with a 3.3 in Chemical Engineering had just shown his hand. College tested him and exposed his limit.
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I dont really agree with this analogy at all. If you go to college and choose a major which does not challenge you in the least bit that definately does not mean you are better than someone who choose a very difficult major and came out average. To be king of the idiots is not better than being an average genius!

I think that most majors are pretty fair across the board and similarly qualified individuals will get similar grades, but there are definately some exceptions such as education majors and environmental affairs. It's defiantely true that some majors attract a higher number of high quality students and therefore it will be more difficult to excel in classes where curves are set.

The biggest problem is that a lot of pre-med majors think that everything outside of the sciences is easy but its really not that simple. Luckily thats why med schools look at BCPM and MCAT's because these are standardized between all students
 
littlealex said:
I guess what I'm trying to say is that life is tough. Quit complaining about to make yourself feel better. Being mediocre in a hard major does not prove your superiority over a 4.0 student in Basket Weaving. The difference is that the kids with a 4.0 in basket weaving was tested and succeeded. Sure, the test might not had been very hard, but we don't know their full potential. If medical schools don't know what cards they're holding, all they can see is the excellent MCAT score. The kid with a 3.3 in Chemical Engineering had just shown his hand. College tested him and exposed his limit.
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I agree with this.

If you have 3.3 in a difficult major, ADCOMs can easily ask, is that all you've got? Being happy with mediocrity (consistent Bs) is probably not a good idea.
 
stat3113 said:
These adcoms, if they see 2 people with similar bcmp gpas (say 3.6) and similar mcats, but one has a 3.8 cum gpa with a journalism major and the other has a 3.3 cum gpa in a mechanical engineering major, they will in 99/100 cases pick the journalism 3.8, b/c they don't want to mess up their average.
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Yes, assuming the MCAT is comparable, med schools will pick the journalism major with the 3.8 over the engineer with a 3.3. It has less to do with messing up their average and more to do with the fact that increased academic diversity is valued these days. Some time ago you had to be a science major to get into med school. But medicine is a service profession, and it was ultimately determined (in about the 80s) that this uniformity of student body did not generate the kind of physicians that provided the best service for patients. So more non-sci majors get admitted to med school each year. Those who can be nonsci majors and yet still do well in the sciences and MCAT are considered an asset to med schools.
 
Ok, I will agree there are some majors, at least in my school, which were amazingly easy. Political Science, for example, had some very challenging, mentally stimulating classes...except a lot of people avoid those classes like a plague and take classes where they can ace easy multiple choice questions. It suffered from RAMPANT grade inflation and the number of peopel graduating with 3.9-4.0 was absolutely ridiculous.

However, I have to say as someone who was a Biochem major (not as "hard" as engineering, but not easy), I would NOT want to be an English major. In science classes, if you know the material and put the time in, you usually know what grade you'll get. Sure, you have the random teacher who makes a crappy test or is stingy wth the curve, but I wouldn't think any more than any other major.

However, English majors have to deal with a ton of subjectivity in their grading. Nothing drove me up the wall more than when I took a class where my grade came from essay writing and the grading in the class was off the wall. For example, my Medical Ethics class had an absolutely awful grader, so much so everything she had graded was "regraded" by the instructor to get rid of her bias towards those that didn't agree with her interepretation of cases (and these weren't "There's a clear answer" classic, landmark cases. These were contentious cases where the textbook had an ethics expert arguing each side). I could imagine having a great GPA wrecked by the teacher of "The Novel in 20th Century Britain" ripping my essay on 1984 apart because he was too pigheaded to have some disagree with his interpretation.
 
I don't really think there's a way to know how hard a major is at a particular school. Who knows, underwater basketweaving at school A might make engineering look easy.

FYI, Music majors and English majors are just as hard as Engineering.
 
Yes, MCAT also matters a lot, but it deserves to matter. I really don't think GPAs across different majors are comparable, yet this is done. So assume three students, all have the same bcmp, and the same MCAT: A) 3.8 English major, B)3.4 Engineering major,
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Well, the English major obviously picked a major he/she enjoyed and he/she was able to hack and do well enough in that he/she got that 3.8. How's that for aptitude? I get so sick of whiners on here complaining because their major is SOOOO hard. Suck it up and get a life. YOU chose your major and if you couldn't hack it, you shouldn't have picked it. Don't blame others because you weren't smart enough to choose something easier.

And by the way, I'm not convinced English is easier than anything else. Have you ever had to write three 20-page papers per semester, all of which were very subjectively graded and made up 85% of your final grade? I bet there's more than one pre-med on this board who'd cry in his beer if he had to do it.

At least in science, if you understand the material, do the practice problems, go to office hours, you pretty much know you'll do okay. You may be thrown off by a difficult test once in a while, but truly understanding the concepts is entirely up to you.

I know many people who turned in philosophy/english/journalism papers to be slaughtered with a D when they thought they turned in A-level work. They got all the info write. The reason? Their analysis of comparative 19th century literature wasn't "what the teacher had in mind" and yes, I've actually had a professor who used that as a reason to give a friend of mine a 61% on a 23-page paper she worked on for three weeks.

I've never heard any science teacher say "well, your mechanism was right, but I didn't like the way your arrows looked, so though you did learn the material and did know what you were doing, I chose to give you a D anyway." There's a right answer and a wrong answer and if you do the work and put in the time, you'll probably get most of the right answers.
 
Another aspect you have to consider is that med schools tend to pre-meditate a certain distribution of # of majors, or traditional vs. non-traditional applicants, or URM vs. non-URM, etc.

Overall, I think if you are an engineer, you are competing against other engineers as much as you are competing against bio majors. Same with humanities majors... you are in a way competing against each other as much as you are competing with other people.

You are definitely at an overall disadvantage by being an engineer, but it's not as big of a disadvantage as some think... it's just that there are many people who still get very good GPAs in engineering majors.
 
don't be so sure english majors are that easy. And also, don't be a mech engineering or applied physics, or whatever "hard" major there is if you end up criticizing the way GPAs work. To be honest, GPAs worked against me in high school. I took the hardest classes and it was hard to balance to get the good grades, and I didn't get into an ivy league, even though I had the test scores. But did I deserve it? no, I didn't. Because I wasn't able to work it out.

Just remember, in the end, no one cares about what you went through, what you experienced, they care about the result. By majoring in engineer, you learn a skill rather than majoring in english in which you learn to analyze papers, and the sacrifice is exactly what you said, the 0.4 gpa difference.

so the question is, what do you care about more? (keep in mind, if you really know your stuff, with a stellar MCAT you can still get into med school). In comparison, a lot of people who "eased" out, tend to have ****ty MCATs, and maybe that works out for the best in itself.

Now if a person majored in something easy, while having the same MCAT as you, then that person deserves it more than you, even if you did major in engineering
 
DreamyKid said:
don't be so sure english majors are that easy. And also, don't be a mech engineering or applied physics, or whatever "hard" major there is if you end up criticizing the way GPAs work. To be honest, GPAs worked against me in high school. I took the hardest classes and it was hard to balance to get the good grades, and I didn't get into an ivy league, even though I had the test scores. But did I deserve it? no, I didn't. Because I wasn't able to work it out.

Just remember, in the end, no one cares about what you went through, what you experienced, they care about the result. By majoring in engineer, you learn a skill rather than majoring in english in which you learn to analyze papers, and the sacrifice is exactly what you said, the 0.4 gpa difference.

so the question is, what do you care about more? (keep in mind, if you really know your stuff, with a stellar MCAT you can still get into med school). In comparison, a lot of people who "eased" out, tend to have ****ty MCATs, and maybe that works out for the best in itself.

Now if a person majored in something easy, while having the same MCAT as you, then that person deserves it more than you, even if you did major in engineering
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I don't think it's an issue of who deserves what...that seems to suggest that grades define the essence of who you are...it's just about numbers and baseline qualifications. If you have a 3.4 GPA in whatever major, then you will have to be a little bit better than average in something else. If you have a 4.0, you might be able to get away with being a little bit less than average in something else. And it seems that med schools at least sometimes take these other factors into account, since people with low numbers get in....
 
I wish GPA was all that mattered... I have a 4.0 and am worried about the MCAT in a couple weeks...
 
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned previously, but I was recently at a pre-med symposium for Umich, MSU, and Wayne State med schools and the ADCOM people said they don't care about specific majors....Unless you're an engineer. She made sure to point out that they loved engineering because it is a particularly difficult major. She said they consider engineers at lower GPA's than they would for other majors. Just throwing it out there.
 
chickenlittle84 said:
I don't think it's an issue of who deserves what...that seems to suggest that grades define the essence of who you are...it's just about numbers and baseline qualifications. If you have a 3.4 GPA in whatever major, then you will have to be a little bit better than average in something else. If you have a 4.0, you might be able to get away with being a little bit less than average in something else. And it seems that med schools at least sometimes take these other factors into account, since people with low numbers get in....
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I think that's true....

I'm sure adcoms of many schools do look at what courses you've taken when comparing two people with similar numbers and stats... however, the fact is they're more inclined to select the candidate with the higher numbers because like someone has already stated, it's only the results that matter in the real world.. no one cares what you've gone through...
 
I started off as a Biomed Engineering major. For me, I switched out not so much because I thought the material was hard (which it was, no question) but because I want more contact with people, one on one. I thought I'd love it because I love math, but I found out that I don't enjoy applying that math.

Anyways, my point is like what countless others have said, choose a major you enjoy, not what is going to look the best for anyone. Every major has its good and bad, but if you enjoy it, you'll do well. That is what admissions people are looking for.

On the other hand, you could look at it from another perspective: say you don't get into med school and you are any Engineering major. You'll be able to find a decent paying job right out of your undergrad, whereas my neuroscience major will get me in the door of some lab, but that is about it. If I want the same quality of life, I'd have to get at least a masters. Then again, people can debate that too, I don't absolutely know the specifics. Just my two cents.
 
Law2Doc said:
Yes, assuming the MCAT is comparable, med schools will pick the journalism major with the 3.8 over the engineer with a 3.3. It has less to do with messing up their average and more to do with the fact that increased academic diversity is valued these days. Some time ago you had to be a science major to get into med school. But medicine is a service profession, and it was ultimately determined (in about the 80s) that this uniformity of student body did not generate the kind of physicians that provided the best service for patients. So more non-sci majors get admitted to med school each year. Those who can be nonsci majors and yet still do well in the sciences and MCAT are considered an asset to med schools.
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Just because one happens to have a declared major in biology or chemistry doesn't mean that they are any good at it. For example, I took a few English classes (I'm a Bio major) and I kicked all the other English majors a@#$@ in the courses. Same with Philosophy. Therefore, anyone (major of a specific subject or not) has just as good a chance to do well in general chem as the next guy. What I'm trying to say is, giving preference to someone who can do well in science courses and not have a science related major is dumb.
 
AnesthesiaMD said:
Just because one happens to have a declared major in biology or chemistry doesn't mean that they are any good at it. For example, I took a few English classes (I'm a Bio major) and I kicked all the other English majors a@#$@ in the courses. Same with Philosophy. Therefore, anyone (major of a specific subject or not) has just as good a chance to do well in general chem as the next guy. What I'm trying to say is, giving preference to someone who can do well in science courses and not have a science related major is dumb.
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True, you can, for example, apply to an engineering job with a non-engineering major, but you will have to have something on your resume that shows that you aren't at the bottom of the learning curve for a very technical job. If I am an engineering company, I will probably assume that a guy with a 3.1 in an engineering major has been immersed in the type of thinking that goes behind engineering projects and will pick him over whatever your GPA is in another major.

I think overall, you will find that your anecdote is not a very good one. Critical analysis of reading and writing are universal enough skills that a bright non-humanities major can go into an upper div hum class and write the best paper in the class.
 
I always think that it's pretty hilarious when people give an example of an English major as an easy major..

I have an English major and almost have a bio major done, and I can promise you that it has been a whole whole whole lot easier to do well in my biology classes than the English classes. Have you written an upper level analytical paper? Please.. that stuff is not easy.

I have a 3.98, and I am by no means a "gunner". Just because you have worked hard to do well in your classes doesn't mean that you're a gunner.

I think you'd be pretty hard pressed to find anyone with a near 4.0 that hasn't had to work hard for it.. and in my opinion, that's nothing to be ashamed of, balked at, or ridiculed for.
 
English may not be a suitable example in your case. But at every school there are some majors in which a bright and talented person can get a 4.0 without any great amount of effort. I am certain of this.
 
In certain cases when MCAT scores are equal, i would pick the easier major with higher GPA(Liberal Arts/Business Majors). Not for GPA reason, but for determination and skill factors. The person with the harder Science Majors should do well on the MCAT but if they pull a 31 and an English major also pulls a 31, what does that say about the Science major?

The Science Major is suppose to be the one with the Higher MCT score, although yes the MCAT tests basic O-Chem, Bio, CHem, Physics skills that havent been taken since the sophmore and freshmen year, the science majors are suppose to be able to comprehend the material at a deeper level because the upper division classes build off the lower division classes. The signal given by a Science major and a average MCAT is that he is getting owned in his own game, when he is suppose to be far superior in MCAT scores.

My 2 cents
 
This sounds similar to a friend of mine that insists our school should make English majors take more science classes, because we're required to be proficient in English classes as science majors (we have to pass some writing competency portfolio).

It's all about your strengths, though. There will be some bio majors that could easily get a 4.0 in another degree, but they just like biology better. There will similarly be some English majors that can get straight A's in the sciences, but they just like English more. There will also be the bio major that completely bombs every liberal arts class he (or she) takes, and some English major that could barely get through General Bio. That's why we have the system we do, where you can focus on one area of study.

In the end, though, adcoms are going to look at everything you bring to the table, not just your GPA or your MCAT score. There are people with stellar stats on paper that just can't get into medical school for one reason or another.
 
stat3113 said:
However you put it, within a particular school, some majors have a more skewed distribution of gpa than others. i.e. at my school, to graduate with honors required a minimum gpa cutoff, which varies by major. For engineers, it may be 3.6, for Liberal Arts its 3.85.

Yes, MCAT also matters a lot, but it deserves to matter. I really don't think GPAs across different majors are comparable, yet this is done. So assume three students, all have the same bcmp, and the same MCAT: A) 3.8 English major, B)3.4 Engineering major, C) 3.8 Engineering Major

What you were trying to say is that C should be chosen over B, and I agree. But what's messed up is when A is chosen over B. There certainly exists SOME major in which B could have easily gotten a 3.8, so it is ridiculous to grant some huge preference to A just because numerically he has a higher GPA. In terms of medical apititude, in this scenario I see no reason to prefer A over B, yet in the real world, B would probably have to do a post-bacc of 1-2 years just to bring his GPA up to par.
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I guess to answer your question: GPA matters and major does NOT. I was an engineering major, and to be honest, I think that was the reason my GPA was soooo high (I would have had a much lower GPA had I majored in english....)

If your GPA is soo low, do a post-bacc program or a masters (2 years tops). That should do (if you really want to do med school). Otherwise, get a 35+ on your mcat. Good luck.
 
Then again, switching to a Basket Weaving major might be a good idea. Have you been to Charleston and seen the prices on those sweetgrass baskets? Whoa! Sticker shock! Those ladies could probably pay out-of-pocket for the entire med school experience. There's almost no overhead or start up cost and the nimble fingers they develop must surely be advantageous for surgical specialties. Plus, it would certainly make the candidate stand out in the diversity area when adcoms found that applicant held that much talked about, but never before seen, Basket Weaving degree.😀
 
chickenlittle84 said:
It really depends on your skills and interests...what is hard for one person is easy for another. One of the intro classes for my major has a lot of civil engineering students in it. I breezed through with A because I read quickly and writing comes naturally to me...the engineering majors? Not so much...many really struggled in the class and walked out with Cs. Presumably, their GPAs would have been a lot lower had they stuck with the social science major. Adcoms think if you love engineering enough to major in it, you should be good at it. I think it's problematic when you start valuing one type of knowledge over the other...

All of this being said, I have tremendous respect for engineering majors becuase I know that is something I couldn't do...
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I agree with this. I was an English Lit major, and actually found those classes to be more difficult (in the sense of getting an A) than my prereqs. My take is that it was always feasible for me to study harder, commit things to memory, and be able to learn concepts and formulas for a test. Whereas writing a paper that will please Professor A wouldn't necessarily please Professor B. Certainly I had to work harder in my prereqs to get the A's. But ultimately I found that getting an A in Orgo, for example, was doable by just studying consistently, whereas I couldn't manage A's in some of my English classes no matter how many times I revised a paper or how early I started on it, just because I couldn't write in the style my professor wanted or couldn't formulate the argument properly.

Definitely it takes as much or more work to land hot grades in the BCPMs than in English or some other humanities course. But for some, it's equally difficult to write a good paper. I think this is an interesting discussion. Definitely it might take more work to get a good grade in the sciences, but writing A-level papers can be tough too (or at least sometimes it was for me).
 
stat3113 said:
From the little I've read, I can't help but come to the conclusion of how incredibly important it is to have a sky-high ug gpa (and bcmp.)

If upon entering college, I had known for certain I wanted to go to med school, I would have picked the easiest possible major (basket-weaving), taken all the pre-reqs, and there's I'd be another one of these 3.98s.

Most of these kids I see with gaps of 2-5 years between when they graduate college and when they can enter med school have gpa problems. And I'm certain that almost all of them could have managed a skyhigh gpa in one of the myriad easy-A majors that abound at every college (ivy league or state school.)

My Gpa is pulled down because of all these incredibly hard courses I took (upper level math, physics, etc) that so many of these "gunners" will never see. I guess thats what irks me. These adcoms, if they see 2 people with similar bcmp gpas (say 3.6) and similar mcats, but one has a 3.8 cum gpa with a journalism major and the other has a 3.3 cum gpa in a mechanical engineering major, they will in 99/100 cases pick the journalism 3.8, b/c they don't want to mess up their average.

And that sucks.
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i dont know how good i would be in basket-weaving...you can get 4.0 in biochem. i think it is possible to have good gpa in any major if you paly your cards right :]. 👍 good luck

ps: i would probably have failed school if i were an english major o__O
 
stat3113 said:
If upon entering college, I had known for certain I wanted to go to med school, I would have picked the easiest possible major (basket-weaving), taken all the pre-reqs, and there's I'd be another one of these 3.98s.
Click to expand...


My real concern here is that your college even offers basket-weaving as a major. When applying, you should be much less concerned about your GPA and much more concerned about the reputation of the arts and crafts college which you attend. :meanie:

But it's more than just GPA anyway so I wouldn't sweat it too much. You also have to remember that people with the high GPAs don't always get in either.
 
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