GPA looked at in CONTEXT ?

[FERDInand]

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had an argument with my premed advisor today who felt that all my majors and minors were a detriment. My gpa is ok, ~3.4 at this point, not likely to change much either way, if anything maybe raise a point or two.

I am double majoring in Molecular Biology and History with a minor in Philosophy and a slew of language classes (fairly fluent in spanish and french).

My advisor thinks i should concentrate on one major and bring up my gpa. i dont want this, but if my high courseload will seriously affect how i fare in admissions, i will have to work out some sort of compromise. so with my majors, is a gpa at the lower end of the avg ok? will they see that ive consistently taken hours over the norm etc and take that into consideration?

i have yet to take the mcat, i took a practice test a while back, before taking organic chemistry and physics and scored in the mid 20s. i dont know where that puts me now, id guess at least in the low 30s, though i test well and plan on studying quite a bit. also, the i have ok extra curriculars..volunteering, meaningful research (inc fellowships and grants etc, lots of shadowing.

sorry for bundling in all that info, just wanted to slightly give a better idea of my situation. so will my gpa hurt? how much?

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

sorry for bundling in all that info, just wanted to slightly give a better idea of my situation. so will my gpa hurt? how much?

It doesn't matter if you take 55 credits/semester. A low GPA is a low GPA and will always hurt an application. The low GPA may not be so bad with all that you are doing, but your advisor is right - cut all the extra crap and focus on what you need to take. A 3.4 with a double major and a minor is far inferior to a 3.7 with only one degree.

 

[Potato!]

I too don't have the most impressive GPA. It's not too bad, but definately not something that any premed would wish for. I have now finished my undergrad, and I would have done things differently if I had it to do over again. For one, there is no shame in taking some easy courses simply to be used as GPA boosters. People will tell you to take whichever major interests you the most, and I agree with them to some extent. However, when you apply to most medical schools, they don't care about your major, or your undergrad school, they care about only one number; out of 4.0.

If I were to vote on this topic, I would vote for you to improve your GPA as much as you can. You shouldn't go too ridiculously easy, otherwise it will look like you're slacking. But if you have a nice respectable biology degree, with a 3.7 GPA then you're set. Just my 2 cents speaking from personal experience. Ultimately do what you think is right for you.

 

[45408]

Yeah, the 3.4 is gonna torpedo your application, honestly, compared with what you could obtain if you just backed off all these classes.

 

[FERDInand]

Yeah, the 3.4 is gonna torpedo your application, honestly, compared with what you could obtain if you just backed off all these classes.

are you serious?

this is all quite upsetting... sure i knew getting in and going to medical school would entail sacrafices, but sacraficing education is something i never considered. 🙁

im not shooting for harvard or anything of the sort, i go to a top private school (sadly not one with rampant grade inflation), and was actually hoping to return home to go to med school (therefore im shooting for tulane, or otherwise schools of similar caliber) i had always considered my projected and current stats to be in competitive range, especially considering the unknown mcat score (im not banking on it, but there is a high possibility of me doing quite well, and though that wouldnt negate the gpa i felt it would better proove that i was capable). i am in a state of confusion!

since entering college, ive had the mindset of taking hard classes, lots of them, learning everything ive ever wanted to. i soon realized that taking the better and often harder teacher isnt often the greatest idea, and have since tried and failed at convincing myself to take the easy way out in my science classes. dropping my minor and second major might be next to impossible, i dont know if i could take it.

thanks for your opinions. keep them coming.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

since entering college, ive had the mindset of taking hard classes, lots of them, learning everything ive ever wanted to. i soon realized that taking the better and often harder teacher isnt often the greatest idea, and have since tried and failed at convincing myself to take the easy way out in my science classes. dropping my minor and second major might be next to impossible, i dont know if i could take it.

That's a fantastic attitude, but its going to get you as far as a huffy mountain bike with no wheels. You have to play the game to get into the med school of your choice. Will a 3.4 get you accepted somewhere? Most likely. But as you dip into the lower half of the 3.0 - 4.0 range, you begin to really limit your options and lower your strength as a candidate. I admire your desire to learn, but unfortunately, that's only a small piece of the whole pie. Best of luck to you 👍

 

[kylahs]

your stats are similar to mine. I double majored in biochemistry and philosophy and ended up with a 3.3 GPA. I took a practice MCAT before I took certain physics and chemistry courses and also ended up in the mid 20's. After finishing more courses (and doing some mcat prep) I got a 34.

It looks like the previous posters are telling the sad truth: your options become limited as your GPA drop, even if you have an impressive courseload. I've only had one interview invite so far, after being complete at 12 schools since the end of Sept. I know it's still early, but I also know my low GPA is causing adcoms to overlook my app, at least during the first rounds of evaluations.
I do not recommend however that you drop your courseload, especially the minor in philosophy. You *will* be a more wellrounded person/doctor with your indepth studies in history and philosophy. You will have better writing and critical thinking skills. And you will be able to hold your own during an argument. Better, I'm sure, than you would otherwise. I think these are all skills that can certainly help you as a physician. Once you get an interview invite, I think you'll be set, since your courseload would probably be brought up during the interview.

My recommendation: keep you second major and your minor in philosophy. In the long run you'll be happy that you've done so. But work hard. By all means keep that GPA above a 3.4. I could have done the same if I had really understood the importance of a high GPA.

 

[45408]

since entering college, ive had the mindset of taking hard classes, lots of them, learning everything ive ever wanted to. i soon realized that taking the better and often harder teacher isnt often the greatest idea, and have since tried and failed at convincing myself to take the easy way out in my science classes. dropping my minor and second major might be next to impossible, i dont know if i could take it.

This is awesome if you're in college solely for the sake of learning - but we're not. We're also playing a big game in order to get into med school. It's a tad unfortunate, but it's life.

 

[beep]

i have a 3.4 with a double degree ba/bs and a history of maxing out on units every quarter. i didn't get interested in medicine until i was almost done. my focus during most of college was on the learning and i paid very little attention to my grades. i'm not really sad about it, despite my low gpa. it remains to be seen, though, if i will get into school! if i don't, i'm sure i will be regretful.

 

[JelicMD]

I don't think it should matter. If anything, the variety of courses you are taking will be impressive. I know a girl who was exactly in your ship...but her gpa was a 2.78....and she got in (with a stellar MCAT score though)...I saw the acceptance letter myself. So...it all depends. Can you nail an MCAT with a score of 35 and higher?
Best of luck

 

[Fermata]

A 3.4 isn't terrible.

 

[Davina3000]

Don't drop your second major/minor just because your advisor thinks it's a good idea. Bottom line is that even if you drop them and work hard to bring your gpa up, you won't be guaranteed an acceptance. Do what will make you happy and proud of your undergrad experience. It is much more important for you to do well on the MCAT and have a strong application over all. Make sure you have ECs/experiences that will make you stand out in some way. Maybe take a year off after college and do something that will make you a more unique applicant.

Having a 3.4 is not the mark of death on your application. I was accepted mid october to Tulane (yay!) and have been offered 3 other interviews at schools that I am also very happy about. I know that my gpa is what is holding me back from getting an interview at a "top" school, but in all honesty, I don't really care that much...I think Tulane is a great fit for me and likely would have wanted to end up there even if I had different options.

 

[evajaclynn]

I can't believe that everyone's advice is to tell the OP to stop learning the amazing subjects he/she is taking and telling him/her to only take courses that will improve the GPA. Being fluent in spanish and french will be an extremely valuable asset to this person when they are in medical school and when they are practicing in the real world. I understand that you all want to do every little thing that you can to get into medical school, but what happened to the value of a college education and learning about the things that really matter to you. If the OP is interested in pre-med as well as other subject areas, then more power to him/her! I believe that there are schools that do look at your major and subject areas of study. At my first interview, they said that they weren't even worried about my GPA b/c they knew about my heavy courseload. OP, I encourage you with the courses that you are taking. Try to stay above a 3.4, but realize that some of those courses will help you a great deal in the future too!

 

[FERDInand]

thanks everyone.

i think i am going to stick with it. otherwise even if i do get in i will regret it. if i go for the extra major and minor and my somewhat lower gpa gets me rejected.... i'll try again. hopefully my gpa will rise as i move along, my schedule is becoming less set out for me, and as i am allowed to pick and choose classes that interest me my gpa will hopefully rise a bit. if not i'll just have to deal with it.

 

[evajaclynn]

I wish you the best and I think that you are making the right decision. 🙂

 

[AsianDoc816]

I don't think that double majoring will significantly impress the adcoms. I double-majored and wound up with a high GPA, but I don't think they care that much about it. They're more interested in your overall application than your choice of major(s). That being said, I doubled because I was interested in both biology and psychology, and had time to double duirng my undergraduate years (had lots of AP credit coming in).

 

[superdevil]

That's a fantastic attitude, but its going to get you as far as a huffy mountain bike with no wheels. You have to play the game to get into the med school of your choice. Will a 3.4 get you accepted somewhere? Most likely. But as you dip into the lower half of the 3.0 - 4.0 range, you begin to really limit your options and lower your strength as a candidate. I admire your desire to learn, but unfortunately, that's only a small piece of the whole pie. Best of luck to you 👍

totally.

look, logistically, it would be impossible for adcoms to adjust EVERYONE'S GPA to account for number of majors/minors/credit hours/whatever. they just can't. all that stuff amounts to is a tie-breaker between extremely similar applicants. they look at GPA/MCAT. its a matter of efficiency. i know it sounds cold, because it is--its the sad truth of how the game is played.

if you like to learn as much as you say and you don't get in, get a masters (in one subject 😉 ) to boost your grades and reapply. good luck!

 

[evajaclynn]

if you like to learn as much as you say and you don't get in, get a masters (in one subject 😉 ) to boost your grades and reapply. good luck!

good advice! 👍

 

[peptidoglycan]

Don't listen to these people. Most of them are in the throes of a miserable application season and they have had the life beaten out of them.
Getting into med school is by no means easy. It certainly isn't fun. But if you suffer through the whole process and survive, don't you want to come out on the other end a whole person, one with outside interests able to hold intelligent conversations on a wide range of topics?

I am a 4th year at Tulane and I will guarantee you that Tulane will appreciate what you are doing. If Tulane is the school you want to go to, then you are doing all the right things. We look for students who have explored their interests. We want people who want to be doctors, but we don't want you to sacrifice your other interests. Heck, we even encourage you continue pursuing those interests as a medical student by sponsoring clubs and allowing electives in the ugrad and grad schools for people just like you. Tulane is willing to turn a blind eye to a less than stellar GPA in order to get a well-rounded student to join their ranks.

I wish you good luck and I hope you don't become as jaded as the rest of the bunch with this whole process. If I didn't have my Latin degree background or my outside interests, I know I would have been miserable in med school and I don't think my career would be nearly as fulfilling as it is shaping up to be.

 

[evajaclynn]

Getting into med school is by no means easy. It certainly isn't fun. But if you suffer through the whole process and survive, don't you want to come out on the other end a whole person, one with outside interests able to hold intelligent conversations on a wide range of topics?

👍 👍 👍 👍

I completely agree.

 

[uptoolate]

I have very so so grades as an undergrad, a 3.82 Masters GPA and a 3.83 Ph.D GPA from the number one ranked school in the field, with as many BCPM courses taken at the graduate level as I did as an undergraduate science major. MCATS 33R and excellent ECs (pro EMT, Peace Corps, several years overseas clinical and research exp, volunteer work, TA x9, RA, etc) and research exp. I'm getting very little love from adcoms. If you really want to go to med school, the sad truth is that your undergrad GPA matters so much more than other things AND its so hard to undo.

Good luck.

 

[FERDInand]

about cut offs... i never imagined a 3.4 (and this isnt my final gpa, im hoping it will go up a point or two) would warrant an automatic rejection, especially with what looks like it will be an above average mcat score. i still think that at a second look i will stand out as a good applicant.

if in fact i do get rejected, it wont be the end of the world, not at all. a masters degree or at least a bit of post bacc work would be fun, i could concentrate really hard on my research or maybe go abroad.

i have to say, i think most of you are exagerrating the negative effects of my gpa, its not THAT bad (at least i dont think so). it almost seems to be the consensus that i will be rejected, and i doubt that will be the case at all schools (though it is quite possible not to get in anywhere i really like).

 

[evajaclynn]

you'll be fine - just keep that positive attitude! sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders. I still think that spanish will come in handy in the near future - its great that you're fluent. And like you said, a 3.4 is NOT terrible by any means. You may be overlooked by a lot of schools, but if you apply to a broad range of programs, your chances will be good. 👍

 

[mfcus]

Relax, your right your GPA is very good. Keep in mind they calculate your science GPA. So, if you rock the house on all of your science classes and do moderately well on your MCATs you will make these "cut-offs" which do exist for allot of schools but a 3.4 will get you through unless you get 7s on your MCAT.

Be careful about graduate school and thinking that it is a cakewalk to get through b/c it is not. Also, allot of medical schools will NOT consider your graduate school work until you have successfully defended. They might say they will consider it with your chair's letter but you need to close the deal and ADCOMs still frown upon not having it done and in the end that is probably the hardest part of graduate school. Don't forget that half the committee are probably PhDs.

 

[ASDIC]

a 3.4 is not bad...as long as you have a good positive trend. The national average GPA for accepted students was 3.62 with a standard deviation of 0.28. Which means 95% of the accepted students had a range of 3.34 to 3.90. Using statistics, we can estimate around 8250 people had a GPA less than 3.62 SO a 3.4 is not far away speaking.

Also, a good mcat score, excellent LORs, good ECs can compensate for the 3.4.

 

[skoaner]

about cut offs... i never imagined a 3.4 (and this isnt my final gpa, im hoping it will go up a point or two) would warrant an automatic rejection, especially with what looks like it will be an above average mcat score. i still think that at a second look i will stand out as a good applicant.

if in fact i do get rejected, it wont be the end of the world, not at all. a masters degree or at least a bit of post bacc work would be fun, i could concentrate really hard on my research or maybe go abroad.

i have to say, i think most of you are exagerrating the negative effects of my gpa, its not THAT bad (at least i dont think so). it almost seems to be the consensus that i will be rejected, and i doubt that will be the case at all schools (though it is quite possible not to get in anywhere i really like).

I know for a fact GPA/MCAT are the two biggest "red flags" on every adcom. If one is significantly lower than the other there will ALWAYS be a GPA ***** on the committee who can possibly torpedo your app immediately. But it is your life, hope you enjoy grad school.

 

[Reckoning]

Suffice it to say you need to be outstanding in some way. If it is not your GPA it needs to be somewhere else, athletics, volunteeering, research whatever. I'm an exception but I've had 9 interview invites and one acceptance so far and a 3.2 Ugrad GPA, 3.4 Sci. BUT I was a decent NCAA athlete and have 15 publications which I think got me a second look.

Sad truth is your GPA matters because as an Ugrad this is your job, your MO for now. If you are going to do other things after ugrad like research etc, don't worry about it.

In the end you will get in somewhere I'm sure, just hedge your bets when you can... 👍

 

[evajaclynn]

BUT I was a decent NCAA athlete....

From your avatar, I was wondering - were you in cross country or track? those are my best sports, but that's because I'm a clutz.
🙂

 

[gujuDoc]

about cut offs... i never imagined a 3.4 (and this isnt my final gpa, im hoping it will go up a point or two) would warrant an automatic rejection, especially with what looks like it will be an above average mcat score. i still think that at a second look i will stand out as a good applicant.

if in fact i do get rejected, it wont be the end of the world, not at all. a masters degree or at least a bit of post bacc work would be fun, i could concentrate really hard on my research or maybe go abroad.

i have to say, i think most of you are exagerrating the negative effects of my gpa, its not THAT bad (at least i dont think so). it almost seems to be the consensus that i will be rejected, and i doubt that will be the case at all schools (though it is quite possible not to get in anywhere i really like).

Ferdinand,

I'm gonna go out on the limb and suggest something completely different than everyone else.

If you really want the extra majors/minors and the extracurriculars, why don't you take an extra year to graduate, so that you can take a few less classes at a time and bring up your gpa?????? That way you can have the best of both worlds.


Also, I gather you haven't taken the MCAT yet. If that is the case, then I suggest that you study real hard for it. If you get a 35 or higher on the MCAT, your GPA will not hinder you too much because it will do wonders for you.

I have talked about this many times, but I know people whom have had 8 f's on their transcrip and thus with 3 yrs postbac of straight a's only had a 3.2 gpa. However, this person also had a steller MCAT of 37N with a 13 in verbal and 12's in the other sections. I believe that helped him and got him his 4 interview invites, and one acceptance of the 2 interviews he actually chose to attend to.

Seriously though, take it slower if you are going to do both majors and worry about bringing it up and getting a very high mcat score.

 

[superdevil]

i have to say, i think most of you are exagerrating the negative effects of my gpa, its not THAT bad (at least i dont think so). it almost seems to be the consensus that i will be rejected, and i doubt that will be the case at all schools (though it is quite possible not to get in anywhere i really like).

no, it isn't "THAT bad". i was merely stating what i've seen in my experience (that having a high GPA is better than having 3 majors or whatever).

also, i don't think its the consensus that you'll be rejected; hell, a 3.4 isn't even bad. i just think everyone is trying to offer you suggestions as to how you could bring up your GPA if you wish (i.e., masters, post-bac, taking an extra year to graduate, etc.), and i think people were making a good effort to help you. maybe you don't. fine.

and this...

Originally Posted by peptidoglycan
Don't listen to these people. Most of them are in the throes of a miserable application season and they have had the life beaten out of them. Getting into med school is by no means easy. It certainly isn't fun. But if you suffer through the whole process and survive, don't you want to come out on the other end a whole person, one with outside interests able to hold intelligent conversations on a wide range of topics?

your experience at tulane is ideal, but not necessarily the norm. reality is reality. perhaps the people on tulanes adcom are just the best people out there. its not always that nice, though.

but starting your post by indirectly insulting a dozen or so well-meaning people shows style! great job! 👍

 

[AwaPremed]

What state is Tulane at?

I just checked up on it ---------- No way would I go to Louisiana

 

[abcxyz0123]

What state is Tulane at?

I just checked up on it ---------- No way would I go to Louisiana

what are you talking about. new orleans is sweet

 

[AwaPremed]

I'm from up north and some people I know who went down to live there moved back up here b/cause they told me that Louisiana wasn't all that. People act like everyday is Mardi Gras, the culture is different, people discriminated against them because they were from up north etc. etc.

 

[palmtree]

Yeah, the 3.4 is gonna torpedo your application, honestly, compared with what you could obtain if you just backed off all these classes.

i love how u prance around these forums acting like you are on the admissions committee at every institution. you dont know that it is going to torpedo his/her application. you dont know anything. based off a current member of the admissions committee at STANFORD, liberal arts is the preferred major, yes even over biology. they see it as why put yourself through 4 years of biology when you are going to learn it in med school? they see it as a waste of 4 years where you could have done anything u like. he recommends every premed he meets to major in the arts, take the basic premed requirements, do well in them, get a decent mcat, and youre set. in the meantime, you get a real education by reading and analyzing significant historical texts instead of memorizing some crap that you forget after the final. keep your philosophy, and if anything drop your hard science major.

 

[MeowMix]

Nail the MCAT and the GPA will not cause too many problems.

I completed 180 credit hours for my BS with a 3.5 GPA, a couple of Cs and a bunch of Bs. I did very well on the MCAT and got a pile of interviews.

 

[peptidoglycan]

and this...

your experience at tulane is ideal, but not necessarily the norm. reality is reality. perhaps the people on tulanes adcom are just the best people out there. its not always that nice, though.

but starting your post by indirectly insulting a dozen or so well-meaning people shows style! great job! 👍

My point in "indirectly insulting" a dozen people was to buoy this guy who is thinking about the big picture. Most of the people on this board are making it sound like medicine is life. FERDI here seems to be truly interested in education and can enjoy the roses on the path. It really is too bad that everyone has been so beaten down by the system.

You're right, though. I was lucky. Anyone who gets in is lucky. I just don't want FERDI here to end up like those guys who get into med school and then realize after a semester or a year or even more that medicine wasn't really the way to go. Or to feel boxed in by the field because he never explored. You should never snuff out the interest or curiosity of someone excited about learning. Luckily for FERDI, he mentioned his interest in Tulane and so I'm here to let him know that Tulane may also have an interest in him.

 

[superdevil]

My point in "indirectly insulting" a dozen people was to buoy this guy who is thinking about the big picture. Most of the people on this board are making it sound like medicine is life. FERDI here seems to be truly interested in education and can enjoy the roses on the path. It really is too bad that everyone has been so beaten down by the system.

You're right, though. I was lucky. Anyone who gets in is lucky. I just don't want FERDI here to end up like those guys who get into med school and then realize after a semester or a year or even more that medicine wasn't really the way to go. Or to feel boxed in by the field because he never explored. You should never snuff out the interest or curiosity of someone excited about learning. Luckily for FERDI, he mentioned his interest in Tulane and so I'm here to let him know that Tulane may also have an interest in him.

that's cool. you gave good advice, and hoefully it will help FERDI. i don't think people were saying those things because they've been "beaten down by the system", though. in *most* cases, that's just how the 'game' is played. people were just being honest about what they see and experience. your situation provides an uplifting contrast, though.

your intro was still, um...unecessary.

 

[45408]

I can't believe that everyone's advice is to tell the OP to stop learning the amazing subjects he/she is taking and telling him/her to only take courses that will improve the GPA. Being fluent in spanish and french will be an extremely valuable asset to this person when they are in medical school and when they are practicing in the real world. I understand that you all want to do every little thing that you can to get into medical school, but what happened to the value of a college education and learning about the things that really matter to you. If the OP is interested in pre-med as well as other subject areas, then more power to him/her! I believe that there are schools that do look at your major and subject areas of study. At my first interview, they said that they weren't even worried about my GPA b/c they knew about my heavy courseload. OP, I encourage you with the courses that you are taking. Try to stay above a 3.4, but realize that some of those courses will help you a great deal in the future too!

Your interviewer may have told you that, but it's certainly not a unilateral sentiment.

For the OP, if you truly want to take all of these classes, then I would tell you just to settle for being in school a bit longer so that you're not taking as intense of a courseload. Personally, I'd narrow my interests, but do what pleases you.

 

[45408]

i love how u prance around these forums acting like you are on the admissions committee at every institution. you dont know that it is going to torpedo his/her application. you dont know anything. based off a current member of the admissions committee at STANFORD, liberal arts is the preferred major, yes even over biology. they see it as why put yourself through 4 years of biology when you are going to learn it in med school? they see it as a waste of 4 years where you could have done anything u like. he recommends every premed he meets to major in the arts, take the basic premed requirements, do well in them, get a decent mcat, and youre set. in the meantime, you get a real education by reading and analyzing significant historical texts instead of memorizing some crap that you forget after the final. keep your philosophy, and if anything drop your hard science major.

He asked. What should we say? "Oh, sorry, you'd have to ask an actual adcom member at that school. We know nothing. " We're just giving him our opinions, which is what he asked for basically. Can you get in with a 3.4? Sure, at lots of schools. Does it limit your options? Don't kid yourself.

 

[Reckoning]

From your avatar, I was wondering - were you in cross country or track? those are my best sports, but that's because I'm a clutz.
🙂

Both 😀 Still love to get outside

 

[PublicEnemy]

getting into med school? the most important things are 2 sets of 4 letters, BCPM and MCAT. everything beyond that, excuse the pun, is academic. as long as you have done well in the science pre-reqs and the mcats, you're set. people major in bio or take tons of classes to try to show adcoms they're prepared for and capable of succeeding in medschool, oh and because "they have an interest in it" great yeah, but seriously adcoms decide that largely based on your science gpa and mcat scores, so as long as you take the pre-reqs and do well, major in what you want to. as far as your overall gpa, try to do well no matter what you take, that factors in too, if its history or foreign languages, etc. it still affects your AO (all others) gpa and your overall gpa. on the other hand, if you've already taken all the pre-reqs and your BCPM is somewhat on the low side, then maybe think about taking a few extra science classes to kick it up a little.

 

[Hermeone]

GPA/MCAT are very important.

I have a friend with 3.42 GPA and 38 MCAT, double major in mechanical engineering and chemistry, 3 years of research, 1 publication as coauthor, 1 honors thesis, several conferences, poster presentations and several part time jobs. He was also a co-editor in chief for on campus newspaper(or whatever you called that). He got into Columbia Med and that was his only acceptance out of 3 interviews.

🙁

 

[FERDInand]

GPA/MCAT are very important.

I have a friend with 3.42 GPA and 38 MCAT, double major in mechanical engineering and chemistry, 3 years of research, 1 publication as coauthor, 1 honors thesis, several conferences, poster presentations and several part time jobs. He was also a co-editor in chief for on campus newspaper(or whatever you called that). He got into Columbia Med and that was his only acceptance out of 3 interviews.

🙁

whats your point? i could easily tell of someone ive known who got in with a 2.8 and a 39 or that other guy with a 3.8 and a 27 who did too, and that other dude i knew with the 3.5 and 35 who didnt get in anywhere...

maybe your intentions werent as annoying as im taking them to be, but we all now med school admissions is rather subjective. citing a single instance doesnt prove anything at all.

maybe my way isnt the right path, but it sure is the one im taking. if it turns out to be bumpier than planned, so be it; im ready. In the end i'll come out of it all a better man, and in my opinion a better doctor. I know who i am, and i know what i am meant to be. If med schools dont see it the first time around, well i'll just show em again.

education is something i pride myself on. i wasnt born trilingual, and im not going to wake up tomorrow knowing chinese and german either. before now if someone had quoted aquinas, spinoza or feinberg i would have been lost. these are things important to me and things i need to live. med schools should respect that and it saddens me that it seems most dont... regardless, im getting my MD one way or another.

 

[45408]

med schools should respect that and it saddens me that it seems most dont....

You're taking a very narrow view at their position in the application process. Everyone who is applying to med school is a beautiful and unique butterfly. Interviewing every beautiful and unique butterfly is impossible. So, they screen the pool with a net first to pull out what they're looking for.

 

[gujuDoc]

Ferdinand,

We all gave you our opinions which is what you asked for, so how come you are attacking every person that is trying to help you????????

Frankly, if you want all the majors/minors then either learn how to get straight A's and high grades all at once or take a year extra to graduate and pursue all your interests.

That's really all that there is to it.

 

[Crake]

I think I once faced the same dilemma you're facing now. I ended up doing the double major (History and Political Science) and minoring in German--I also took 7 courses in Philosophy (so close to that second minor!) All this and I ended up with a 3.53, which isn't too shabby but isn't too stellar either.

I'm not going to say that people on this forum overestimate the importance of GPA--clearly adcoms focus on it. However remember that there is life after the application process. The tendency among many premeds seems to be viewing undergrad years as an obstacle to medschool; another hurtle to be dominated. To this end, I've known premeds who strategically research classes and their professors to find the easiest route through their undergrad years; the one path that will let them graduate with a 3.7 instead of a 3.5. I think people that view college like this are really missing the boat because there's more to life to just being a premed, and after 5 years, you're not even a premed anymore and that GPA difference will mean nothing at all to you or anyone else anymore, whereas the knowledge you gain through a well-rounded undergrad experience will travel with you for your entire life. Let's face it, you have 4 years and then the rest of your life to study biology, why add four more years of undergrad onto that?

I also think that perseverance is underrated. I got a C in my first German class I took. To your average premed, a C is a signal to send up the white flag and give up on a major or minor. I stuck with it for the next four years and I don't regret that for a moment. Adcoms know that medschool is no piece of cake. Do they want someone who seeks the easy road; someone who folds at the first obstacle? Or do they want someone who shows perserverance and the will to continue on? I personally believe that a well rounded, full undergrad education demonstrates this perserverance; you are forced, through the sheer diversity of your studies, to confront your weaknesses and learn to overcome them. I think this says a hell of a lot more than being good at biology and then taking 30 more biology classes; those "strategic" premeds are a dime a dozen.

-Crake

p.s. I wasn't trilingual, or bilingual--and barely unilingual when I got to college. There certainly is something to be said for understanding Aquinas, Spinoza, et. al.--I couldn't agree more. Confront your weaknesses now; learn to never fear that which you aren't comfortable with and that confidence will remain with you for the rest of your life.

 

[USAF_Dentman]

What i learned in high school is that its best just to take the minumum recquired to get outta school and doing well. Its better just to take the easy way out.

In high school, i had a 3.89 GPA, with A's in AP courses - Physics, Calc, and Chem. There were kids who got 4.0's that only got to Algebra 2 in high school and just taking the bare minimum to graduate. Guess what?? They got more scholarship money, got into the same school, and people thought they were smarter than me - which is bull****.

So take an easy biological science major, which will really boost your science GPA.

Look, everytime i took a more dificult route, i get fvcked, so that's why i'll probably drop my neuroscience/physics major, and show up those crab bitches.

JD

 

[Fermata]

and show up those crab bitches.

JD

Hmmm. This is the first time that I've heard this slang terminology.

 

[USAF_Dentman]

Hmmm. This is the first time that I've heard this slang terminology.

Hmmm. This is the first time i've ever heard sarcasm.