gpa trend increase is good, what about decline?

[korndoctor]

i keep browsing through posts where an increase trend for gpa is good, but what about the opposite? my gpa keeps declining slightly every semester because classes (electrical engineering) are getting tougher and tougher, but my overal gpa is still >3.5. this is all right, could someone provide insight

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[146233]

While upward trends are good all the time, we typically mention them on SDN in cases where a student got off to a rocky start or had a rough semester. The advice then is to do well and demonstrate a strong upward trend.

In the same vein, downward trends are typically less good, but if you maintain a solid GPA, you should be fine. Don't let your medical school pre-reqs suffer the same downward trend.


Good luck,
-z

 

[jochi1543]

I think some decrease is absolutely understandable, as both the course material and the expectations get tougher....it's just a matter of how big and drastic a decrease. If your GPA suddenly drops from 3.7 to 3.3 one semester and stays there, it would sure raise my eyebrows. While if you're just gradually dropping by 0.05-0.1 as your course levels are going up to 400s, it's not really a cause for concern.

 

[Kfire326]

Also, LizzyM once said that engineering majors get a GPA "boost" in the eyes of Adcoms. That is, since engineering classes are so difficult, they assign you a GPA that's 10% higher than what your AMCAS gpa actually is. I guess this is because they figure that if you weren't an engineering major, you would have done 10% better.

 

[146233]

She said "a lot of adcoms." It would be foolish to assume every school does so.

-z