GPA while in medical school

[Ronald Kris]

how does having a GPA hovering above 2.0 (the minimum I believe before academic probation) or a GPA from 2.3-2.9 affect your choices or chances of matching for residency? Summer activities? What does a guy with a 2.1 from a US MD/DO school wind up doing from residency onward?

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[Stagg737]

Having a 2.75-3.0 isn't the end of the world, That's a B/B- average. It probably won't rule any field out for you, but it certainly won't help when if you apply for a competitive field. If you do, the rest of your CV better be stellar. Chances are it won't matter much at all for the less competitive fields.

Having a 2.1 on the other hand looks much worse. That'll likely put you in the bottom 10% of your class and basically kill your chances in most competitive fields (unless you make some really strong connections) and can hurt your ability to match into strong residency programs in less competitive fields. If you do well in clinical years (3 and 4) then many places won't care as much about your pre-clinical mistakes, especially if a place you rotate through loves you. Keep in mind that there is much more to it than just class rank/GPA. Board scores, preceptor letters, clinical grades, and interviews typically play a bigger role in where you can match than your class rank. Not saying it doesn't matter, just saying it's not everything.

Also, they can pretty much do whatever they want from residency onward. Once you're a resident literally nothing from med school matters other than research and connections you've made. Just like nothing from pre-med matters in med school and nothing from high school matters in undergrad.

 

[Ronald Kris]

Having a 2.1 on the other hand looks much worse. That'll likely put you in the bottom 10% of your class and basically kill your chances in most competitive fields (unless you make some really strong connections) and can hurt your ability to match into strong residency programs in less competitive fields. .

will you still have a good shot for family medicine, internal medicine, pathology, research if you have a 2.01 anywhere? Are the guys with the 2.01 still get a rural area or dangerous innercity at least as the locale of his residency?

 

[Stagg737]

Family and internal med are two of the least competitive specialties out there, so if your profile is really bad, those are two the fields you'd actually have a decent shot at. Path is more competitive and heavy on pre-clinical knowledge, so you'd have to have strong boards and application other than your GPA/rank to have a legitimate shot there. Getting a 2.01 isn't going to completely screw you, but it will significantly limit your options.

If you're really a pre-med though I would focus on your current GPA and getting into med school first. No point in worrying about any of this unless you're already there.

 

[Bru]

GPA is a minor factor in determining residency. As mentioned above step I, clerkship grades and evaluations play a much greater role. I should not though that doing poorly in pre-clinical classes doesn't correlate to doing well on Step 1. It's possible you can scrap by with low grades during MS1/2 and rock the step but it's more likely that you are getting this poor grades due to lack of mastery of material (which doesn't bode well for Step 1). In short, don't focus on GPA. This isn't pre-med and the game has changed. DO focus on learning the material well and performing well on step and rotations.

 

[Goro]

My school has found that you get out of med school what you put into it, and people with a 2.0 GPA ballpark are the most likely to fail Boards.

PDs will care more about Step I, getting back to your question. Do a search in these forums for what PDs like and how they rank things about residency applicants.

how does having a GPA hovering above 2.0 (the minimum I believe before academic probation) or a GPA from 2.3-2.9 affect your choices or chances of matching for residency? Summer activities? What does a guy with a 2.1 from a US MD/DO school wind up doing from residency onward?

 

[Ronald Kris]

My school has found that you get out of med school what you put into it, and people with a 2.0 GPA ballpark are the most likely to fail Boards.

PDs will care more about Step I, getting back to your question. Do a search in these forums for what PDs like and how they rank things about residency applicants.

how did those people get into med school in the first place?? What kind of people were they? What separates the med students who do poorly but did well enough to get in vs the ones who do well in both?

 

[Goro]

If I could figure this out, I'd make a fortune consulting to med school admissions deans.

People do poorly in med school for different reasons.

Some are pushed in this direction by overbearing parents; others are lazy and don't put in the work needed; still others, and I think this is the biggest pool, have poor coping skills when life hits them with a bean ball. These students may have been high performers in the past, but refuse to come for help once they're floundering. They seem to think that seeking help is a sign of weakness, or a loss of face.

Ill health, especially depression, clobbers yet another set of students.

how did those people get into med school in the first place?? What kind of people were they? What separates the med students who do poorly but did well enough to get in vs the ones who do well in both?