Gpa

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avinash

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What GPA do you think a person who attends a state institution needs to have a decent chance of getting into med school?
 
Having a 4.0 doesn't hurt. 😉
 
goheel said:
Having a 4.0 doesn't hurt. 😉
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lol too bad i blew that oppurtunity this fall..... 😕

damn geuss no med school for me 😱

seriously, arnt you supposed to have it anywhere between a 3.7-4.0?
 
I think the average acceptance GPA is around 3.5, it's all really depends on which schools you want to apply to.
 
do a search, look at average mcats on rankings, go to aamc website for data on matriculants. No one answer, make this guy do work 😀
 
goheel said:
I think the average acceptance GPA is around 3.5, it's all really depends on which schools you want to apply to.
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arnt people who attend state instutitions supposed to have higher gpas, since they are supposidly easier than say harvard, MIT, yale? i know that some state instititions are really hard also....

so im confused...
 
Harvard and Yale? With their grade inflations? 😉 Please
 
I have a sort of similar question...

I am an undergrad at the University at Buffalo, and I am curious as to whether medical school admissions are more lenient, grade wise, to students currently attending their university. For example, me going to the University at Buffalo Medical School.

Thanks, Ryan
 
yes, sometimes there are a large number of students from the undergrad at that same university's med school - in some cases that might be due to preference, but sometimes it could be just because so many people from that university apply to its medical school - a little closer to home, perhaps...

and in terms of GPA - it really doesn't matter where you're from, the amount of consideration that they give to students from "tougher" schools doesn't amount to much.....just try to get a 3.5 or greater whereever you go to school. that seems to be a "safe" GPA...you could get in with lower, but you have a great shot with a 3.5 and a decent mcat score.
 
End up with over a 3.0. Either be very consistant with your B's or make some A's in high level classes.

Med schools want to know you can excel at high level classes.

Scott
 
4.0? Well, there goes that. 🙁
 
Seriously, though, I went to an Ivy League and saw the grade inflation first hand. Of course, it's a lot worse in the humanities than in the sciences. It seems that engineering, since it is administered by the engineering school, does not suffer from this.

On the other hand, the school that I went to was not as bad as Harvard or Princeton (at one time, now it's getting better).

MIT, however, is another story, and the courses are definitely harder than the Ivy League classes.

So, generally, people who got to Ivy Leagues are neither necessarily getting a better education, nor taking harder classes. What the Ivies give you is merely OPPORTUNITY, not an education by default. I mean, where else can you take courses in Akkadian, Aramaic, and Burmese, other than Harvard and Cornell? Plus, you have the opportunity to work with excellent researchers, if you're aggressive enough, but that's no guarantee.

That said, however, the Ivies and some liberal arts school and other rigorous schools, by that I mean Swarthmore, Amherst, Duke, etc. as well as Berkeley, Stanford, CalTech, MIT, Chicago, etc. carry REPUTATION.

So, yes, you will have to work towards a very high GPA if you are at a state school, if top medical schools are your goal. It's not necessarily unfair, though, cuz I, too, took classes in high school at SUNYSB, a pretty decent state school, and the classes were MUCH easier than the ivy classes. However, this definitely isn't true of ALL state schools.

I also suggest you look into getting into research right away, some state schools have great research. Also, look into summer research programs - Cold Spring Harbor and Jackson Lab in Maine have some in biomedical sciences, and many top universities have them too - called REUs (Research Experiences for Undergraduates).

Also, look at unique volunteering/shadowing experiences, such as at VAs (cynical self: the patriotic element?), and overseas stuff.
 
mercaptovizadeh said:
Seriously, though, I went to an Ivy League and saw the grade inflation first hand. Of course, it's a lot worse in the humanities than in the sciences. It seems that engineering, since it is administered by the engineering school, does not suffer from this.

On the other hand, the school that I went to was not as bad as Harvard or Princeton (at one time, now it's getting better).

MIT, however, is another story, and the courses are definitely harder than the Ivy League classes.

So, generally, people who got to Ivy Leagues are neither necessarily getting a better education, nor taking harder classes. What the Ivies give you is merely OPPORTUNITY, not an education by default. I mean, where else can you take courses in Akkadian, Aramaic, and Burmese, other than Harvard and Cornell? Plus, you have the opportunity to work with excellent researchers, if you're aggressive enough, but that's no guarantee.

That said, however, the Ivies and some liberal arts school and other rigorous schools, by that I mean Swarthmore, Amherst, Duke, etc. as well as Berkeley, Stanford, CalTech, MIT, Chicago, etc. carry REPUTATION.

So, yes, you will have to work towards a very high GPA if you are at a state school, if top medical schools are your goal. It's not necessarily unfair, though, cuz I, too, took classes in high school at SUNYSB, a pretty decent state school, and the classes were MUCH easier than the ivy classes. However, this definitely isn't true of ALL state schools.

I also suggest you look into getting into research right away, some state schools have great research. Also, look into summer research programs - Cold Spring Harbor and Jackson Lab in Maine have some in biomedical sciences, and many top universities have them too - called REUs (Research Experiences for Undergraduates).

Also, look at unique volunteering/shadowing experiences, such as at VAs (cynical self: the patriotic element?), and overseas stuff.
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ummm, whats considered "very high " gpa, and whats a decent MCAT score?

btw i didnt do so hot my fall term freshmen year, got b b and a b+, how much of an effect will this have on my chances at a decent med school?
 
avinash said:
ummm, whats considered "very high " gpa, and whats a decent MCAT score?

btw i didnt do so hot my fall term freshmen year, got b b and a b+, how much of an effect will this have on my chances at a decent med school?
Click to expand...

I had terms kind of like that. The main thing is to demonstrate improvement. Get all a's/a-'s/b+'s next term.

If you aren't studying in a library, I suggest you do right away. I did not start studying in the library until after I graduated, and had to prepare to retake the MCAT. Studying there removed me from my distractions and isolated me, helping me be a much better studier.

Second point, study the prof's notes first, then the textbook (if at all). My first two years, I would ignore the notes and just reread the textbook assigned readings, because this is what I did (and it worked) in high school. BIG MISTAKE!

I have heard that an acceptable MCAT for med school generally is 30+. From my experience, you will want a 35+ to be really competitive at top schools. 40+ and you're golden.

GPA-wise, and being from a state school, I suggest you shoot for as high as you can get. 3.7 and up is certainly respectable.
 
mercaptovizadeh said:
I had terms kind of like that. The main thing is to demonstrate improvement. Get all a's/a-'s/b+'s next term.

If you aren't studying in a library, I suggest you do right away. I did not start studying in the library until after I graduated, and had to prepare to retake the MCAT. Studying there removed me from my distractions and isolated me, helping me be a much better studier.

Second point, study the prof's notes first, then the textbook (if at all). My first two years, I would ignore the notes and just reread the textbook assigned readings, because this is what I did (and it worked) in high school. BIG MISTAKE!

I have heard that an acceptable MCAT for med school generally is 30+. From my experience, you will want a 35+ to be really competitive at top schools. 40+ and you're golden.

GPA-wise, and being from a state school, I suggest you shoot for as high as you can get. 3.7 and up is certainly respectable.
Click to expand...



Thanks!

About the library, i went when finals where about to begin...... :laugh:
But yea i am going there way more often in the winter...
looks like i better get to work 🙂

A 35 on the mcat, isnt that pretty hard i mainly see about < 33 on this forum , very few seem to have 35's and iv rarely heard of 40's

Do you have any other tips on studying? I tend to make silly mistakes on tests, like not answering to 3 sig figs when thats what the question asks, its silly things like that detroys my grades.....

Another thing is that i listen to music when i study, and im not sure if that effects my learning? any ideas?

Thanks!
 
If you look at most school's stats, the average incoming student has a 3.5 and a 30. If you're looking at top programs, a 3.7 and a 35. Or somewhere around there. A 40 is most definitely hard to get - for the April MCAT in 2004 only 0.3% of the people taking the MCAT got a 40 (83 people out of 27,586) and no one (0% at least) got higher than a 41. If you get a 35 you're still in the 95th percentile. When you knock it down to a 30, you're in the 75-79th percentile - which is what you would expect the average accepted person to get. As far as studying goes - listening to music isn't a bad thing unless you think it distracts you. For me listening to music is great because it distracts the part of my mind that wants to wander and allows me to concentrate with my other half on what I'm doing. And I definitely recommend the library - it gets you away from your computer/TV/other distractions. Most of all - Study along the way. Cramming sucks and you never remember all that you need to. And go to office hours - I've found that a lot of times profs will give you clues to what is going to be on your test when you ask them questions during office hours 🙂.
 
avinash said:
Thanks!

About the library, i went when finals where about to begin...... :laugh:
But yea i am going there way more often in the winter...
looks like i better get to work 🙂

A 35 on the mcat, isnt that pretty hard i mainly see about < 33 on this forum , very few seem to have 35's and iv rarely heard of 40's

Do you have any other tips on studying? I tend to make silly mistakes on tests, like not answering to 3 sig figs when thats what the question asks, its silly things like that detroys my grades.....

Another thing is that i listen to music when i study, and im not sure if that effects my learning? any ideas?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

It's hard but its doable. My tip is to take it in sophomore summer, so you have plenty of time to study and aren't taken up with classes, as in april. If you want more tips specifically for the MCAT, PM me.

As for silly mistakes, I am a victim of them too, like FORGETTING to answer a small part of a question here or there, or making sign errors, etc. You will have to work hard at it, because these kind of small errors or "jumping to conclusions" can wreck you on the physical sciences section of the MCAT, which is all too often designed to trip up people on such errors. The only solace you can give yourself on this point is that the poor score does not so much indicate a lack of intelligence as a lack of concentration.

I would suggest not studying with music. I did that for a long time and it is quite distracting, unless you are doing a methodical activity, such as solving plug-and-chug math or science problems. Otherwise, when getting down concepts, studying for the test, etc. I wouldn't use music.
 
Spankete87 said:
If you look at most school's stats, the average incoming student has a 3.5 and a 30. If you're looking at top programs, a 3.7 and a 35. Or somewhere around there. A 40 is most definitely hard to get - for the April MCAT in 2004 only 0.3% of the people taking the MCAT got a 40 (83 people out of 27,586) and no one (0% at least) got higher than a 41. If you get a 35 you're still in the 95th percentile. When you knock it down to a 30, you're in the 75-79th percentile - which is what you would expect the average accepted person to get. As far as studying goes - listening to music isn't a bad thing unless you think it distracts you. For me listening to music is great because it distracts the part of my mind that wants to wander and allows me to concentrate with my other half on what I'm doing. And I definitely recommend the library - it gets you away from your computer/TV/other distractions. Most of all - Study along the way. Cramming sucks and you never remember all that you need to. And go to office hours - I've found that a lot of times profs will give you clues to what is going to be on your test when you ask them questions during office hours 🙂.
Click to expand...


Thanks to everyone whos given adivce, this is really a great forum.

I havent dont to office hours in the fall, but i went to office hours in my summer classes since i was more comfortable with the smaller class sizes. I didnt go in the fall beacause i saw about 300 people in lectures and i thought that the office hours time would be swamped with poeple, which im not really comfortable with, not sure why. But i geuss i should try and utilize office hours.

i have a older mcat kaplan review book ( its not anceint i think its like 2002), and im not sure if its a good idea to start reading it, just reading it throught not really studying but just browsing...its a pretty thick book. ( im a freshmen btw). Should i assume the MCAT is not hard, but rather it seems diffcult beacase of the volume of material it covers?

Good luck everyone
 
Man, a 35 on the MCAT is a hard thing to do. That's why it's in the top 1% of all test takers. 60k people took the test... 600 people made over a 35.

Think about that. There are people with 4.0's in Genetics that can't get a 25 to save their life.

Scott

Nevermind, my stats are off. 3000 people get that score.
 
a lesson that i learned the hard way a few days ago is that every point from every assignment counts. Even if its for homework that's only 5% of your grade, the points all add up. I took this approach of "oh, it's only homework, i can start it the night before and get about a 20/25 and be ok" Well, you do that a couple of times and it adds up. I never realized how close some grades can come and how cut and dry they are given until last night when i saw my final grade in biochemistry. I missed the A- cut off by 3 points (had an .817 and needed a .820) . Meaning if i scored one point higher on 3 homeworks, i would have made the cutoff.

Hindsight's always 20/20. Also, don't be scared to ask for regrades if you think that you were right or there were more points taken than there should have been. Like i said, every point counts.
 
avinash said:
Do you have any other tips on studying? I tend to make silly mistakes on tests, like not answering to 3 sig figs when thats what the question asks, its silly things like that detroys my grades.....

Another thing is that i listen to music when i study, and im not sure if that effects my learning? any ideas?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
study tips - Instead of reading through my notes or practice problems, I like to write them out from memory to make sure I know them cold.

I also never listen to popular music, because then I start to pay attention to the music instead of the material I'm studying. I say no music is best. although jazz and classical is good for me

cheers
 
Fermata said:
It doesn't hurt to be good looking either. 😀
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lol :laugh:

damn looks like i have nothing going for me........ 😛
 
i have a older mcat kaplan review book ( its not anceint i think its like 2002), and im not sure if its a good idea to start reading it, just reading it throught not really studying but just browsing...its a pretty thick book. ( im a freshmen btw). Should i assume the MCAT is not hard, but rather it seems diffcult beacase of the volume of material it covers?

Good luck everyone
 
in response to the music - i do get distracted a lot, and i've learned that if you listen to instrumental music or music sung on a language you don't understand is best if you do need music to study rather than complete quiet. Another thing is that the environment you study in is the best environment to take your test in, that is why some ppl say to study when it is complete quiet since that is the environment you will take your test in. however, if you have a fun teacher who lets music on in the background, then go for the music bit while studying!
 
Fermata said:
It doesn't hurt to be good looking either. 😀
Click to expand...

What if you have both? 😉
 
goheel said:
What if you have both? 😉
Click to expand...


Then they cancel each other out and you find yourself waitlisted and then eventually rejected.
 
MEG@COOL said:
Then they cancel each other out and you find yourself waitlisted and then eventually rejected.
Click to expand...

Ah, so I guess I need to do bad in school then. 😀 Thanks for the tip!!
 
Fermata said:
Crap.

I need the looks cause you know I ain't got the grades. 😀
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Hmm, by that logic, if you have neither looks or grades, does that mean you're automatically accepted? 😉
 
goheel said:
Hmm, by that logic, if you have neither looks or grades, does that mean you're automatically accepted? 😉
Click to expand...

I know of something funny to say but I don't think everyone in this forum is cool enough to hear it. 😀
 
Fermata said:
I know of something funny to say but I don't think everyone in this forum is cool enough to hear it. 😀
Click to expand...

Say it, say it, say it!! You know you want to. 😉
 
goheel said:
Ah, so I guess I need to do bad in school then. 😀 Thanks for the tip!!
Click to expand...

Or I could smash in your face with a bat. Either way.
 
MEG@COOL said:
Or I could smash in your face with a bat. Either way.
Click to expand...

I think I'll just do bad in school. That seems to be a less painful way. 😀
 
Fermata said:
You'd better be careful.

Goheel has VC in his blood. 😀
Click to expand...

I'll just dig a tunnel right to her house. 😉
 
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