grad school grades (how does the committee look at it)

[clarkbar]

How do med schools look at undergrad and grad grades. Obviously my grad grades are lower, but it was more difficult. I believe they dont make a distinction, they just add them up?

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[Catalystik]

Allopathic med schools primarily consider undergrad grades. They do not merge the GPAs. It looks like that would be to your advantage, though it depends on what you mean by "lower" as grad schools are generally considered to have grade inflation, from what I've read here. A dismally low grad GPA could reflect poorly on you.

 

[noshie]

I thought that AMCAS showed both undergrad, grad and merged GPAs? TMDSAS and AACOMAS do. I agree with the above, your grad grades should be higher. Yes it’s "tougher" but so is med school. The newest grades you have should be highest to show an upward trend either way.

I know exactly where you are coming from with this question. I asked TCOMs admissions director this exact question and she was a little dodgy about it. She said they do look at it, and they absolutely take it into consideration, but of course it is not weighted as much as the undergrad GPA. However, she said that they understand that some people can’t just go back and retake all of their classes to bring up that GPA (especially me, I have over 200 undergrad credit hours!). What I got from our meeting was the graduate education helps to show a trend of improvement, but will not be the new sole determining factor of new GPA. Sucks for me because I have a 3.0 ugrad and a 3.65 grad...

 

[Catalystik]

I thought that AMCAS showed both undergrad, grad and merged GPAs? TMDSAS and AACOMAS do.

No, AMCAS never merges them, though both are shown separately, one above the other. AACOMAS, however, does.

Grad school GPAs, BTW, are more likely to be regarded if the degree was in a hard science.

 

[noshie]

No, AMCAS never merges them, though both are shown separately, one above the other. AACOMAS, however, does.

Grad school GPAs, BTW, are more likely to be regarded if the degree was in a hard science.

Good to know! This is either good or bad for me. My grad GPA doesn't put much of a dent in my undergrad GPA anyways I guess...

 

[ThaliaNox]

Honestly, grad school grades can't really help you much. It's nice if you did well in them, but it won't make up for under par undergrad performance. The slightly nasty thing is that they CAN hurt you, if you do less well than around a 3.5, since most people do really well in grad programs.

 

[stoptouchingme]

How do med schools look at undergrad and grad grades. Obviously my grad grades are lower, but it was more difficult. I believe they dont make a distinction, they just add them up?

Just make sure you get a "good" MCAT score. Remember, there are people on SDN who got into medical school with a 29 on the MCAT.

 

[clarkbar]

What about teh opposite: good undergrad grads 3.6 sci (but 10+ years old now) and 3.0 grad gpa, some of the hard science classes 2.0s? I have to redo prereqs because of the time lag, and am sure I can do well in them. How bad is this four year grad program (3.0 gpa, 2.6 sci) going to be?

Honestly, grad school grades can't really help you much. It's nice if you did well in them, but it won't make up for under par undergrad performance. The slightly nasty thing is that they CAN hurt you, if you do less well than around a 3.5, since most people do really well in grad programs.