How do adcoms review grades?

[itsgonnabemed]

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I know only a little bit of time is spent reviewing each application, so when evaluating an applicant's grades do adcoms spend time looking through the full coursework section or do they just look at the GPAs and trends and move on?

I have a c3.66/s3.59 and am weighing whether secondaries that explicitly ask for "explanation of inconsistencies" warrant an explanation of a few Cs or if that would bring unnecessary attention to them. I have an upward trend, for what it's worth. Thank you!

 

[superduperman7]

if the c grades are not normal and something happened to trigger the grade then you could explain it, if its not a high GPA they then want to see a strong upward trend so they know that you are working harder in the more challenging courses later in college giving them confidence you can continue to do so in medical school

 

[itsgonnabemed]

if the c grades are not normal and something happened to trigger the grade then you could explain it, if its not a high GPA they then want to see a strong upward trend so they know that you are working harder in the more challenging courses later in college giving them confidence you can continue to do so in medical school

There was no trigger tbh, it was primarily mental health related. Would you verge on explaining it or nah? I have lots of As in challenging courses and a high MCAT!

 

[Goro]

I know only a little bit of time is spent reviewing each application, so when evaluating an applicant's grades do adcoms spend time looking through the full coursework section or do they just look at the GPAs and trends and move on?

I have a c3.66/s3.59 and am weighing whether secondaries that explicitly ask for "explanation of inconsistencies" warrant an explanation of a few Cs or if that would bring unnecessary attention to them. I have an upward trend, for what it's worth. Thank you!

We don't see transcripts at my school, but we we used to, I'd look at how people did semester by semester and then for GPA trends. I also like to look at the various courses the applicants took, and this made for interesting interview questions, like asking about taking a course on comic books, or video games.

A C isn't worth discussing. Save answers for the prompts on D and F grades.

Sadly, too many students look at a C as a sign of a character flaw.

 

[itsgonnabemed]

We don't see transcripts at my school, but we we used to, I'd look at how people did semester by semester and then for GPA trends. I also like to look at the various courses the applicants took, and this made for interesting interview questions, like asking about taking a course on comic books, or video games.

A C isn't worth discussing. Save answers for the prompts on D and F grades.

Sadly, too many students look at a C as a sign of a character flaw.

Hi Goro, thanks for taking the time to reply! I think my worry is that my skipping the question would make it seem like I'm... not reflective enough of my weaknesses, so to say. From an adcom's POV, do you think this is unwarranted?

 

[superduperman7]

iu would write about it if you gained something form the experience, like something along the lines of this experience made me self reflect and I learned to overcome it with the help of my support system, a tight knit group made up of my friends family etc. they have been my helping hand along the way and i know i can overcome any challenge because I am only human and I know I have the right people to pick me up when i stumble. I never wrote about being perfect, but I wrote about how im not worried about challenges because of who I have that i can rely on and how a hard time made me realize their importance

 

[LizzyM]

It depends.... Some reviewers won't look at specific courses particularly if the GPA is 3.98-4.00 range. Others will look to see if the coursework was robust or if the GPA was inflated with tons of credits for marching band or choir, etc. Ditto if there seemed to be "easy As" for heritage language, or, as I recall, a student who took courses in golf, human sexuality, and wine tasting all in the same semester.

Some will run their eye down the listing to see if there is anything that jumps out like a particularly bad semester or poor grades in one or two specific subjects. (often it is O-chem). Other faculty will focus on one thing that they heard is predictive (it used to be physics) and they will want to see good grades in physics.

tl;dr: it is idiosyncratic

 

[Goro]

It depends.... Some reviewers won't look at specific courses particularly if the GPA is 3.98-4.00 range. Others will look to see if the coursework was robust or if the GPA was inflated with tons of credits for marching band or choir, etc. Ditto if there seemed to be "easy As" for heritage language, or, as I recall, a student who took courses in golf, human sexuality, and wine tasting all in the same semester.

Some will run their eye down the listing to see if there is anything that jumps out like a particularly bad semester or poor grades in one or two specific subjects. (often it is O-chem). Other faculty will focus on one thing that they heard is predictive (it used to be physics) and they will want to see good grades in physics.

tl;dr: it is idiosyncratic

Agree 1000% with my learned collegue!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Chiming in: it depends on the program. If we're talking about postbacs and SMP's, the faculty reviewing your transcript will want to know why you got C's because they want to know how much you can critique and correct your study habits. After all, that's a big factor in what they look for.

Yeah, for applicants presenting a 3.9+, it's not useful to do a full transcript review. However, I would look at the BCPM/upper-level biomedical science classes vs. AO/non-science classes. It's a fun exercise for the science/non-science double majors to see what other "cool" humanities/social sciences classes one takes. Some application management programs can break down the academic record by year and number of courses with specific letter grades. Liaison asks applicants to specifically list the courses they have taken that fulfill standard prerequisites, making it easier for AACOMAS, PharmCAS, PostbacCAS, etc., to spotlight courses and grades.

Back in the old paper application days, some of my faculty members who had access to transcribed courses taken will take a couple of neon highlighters to point out when someone had a C, D, or F. (Some of them had a more positive approach to highlight all the A's). It provides an interesting visual. If there's a question about the "rigor" of a course, they will tell the admissions staff to look up the syllabus.

Admittedly, most med school adcoms don't have this much leisure time.

 

[LizzyM]

Admittedly, most med school adcoms don't have this much leisure time.

But if by luck of the draw, you get the retiree reviewing your application, you are going to get the equivalent of a full-body scan

 

[SquirrelSayWhat]

I was actually wondering the same. As someone with old courses weighing my GPA down, I was (hoping) wondering if the adcoms would notice the individual semester credit overloads and row of AAAAA's - and if they would see that as academic competence considering it's all of my premed courses/hard sciences.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I was actually wondering the same. As someone with old courses weighing my GPA down, I was (hoping) wondering if the adcoms would notice the individual semester credit overloads and row of AAAAA's - and if they would see that as academic competence considering it's all of my premed courses/hard sciences.

We do not give sympathy points for scheduling overloads. We don't give extra credit either. (Sorry.)