How hard is it to get a 3.3 GPA in medical school?

[TheShaker]

Hey guys,

There's something that's been bothering me a bit since I'm matriculating in a few weeks. I don't want to get into why but I need to maintain a 3.3 GPA in my medical school that does ABCDF grading. So...I was just wondering how hard this is to pull off? I know that medical school is way harder than undergrad so I'm getting nervous about it.

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[moop]

Shoulda picked a P/F grading school...

 

[nabilesmail]

Hey SHaker, most medical schools don't want anyone to fail out. Its not like undergrad, so I think if they are requiring you to keep a 3.3 in medical school, the average grade must be curved to an A- or something so as to ensure 50% of the medical students arent failing out lol


Unless this is for scholarship renewal or something

 

[TheShaker]

Shoulda picked a P/F grading school...

The goods outweigh the bad in this situation.

Hey SHaker, most medical schools don't want anyone to fail out. Its not like undergrad, so I think if they are requiring you to keep a 3.3 in medical school, the average grade must be curved to an A- or something so as to ensure 50% of the medical students arent failing out lol


Unless this is for scholarship renewal or something

It's kinda like that. So they're probably not really lax about their grading...

 

[nabilesmail]

Ahh I see, then yeah its probably more difficult than just being average

 

[Ismet]

Study hard. I'm of a mind that pretty much everyone in med school is capable of getting an A (even if your school does P/F grading, I'm assuming you still see your scores on exams). It's just a matter of how much time you put in. For some, they don't have to put in as much time to get that A. For others, they have to study 10-12 hours per day to get there. I was getting A's at the beginning of med school, soon realized that I would crash by Christmas if I kept that up, and since then I've been pretty content hovering at/above/below average (P/F school). There are people in my school who literally live in the library from open to close. To me, that's not worth it, but for them, maybe it is.

Is it possible to maintain a 3.3? Absolutely. Just work hard, but also know the signs of burnout and take care of yourself. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

 

[Plecopotamus]

Hey guys,

There's something that's been bothering me a bit since I'm matriculating in a few weeks. I don't want to get into why but I need to maintain a 3.3 GPA in my medical school that does ABCDF grading. So...I was just wondering how hard this is to pull off? I know that medical school is way harder than undergrad so I'm getting nervous about it.

The school should have data on grade distributions so you could ask them directly for it.
Personally, I would chose a non-graded school over a graded school even if it meant sacrificing a scholarship. I know that people here tend to be way more focused on the cost of medical education than I am, but I feel like I'd be willing to pay that much for the difference in my quality of life due to the reduced stress of not having grades. If you don't have any other choices, there's nothing you can do, but the few people I met on the residency interview trail who came from schools with these grading systems were bitter as hell about their experience.

 

[coffeesnob]

At my school, people with 3.3 average (is it like 88%?) would be the top 25%.

 

[Ismet]

At my school, people with 3.3 average (is it like 88%?) would be the top 25%.

jk i was wrong!

 

[coffeesnob]

3.3 is more like 82-83%. 88% is the percentile

Oh. Good to know.

OP --I wasn't trying to make you paranoid. If your school requires 3.3, it must be a reasonable thing to do at your school. My school is different. Our passing is 70% for MD candidates, and 78% for MD/PhDs. Still it takes a lot of work to pass.

 

[dyspareunia]

3.3 is more like 82-83%. 88% is the percentile

Not sure I follow this whole 3.3 thing, but isn't a 3.3 GPA equal to a "B+"? Which (in undergrad at least) was an 87-89.9. So 88% sounds right?

Anyway, OP you should ask the MS1s and MS2s at your school what the exam average and SD usually is.

If the exam average is usually an 85 and the SD is ~5, then it shouldn't be that hard to maintain a 3.3 (B+) average. 85+0.5SD is an 87 and +0.5SD is about the 69th percentile. On the other hand, if your average is 80% with an SD of ~5, then a 3.3 GPA is going to be tough.

 

[Ismet]

Not sure I follow this whole 3.3 thing, but isn't a 3.3 GPA equal to a "B+"? Which (in undergrad at least) was an 87-89.9. So 88% sounds right?

Anyway, OP you should ask the MS1s and MS2s at your school what the exam average and SD usually is.

If the exam average is usually an 85 and the SD is ~5, then it shouldn't be that hard to maintain a 3.3 (B+) average. 85+0.5SD is an 87 and +0.5SD is about the 69th percentile.

AHHH you're right. Too much Step 1 brain = less common sense. Disregard my previous post

 

[Goro]

At my school Boards performance is directly correlated to med school GPA. People here with a < 3.0 are at grave risk of failing COMLEX, much less USMLE.

You will get out of medical school what you put into it.

Hey guys,

There's something that's been bothering me a bit since I'm matriculating in a few weeks. I don't want to get into why but I need to maintain a 3.3 GPA in my medical school that does ABCDF grading. So...I was just wondering how hard this is to pull off? I know that medical school is way harder than undergrad so I'm getting nervous about it.

 

[jockdoc97]

At my school Boards performance is directly correlated to med school GPA. People here with a < 3.0 are at grave risk of failing COMLEX, much less USMLE.

You will get out of medical school what you put into it.

So Goro would you say that a 3.3 is a good GPA with high chances of passing or doing well on boards?

 

[Goro]

Oh, yes, quite fine.

So Goro would you say that a 3.3 is a good GPA with high chances of passing or doing well on boards?