How important are grades

[saxyukie]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi, I know grades are very important, but I'm taking physics and right now the chances of getting an A is very unlikely. It's between a B or C. How bad is a B in physics? How bad is a C?

Also, what's the highest MCAT score a person can get and what's the average that med schools look for? I appreciate any help. Thanks

 

[Law2Doc]

Hi, I know grades are very important, but I'm taking physics and right now the chances of getting an A is very unlikely. It's between a B or C. How bad is a B in physics? How bad is a C?

Also, what's the highest MCAT score a person can get and what's the average that med schools look for? I appreciate any help. Thanks

There's really no way to answer "how bad" a certain grade is, because it depends on the rest of your academic situation. I'll assume you are talking about physics as a postbac course, based on the board you posted in. If you have a high undergrad GPA, and otherwise all A's in your postbac, then a C, although bad, won't kill you. If you are doing a postbac to rehabilitate a mediocre or borderline college performance, then a C is not going to help the situation. If you have a slate of B's and C's in your postbac, or your BCPM is low, you may have a tough time getting into a US allo med school, because schools want to see recent success in the sciences, not just that you plodded through the courses.
The maximum MCAT theoretically would be a 45T, but I've never come across anyone who scored that high. For allo med schools, the average is about a 30 to 31.

 

[jebus]

I think a C (or even a couple of them) will not kill your chances but you want to avoid a string of them, especially towards the end of your undergraduate tenure. If you continue to have trouble in a subject it is important to get the appropriate instruction (from the course TAs, the professor's office hours, other tutoring that may be available) to help you understand why you are having difficulty and what you can do to overcome that and master the material. A B is will look much better than a C but sometimes people get Cs...
As far as the MCAT: There are 3 sections, each graded independently, and each with a maximum possible score of 15. The highest score one can achieve, then, is 45. In practice, however, the highest anyone has achieved is a 43. I think this is because it is just very hard for "lightning to strike" on all 3 sections. Individuals get 15 in a particular section, but it is very difficult to achieve this score in each section. You can look up the percentiles and other sundry MCAT information at www.aamc.org/mcat. The scoring is based on a holistic scale and the distribution follows a bell curve. The average in each section is ~8, the highest percentage of test takers achieve an 8, and each standard deviation is separated by a point such that a 9 in a section is one standard deviation above the mean. A 12 in a section is approximately a 95th percentile. If I recall, a 38 total score is 99th percentile. However, you can look up the exact numbers and the distributions at the URL I typed in earlier.
As far as what you should shoot for, I think the consensus is that at least 10 in each section, for a total of 30, is ideal. This is the average for medical school matriculants in the US. Of course, everyone wants to get a 45, and that should be your goal, too. But it is important to understand that a failure to meet this goal will not preclude you from reaching your other goals, namely getting into a medical school. Anything above a 30 is great; while scoring below 30 is not a death sentence, you will likely need to overcome that or mitigate it in some other capacity: through extracurriculars, by having superb letters of recommendation, a great personal statement, or some other "hook".

 

[saxyukie]

There's really no way to answer "how bad" a certain grade is, because it depends on the rest of your academic situation. I'll assume you are talking about physics as a postbac course, based on the board you posted in. If you have a high undergrad GPA, and otherwise all A's in your postbac, then a C, although bad, won't kill you. If you are doing a postbac to rehabilitate a mediocre or borderline college performance, then a C is not going to help the situation. If you have a slate of B's and C's in your postbac, or your BCPM is low, you may have a tough time getting into a US allo med school, because schools want to see recent success in the sciences, not just that you plodded through the courses.
The maximum MCAT theoretically would be a 45T, but I've never come across anyone who scored that high. For allo med schools, the average is about a 30 to 31.

I'm sorry.. what does "BCPM" stand for?

Yes, I am taking the classes as a post-bacc. student. My gpa for my undergrad. was not very high. In fact, it's a 3.0. But my background is in information systems and computer science at carnegie mellon. Does my undergrad grade play a very big part when i'm applying to medical schooL?

I'm working full time and volunteering (shadowing a physician) as well. Does that help with my chances?

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm sorry.. what does "BCPM" stand for?

Yes, I am taking the classes as a post-bacc. student. My gpa for my undergrad. was not very high. In fact, it's a 3.0. But my background is in information systems and computer science at carnegie mellon. Does my undergrad grade play a very big part when i'm applying to medical schooL?

I'm working full time and volunteering (shadowing a physician) as well. Does that help with my chances?

BCPM is your GPA for bio/chem/phys/math -- your science GPA. Yes, your undergrad GPA will still count significantly. A high postbac GPA can help to pull this up a bit, and if it's years later and stellar, they may look past the ancient history a bit. So you want to get mostly A's and at most, a few B's, and no letters below this. C's hurt your chances and suggest that you either need to figure out another study approach, or scale back other things to spend a bit more time with the subject. You may want to consider getting a tutor and seeing the professor for help. Extracurriculars like volunteering/shadowing are looked upon favorable, but don't undo low GPA damage -- pretty much everyone applying has some form of hospital volunteering. Working full time may look like a good extracurricular, but won't be looked at as a justification for a lower GPA.

 

[relentless11]

Working full time may look like a good extracurricular, but won't be looked at as a justification for a lower GPA.

Just wanted to build upon a bit to what Law2Doc said. If BY CHOICE you worked full-time (among other things) and had a low GPA, then you will need to scale back, because like he said it is no justification. If NOT by choice, you had to work full-time (e.g.: support family), then its not justification really but more of a reason why you had a low GPA (other than you just didn't understand the subject). Whatever your reason was to work full-time, if you had a low GPA, then you will need to prove to the adcoms that you have the capacity of getting good grades. Optimally, this should be done by getting higher grades (upward trends, and/or high grades in post-bacc), AND a good MCAT score.

But if you happen to get a C in physics, you are not doomed, assuming that is the one or few C's that you have on your transcript.

As for the MCAT, i've heard numbers from 28-31 for the mean. Please also consider which schools you are attending as well. If you are applying to CA schools, the mean is like 33-34. So the national mean may not be a good indicator of what you should do. So just aim as high as possible. 🙂