How important is an applicant's transcript?

[Shelby Franks]

How much do medical schools weigh applicants' transcripts? Do they just look for an overall trend of improvement in grades? For instance, if a student has a strong science GPA but their transcript isn't perfect (as in the student didn't get straight A's through all four years and they have their fair share of B's), would the strong GPA make up for the "discrepancies" in the transcript?

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[LoveBeingHuman:)]

Overall sGPA, overall cGPA, and general trend matter most.

 

[EmilKraepelin55]

Very few pre-med’s are going to have straight A’s, and B’s will NOT make or break a transcript. You just need to show that you can handle your courses well. Maintaining a GPA of around a 3.7 or greater is a great way to show that. So, unless you get a few C’s, you don’t need to explain your transcript.

 

[Goro]

Very few pre-med’s are going to have straight A’s, and B’s will NOT make or break a transcript. You just need to show that you can handle your courses well. Maintaining a GPA of around a 3.7 or greater is a great way to show that. So, unless you get a few C’s, you don’t need to explain your transcript.

This.

Downward trends are bad.
Upward trends are good.

 

[Shelby Franks]

Thanks everybody!

 

[bigeman101]

This.

Downward trends are bad.
Upward trends are good.

If a student started out freshman and sophomore year with a 4.0 but then junior year got a 3.5 is that really considered a downward trend? Or does it have to be more drastic?

 

[Goro]

If a student started out freshman and sophomore year with a 4.0 but then junior year got a 3.5 is that really considered a downward trend? Or does it have to be more drastic?

If the 3.5 was due to more Bs than As, then I think it would be OK, But if Cs start popping up, then I'd be worried.

 

[DameJulie]

According to my pre-med adviser, your GPA (transcript) and MCAT scores are the most important aspect and probably the first thing adcoms use to evaluate you.

The GPA number matters first, then they look into more details such as your proportions of A/A-, grade trend etc.

 

[LizzyM]

The most common trajectory, outside of the 3.95 and up where the trend is generallly flat, if the J curve where the lowest GPA by year is in the year when the applicant took organic chemistry. This is most often the sophomore year. Typically, among those who end up doing well enough to apply, the freshman GPA is okay, the sophomore GPA is a bit lower than that, the junior year GPA is higher than either of the first 2 years and the senior year (if present) is highest.

So, if you are in your first two years and afraid that your GPA is flat or downward, just keep working and make your GPA curve look like a Nike logo. Just do it.