How much does freshman year REALLY matter?

[watiswati]

ok so i know that your entire pre-med (bcpm) gpa counts the most in med school admissions but overall how much do they pay attention to your freshman year of college? and also, how much does your overall gpa (including electives and nonscience courses) matter....it's gotta count for something, esp if med schools say they like "well-rounded" applicants....

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[vicinihil]

i've heard mixed reviews especially about how much adcoms pay attention to your other courses. Ofcourse they look at gpa and ofcourse they care about pre-med gpa and bcpm gpa. All that matters but i think the most imp one is pre-med gpa because that almost directly reflects how you'll do in med school. Though freshman year overall gpa may not matter much because you're adjusting, pre-med gpa is still extremely important.

 

[avinash]

ok so i know that your entire pre-med (bcpm) gpa counts the most in med school admissions but overall how much do they pay attention to your freshman year of college? and also, how much does your overall gpa (including electives and nonscience courses) matter....it's gotta count for something, esp if med schools say they like "well-rounded" applicants....

your freshmen GPA matters so dont screw around since its freshmen year, do well your freshmen year beacause if you start out with a low GPA, you will be sorry cause its prerry hard to get a low gpa higher.....trust me have the cushion of the high gpa and not having to worry if you dont do well in some of your other classes. Also your bcpm gpa and the other gpa should be around the same, if there a big disrecpency, then it wil look suspect. Its also important to do well in the higher level classes. Med shchools wil cut you some slack if you dont do so well your first term of college, but even then try your best. There are many poeple applying like you, all competitive so dont feel you can mess around for a year, but i think that they are most lineant to the freshmen year.....

good luck, pm me if you want to

 

[crys20]

First off, if you do a search you will find tons and tons of threads on this subject. So many people wonder the same thing, so don't feel alone. Second I will propose that the first year doesn't matter very much GIVEN that you improve, show an upward trend in your grades and finish up (this means by the time you submit your application) with at least a 3.4-3.5 GPA. Not saying that tons of people don't get in with <3.4 GPAs, but around a 3.5 tends to be average. So, assuming you get your sh** together after freshman year and show a good upward trend you should be fine. I had a 2.5 my first quarter of college...I'll be applying this June with a ~3.6. You can do it...You might get a few questions when you interview but I really have heard that adcom's can excuse some blemishes on your transcript from first year if everything else is good and you've shown improvement. Everyone understands that there is a learning curve in adjusting to the rigors of college coursework. And of course, anyone can make up for virtually anything with a good MCAT so you can always look forward to crushing that 🙂

 

[Turkeyman]

You might get a few questions when you interview but I really have heard that adcom's can excuse some blemishes on your transcript from first year if everything else is good and you've shown improvement. Everyone understands that there is a learning curve in adjusting to the rigors of college coursework. And of course, anyone can make up for virtually anything with a good MCAT so you can always look forward to crushing that 🙂

That's what I'm talkin about 😀 👍

 

[dr_pepper]

If I've learned anything from these forums, it's that what it really comes down to in the end is GPA and MCAT. Freshman year may be less important in the end when they actually scrutinize your transcript, but if you can't make it through the initial cuts because of a low GPA, an upward trend won't matter at all. In that sense, freshman year is just as important as any other year.

 

[Medikit]

All of my interviewers at MCW wanted to know about my D that I got freshman year in spring of 2000.

 

[watiswati]

hey it must mean something that you actually got an interview! you musta improved

 

[Turkeyman]

You know though, I was told that when analyzing the transcript freshman year is actually given some leniency due to the fact that some top-tier universities (princeton, yale, etc.) actually remove the freshman year when they send out their transcripts hahaha. My academic advisor told me that, and that med schools are aware of this. Just a thought..but yeah make sure if you do screw up your freshman year, make some serious changes.

 

[aleezay]

Don't worry too much. Just show an upward trend. In short, I had 4 C's freshman year and now am an M1 at a top 10 medical school. Was I asked about those grades? You betcha. Did they let it go after I maturely answered their question--yep! Make your self stand out in other ways and work in an upward trend and that's all you could ask for.

Good luck!

 

[basten0]

i haven't read all the comments on this thread so i'm sorry if i'm repeating somebody. though i have a feeling that ones sophomore year and junior year grades count more, it is hard to deny that freshmen year grades are very important if for nothing else than that they make up around 25% of your overall GPA (it probably makes up more if you take into account that med schools don't look at the spring semester of your senior year when deciding who gets in or not, assuming you apply at the beginning of your senior year). as someone who is applying to schools now, i can tell you i wish i did better my freshman year. my classes were easier then and when you don't do your best freshman year, you spend the remaining years trying to make up for that while juggling harder coursework. furthermore, the bcpm classes you take freshman year serve as the foundation of a lot of future classes. if you have a bad foundation then it would only seem that it will only be harder to do well in future classes. thus even if somehow freshman year is not so important for the med schools, it should still be important to you the future med student. i'm sure there are exceptions for everything i've just said like for example, if you were somehow an art history major freshman year and you sucked at that and made really bad grades but then somehow you switched to premed and rocked your bcpm classes and the grades in your other classes were also good and then did really well on the mcat. i think such an applicant would get some breathing room. but this is not the norm.

 

[Llenroc]

They don't look at your application that closely. They will spend a minute or two looking at your application, and mainly they will be interested in your GPA. Sure, if it's low, they may notice that it was lowered by your bad freshmen year. And then - making another leap - they may decide to forgive thatt. But that's a lot of ifs. Most folks won't be that forgiving, or take that much time with your appliciation to decide to give you another chance.

 

[medic170]

When ever you feel like screwing off your Freshman year, or any year for that matter, just ask yourself "How much does getting in to medical school REALLY matter?

As far as overall GPA, I would say it is as important, or close, to your science GPA and MCAT. Which of these is most looked at is arguable, but they are all the 3 most important factors for making it past the "first round".

 

[Medikit]

hey it must mean something that you actually got an interview! you musta improved

You bet

 

[PhotoMD]

Just remember:

GPA and MCAT tell adcoms about how well you did compared to your competition at academics. They are the most important things and they are the least important.

Your extracurriculars tell adcoms that you are well-rounded and care about things other than books. They are the most important things and they are the least important.

Your letters of recommendation give adcoms an honest impression of you as a person by someone else's word. They are the most important things and they are the least important.

Your interview lets adcoms see you up close and make their own personal judgement about your personality and persona. They are the most important things and they are the least important.

Just remember those four things and you should have no problem getting into medical school.

 

[ucsb101]

FRESHMAN YEAR COUNTS!! I learned the hard way.....below 3.0 my first year two years......pretty much all A's my last 2-3 years....and still did not hit a overall 3.5!.....dont take that first year for granted!

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

it REALLY matters

 

[Cerberus]

It matters, it saved my ass!

I got a 4.0 my freshmen year and a consistent 3.4 every semester thereafter. Thanks to freshmen year my GPA was in the competitive range. w00t.

 

[John Deere Gree]

Depends on the school...

One fellow in my master's program when interviewing always got a question about his freshman grades (he was below a 2.0). One interviewer told him that it'd "take a lot to look past his freshman year grades." to his surprise though he was accepted to that school.

 

[Shaz]

All of my interviewers at MCW wanted to know about my D that I got freshman year in spring of 2000.

Ofcourse they care about your freshman grades. However, if you got A's your 2/3rd years, then they most likely would ask about your freshman year grades only to obtain some information about your development/maturity over the years.

 

[45408]

It counts as roughly a third of your AMCAS GPA, so I'd take it pretty seriously.