Is it possible to get into med school without A's in pre-requisite classes?

[justadream9]

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I finished my pre-requisites but got all B's and a C in them...is it basically not possible to get in since I have no A's? my grades in non-science classes are all A's and A-'s so far and i've only taken 2 additional science/maths...

 

[Whatyousay]

I finished my pre-requisites but got all B's and a C in them...is it basically not possible to get in since I have no A's? my grades in non-science classes are high...

What would that make your overall GPA? I can't imagine that it would be too high with B's or below in ALL of your pre-reqs.

 

[flatearth22]

Depends on what your sGPA and cGPA are.

1 or 2 C's is fine as long as they happened earlier in your career and you show an upward trend.

 

[Andnosoupforyou]

Of course not! I've never heard of anyone getting into med school without having a 4.0, stellar MCAT, and a very handsome face.

jk! If you have one or two B's or C's it shouldn't be too much of a problem, but if your science classes are only B's and C's, you'll need to think about how you can bring that GPA up.

 

[justadream9]

What would that make your overall GPA? I can't imagine that it would be too high with B's or below in ALL of your pre-reqs.

overall is around a 3.5 I think

 

[4sport]

overall is around a 3.5 I think

I think without any A's in your pre-req classes, adcoms may worry that you can't handle the rigor of a med school courseload.

 

[justadream9]

what's the best thing to do here? retake? take more science classes?
i'd prefer not to retake the pre-req's (might not get above B's) if i still have a chance..

 

[orthomyxo]

what's the best thing to do here? retake? take more science classes?
i'd prefer not to retake the pre-req's (might not get above B's) if i still have a chance..

If I were you, I'd be a little less concerned with raising my GPA, and a little more concerned with how I'm going to do well on the MCAT when I can barely get B's in the classes that teach the material it tests. Not trying to be an ass, but you might want to chew on that.

 

[NKChemEng]

Pre-reqs show how you handle med school classes. I don't want to sound harsh, but you might want to consider if medical school would be right for you. Reassess why you did poorly in your pre-reqs, because med school is not going to get any easier.

 

[NightGod]

Pre-reqs show how you handle med school classes. I don't want to sound harsh, but you might want to consider if medical school would be right for you. Reassess why you did poorly in your pre-reqs, because med school is not going to get any easier.

👍
Seriously.

 

[ozzi22]

overall is around a 3.5 I think

what's your science gpa?

 

[NightGod]

what's your science gpa?

If he doesn't have a single A in his science classes, it has to be somewhere south of 3.00 =x

 

[Suncrusher]

If I were you, I'd be a little less concerned with raising my GPA, and a little more concerned with how I'm going to do well on the MCAT when I can barely get B's in the classes that teach the material it tests. Not trying to be an ass, but you might want to chew on that.

Pre-reqs show how you handle med school classes. I don't want to sound harsh, but you might want to consider if medical school would be right for you. Reassess why you did poorly in your pre-reqs, because med school is not going to get any easier.

Depends on what your sGPA and cGPA are.

1 or 2 C's is fine as long as they happened earlier in your career and you show an upward trend.

Disagree with the bolded.

First, some schools are harder than others, and none of us have no idea what situation the OP is in in that regard. I could barely get B's in my science classes because of the harsh competition, but I got a 95th-percentile MCAT without studying. My coursework prepared me that well, even though there were many classmates who were outperforming me in the courses. I know many other people who were accepted to med school this year in the same situation as me. And the many people who were outperforming me in those classes scored even better on the MCAT than me. You don't know how hard the OP's classes are and you don't know how good of a test-taker he is. His cGPA is acceptable, and if he scores well on the MCAT then he could very well do just fine when he applies to med school.

Second, I hate how everyone in pre-allo repeats "one or two C's." There isn't some sort of limit on the number of C's you can get, and they don't necessarily all have to happen early in your college career. I had 3 C's in prerequisite(!) classes across freshman, sophomore, and junior years. I had the same cGPA as the OP. My sGPA was barely passable...and I've gotten into 3 MD schools so far. It doesn't seem like med schools were concerned with me not being able to handle the coursework.

I'm definitely not saying it's a good idea to have lots of C's or a low sGPA--and I'm also not trying use my n=1 anecdotes to overturn the "conventional wisdom" of the pre-allo forum (which is a total oxymoron by the way)--, but I want to temper the advice that is being given to the OP. I seriously disagree that there is any reason for him to reconsider at this point. I think better advice is: study hard for the MCAT (because you're going to need a great score), do your best not to get any more C's (and as few B's as you can), and overall just make sure you maintain your cGPA within an acceptable range. Don't listen to the haters who are just repeating things they've heard from all the other premeds. Biggest problem is definitely sGPA, but OP can bring that up. A few semesters of research credits is an easy way to rescue your sGPA. Good luck; work hard. You need to turn things around and perform better, but there is no reason to give up if this is the only career you really want.

 

[pkwraith]

B's or C's won't keep you out of medical school (assuming more of the former, and very,very few of the latter).

However, you will have to make up your application in other places, whether in good MCAT, interesting volunteering or research. And of course, it's assuming you do some GPA repair through the rest of undergrad. I had a 3.2 sGPA and didn't have problem, simply because the other parts of my application balanced out low GPA.

 

[Ignatius M.D.]

Suncrusher: Most people haven't been in a very competitive environment, or had such intense grade cutoffs. They assume that you should be able to ace every pre-req if you are intelligent and work hard. Not always the case in some situations. Getting a B in some of our pre-reqs is actually a very good grade. One of my classes had <10% get in the A range and other classes I've had have been curved down. 😡

Don't be so harsh on the OP. He will need to prove he can handle rigorous science coursework, but there could be a number of reasons why he has only managed a 3.0 sGPA. He should do his best to improve, do well in upper levels, and take the MCAT very seriously. I only hit 86th percentile on the MCAT, but it still shows that my 3.2 sGPA might be a bit misleading. It is sad how much B's bring you down. If he hits 33+, has an upward trend, and is well-rounded, I think he will get at least a few interviews. GL to the OP. Stick with it. 🙂

 

[kaleidoscopes]

A few semesters of research credits is an easy way to rescue your sGPA.

If you get A's in all those research classes, can't adcoms tell that the only reason you have a reasonable sGPA is because of those? it doesn't change the fact that you still have B's in the "real" science classes...

 

[Tapepsi]

A way to redeem yourself is to take upper level science courses and get A's to prove that you can handle it.

 

[ozzi22]

If he doesn't have a single A in his science classes, it has to be somewhere south of 3.00 =x

I'm not even sure it's up to a 3.0 cuz he said he received some C's. but i want to be sure.

 

[justadream9]

wow, so many responses

I'm not even sure it's up to a 3.0 cuz he said he received some C's. but i want to be sure.

yea, it's around a 3.0

 

[Propylene]

No, it's not a deciding factor. Don't give up on medicine if that's what you truly want. It wouldn't hurt to boost your science GPA; show that you can handle tough classes.

 

[NightGod]

I'm not even sure it's up to a 3.0 cuz he said he received some C's. but i want to be sure.

Like I said, south of 3.0 With no As and at least one C, it would be impossible to have anything higher than a 2.xx While it is not impossible to get into med school with that low of a CSMP
gpa, the reality is that it is HIGHLY unlikely. I'm not saying you shouldn't apply, I'm saying you'll need something truly exceptional to overcome your current gpa

 

[ozzi22]

wow, so many responses



yea, it's around a 3.0

Well you gonna have to take additional science classes to increase your science gpa.

 

[sector9]

OP, what medical schools are you talking about?
American MD? DO? Caribbean?
You are extremely unlikely to be accepted with <3.0 sGPA at any American school

 

[justadream9]

Like I said, south of 3.0 With no As and at least one C, it would be impossible to have anything higher than a 2.xx While it is not impossible to get into med school with that low of a CSMP
gpa, the reality is that it is HIGHLY unlikely. I'm not saying you shouldn't apply, I'm saying you'll need something truly exceptional to overcome your current gpa

note that I said no A's in the 8 pre-requisites, but I do have some in a few additional classes that count towards the sGPA

 

[MilkmanAl]

I don't remember my grades exactly, but I'm pretty sure I didn't have an A or even an A- in any of my pre-reqs.

 

[Jarudy]

The OP is probably a sophomore/junior, not graduated. Of course you have time to get the gpa up. Just make the appropriate changes to study habits etc and kill the mcat.

 

[anbuitachi]

Kill the MCAT and upper level science classes to show them that you can do it. I highly doubt that B in bio will really matter much if you can get As in Genetics, molecular, cellular, etc... you get the point

 

[NightGod]

what's the best thing to do here? retake? take more science classes?
i'd prefer not to retake the pre-req's (might not get above B's) if i still have a chance..

Either A) take more upper level science classes and kill them enough that it balances out the Cs or
B) retake the pre-reqs and get mostly As on them and apply to a DO school (where they will replace your earlier grade with the newer one).

The choice depends on what your feelings are on going DO vs MD and exactly what your sGPA is and how much you can raise it with lots of As (and your ability to get those lots of As in the upper level science courses, which is obviously going to require some change in your study methods, even if that change is as simple as "I realize I was screwing around and will apply myself").

 

[sarahss]

question: but your grades in pre-req classes are ultimaltley more important than upper level classes, right? bc i actually got some better grades in pre-req classes than the upper levels :/

 

[NightGod]

question: but your grades in pre-req classes are ultimaltley more important than upper level classes, right? bc i actually got some better grades in pre-req classes than the upper levels :/

Are we talking the difference between getting all As in pre-reqs and then all Cs in upper level or a slight downward trend? Keep in mind that the upper level classes are more "med school like" in that they teach more advanced topics that are 'similar' to what you will see in med school. If you have a massive downward trend, AdComs might reasonably infer that you would not be able to handle the more difficult classes in med school. If you slipped a bit but still had roughly the same grades, it probably doesn't matter much.

 

[BlkQueen]

Suncrusher, perfecttt post! 4 stars!

I just hate when people keep acting like grades trump all. As if there hasnt been people with 4.0s and 40MCATs REJECTED from medical schools. and to say that the premed coursework is a direct relation to the medical coursework to me is asinine. Premed prereqs are boring and really dont have as much to do with most people's chosen specialty route. As a future surgeon, Im not sure if knowing how to find chirality centers would benefit me in the long run--or ever.

As long as you are a well ronded student, you have a great chance. If your overall gpa is 3.5 that should be pretty good as well. No one is saying to get all Cs in the prereqs, but not having a b or a in all of them is certainly not the end of the world by any means.

 

[Avoidthetiger]

OP, your cGPA is great! You will just need to focus on doing better in your higher level science classes. Try to get a sGPA above 3.4 before you graduate... if possible.

I got a B in all my prereq courses - minus this super easy gen chem class I took (after taking a semester of chemistry for engineers, which covered much of the same material as the gen chem II class). My prereq grades weren't mentioned once in my 10 interviews. In the advanced level classes, I did great.... I just hate general courses with 100+ people... so med school might be tough for me at first.