MD after PhD, GPA importance

[canban]

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Hi All,

I'm a PhD student doing Chemistry research (non-clinical, but biological) at one of the top universities (MIT or Harvard to keep my identity safe!). Back story is, I did apply for MD after UG but did so VERY late, still interviewed at 7 places, waitlisted at 3...which I deserved. Disenchanted, I instead joined a PhD program after taking a year off and working in pharma. Now I thought, "hey I'm already in PhD school, grades don't matter, time to slack off in classes", so I barely scraped on in my classes in the name of doing research. Since I'm thinking about trying again on applying to medical school, I have to start worrying about GPA. Here are my stats from four years ago:

Undergraduate: 3.64 cGPA, 3.74 sGPA, 3.35 nsGPA
36 MCAT
Lots of ECs

Now my question is this: how much does my grad GPA matter?

In PhD graduate school, I'm pulling a 3.5 cGPA, 3.25 sGPA, and 4.0 nsGPA. Do these grades really matter to medical school admissions? Everybody doing their PhD knows that GPA is a joke, but do medical school admissions committees care?

Additionally:
Do any of you have any recommendations on distancing myself from wanting to be a Chemist and increasing the visibility of my desire to be a physician? I'll be 28 when I apply and interview

Thank You!

P.S. Now that I'm looking back on it, the easiest thing to do was not the best thing to do. I should NOT have gone to PhD school and instead should have found better ways to strengthen my application and reapplied....EARLY.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Come hang out with us in the non-trad forum. I can't personally address your question but one of our mods who is a PhD to MD, QofQuimica, put together a great sticky of topics on this. Start here:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6420517&postcount=6

People argue about the importance of graduate gpa and the closest thing to consensus seems to be that if you do really well, it isn't necessarily going to offset a poor undergrad performance (With the exception of SMPs). If you do poorly in grad though, it can definitely hurt you.

 

[Crunk Norris]

One thing you will need to do is retake the MCAT since most schools only take scores within the last 3 years. But your 36 shows you are capable of scoring high. Good luck!!

 

[sliceofbread136]

Make sure to retake your MCAT before the new one.

 

[canban]

Wow that thread is really beautiful, I'll definitely be hanging out in the non-trad section.

Thanks again for your advice on retaking the MCAT =)

 

[Gut Shot]

Hi All,

I'm a PhD student doing Chemistry research (non-clinical, but biological) at one of the top universities (MIT or Harvard to keep my identity safe!). Back story is, I did apply for MD after UG but did so VERY late, still interviewed at 7 places, waitlisted at 3...which I deserved. Disenchanted, I instead joined a PhD program after taking a year off and working in pharma. Now I thought, "hey I'm already in PhD school, grades don't matter, time to slack off in classes", so I barely scraped on in my classes in the name of doing research. Since I'm thinking about trying again on applying to medical school, I have to start worrying about GPA. Here are my stats from four years ago:

Undergraduate: 3.64 cGPA, 3.74 sGPA, 3.35 nsGPA
36 MCAT
Lots of ECs

Now my question is this: how much does my grad GPA matter?

In PhD graduate school, I'm pulling a 3.5 cGPA, 3.25 sGPA, and 4.0 nsGPA. Do these grades really matter to medical school admissions? Everybody doing their PhD knows that GPA is a joke, but do medical school admissions committees care?

Additionally:
Do any of you have any recommendations on distancing myself from wanting to be a Chemist and increasing the visibility of my desire to be a physician? I'll be 28 when I apply and interview

Thank You!

P.S. Now that I'm looking back on it, the easiest thing to do was not the best thing to do. I should NOT have gone to PhD school and instead should have found better ways to strengthen my application and reapplied....EARLY.

Here is the grading scale for most graduate programs:
A = acceptable
B = rough equivalent of a C in undergrad
C = fail

So yeah, your grad school GPA blows, and I'm surprised you haven't been yanked aside, but if you're in a top name school somebody will cut you some slack. Especially if you have publications.

As for your pivot, you're going to look better if you are running towards medicine rather than away from chemistry. You can always try the old "I love chemistry/research, but my desire to heal sick children still gnaws at me. The world is changing, new discoveries and translational science blah blah, the future will need people like me who know the whole bend to bedside gambit." Or something to that effect.

 

[Nuel]

I am also a PhD to MD who got accepted to medical school but decided to pursue a PhD instead. I blew off most of my classes in grad school (GPA = 3.0). At the place where I finished, most people got B's, and A's were actually earned. Getting a B wasn't easy either as there were minimal standards. My scores on exams were usually at the class average, which meant a B. Fortunately, grad school GPA doesn't mean much in the MD process, although I got asked about it during an interview. "So, your undergrad GPA is really good, what happened in grad school?" Me: "I just focused more on research although I certainly could've done better if I directed my energy as needed. I understand medical school is a lot more grade-oriented and I will change my focus appropriately." I applied with a 34 MCAT, and didn't have any publications at the time of application.

To be honest, I can see why grades are meaningless when it comes to evaluating PhD students. High grade and strong test scores (though useful) are not as strong as applied learning, designing good experiments, trouble-shooting, testing new independent thought/hypothesis, reading extensively, writing, etc--all these were far more productive ways of learning and it's really what the PhD is about. It's really hard to explain until you've engaged in it. If I had put in the same effort into my classes, I believe I would've gotten A's. I am now a grade and score-chaser in medical school even though I know I'll forget a lot of the details, just as I did with 1st/2nd year PhD coursework, but that's how the game is played. We had covered the intricate details of glucose metabolism in grad school and I thought I had never seen some of it when I met the material again in medical school. On the other hand, I doubt I will ever forget my research.

In any case, get a good MCAT (30+), resemble the typical premed in the checkbox category (ECs, clinical volunteering [I didn't have any on file and this put me on some waitlists], etc etc,) and apply broadly. Nobody deserves anything.

 

[linebacker57]

Find magicjewel on here, shes a PhD who just matriculated into the class of 2016 at WFU

 

[MrChance2]

I have absolutely no special knowledge of this but unless you're just a really weird guy, I would be very surprised if at least one top school wasn't interested in you after you get your PhD from MIT or Harvard and score in the top 5% on the MCAT with solid undergrad grades.

 

[saveourpens]

Hey like you I was also worried about having a so so grad GPA but it didn't seem to matter to schools, at least in terms of interviews. Schools know that your grades are not the primary focus for research grad programs.

 

[doc toothache]

I'm a PhD student doing Chemistry research (non-clinical, but biological) at one of the top universities (MIT or Harvard to keep my identity safe!). Back story is, I did apply for MD after UG but did so VERY late, still interviewed at 7 places, waitlisted at 3...which I deserved. Disenchanted, I instead joined a PhD program after taking a year off and working in pharma. Now I thought, "hey I'm already in PhD school, grades don't matter, time to slack off in classes", so I barely scraped on in my classes in the name of doing research. Since I'm thinking about trying again on applying to medical school, I have to start worrying about GPA. Here are my stats from four years ago:ARLY.

Any reason to believe that, if accepted, the lackadaisical attitude on your Ph.D. program, no less, at Harvard or MIT, will not carry over into med school?