Question about Grade Trends

[Ioriscrub]

I read on another site that it looks bad to have a gpa that is "up one semester and down the next". (The link is www.premed.neu.edu/preparing/grades_gpa in case you want to see it).

My question is, if your trend had that kind of pattern, but it still went up by year and you only had one semester that was lower than a 3.5, would that still raise a red flag?

This is how my gpa is distributed:
Freshman fall: 3.47
Freshman spring: 3.73
Sophomore fall: 3.55
Sophomore Spring: 3.91
Junior Fall: 3.70
Junior Spring: Hopefully a 4 but probably not lower than a 3.8 due to it being a light load

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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[IniquityBliss]

I think you're fine. The 'positive academic trends' thing means: if you had a 2.0 your first semester but then a 3.8, 3.7, 3.8, 3.65, 3.75, etc you showed a positive academic trend.

Basically, they want to know that you were getting drunk and failing your classes your first semester because college was new and you were adjusting. They don't want to see you go from a 3.9, 3.7, 3.9, 2.6, 3.0, 2.75 - this looks like you started getting drunk and failing at the end of your undergrad career - which is right before med school.

Also, it depends on the classes you took each semester. If you have a 3.4 and you took anatomy, physiology, organic and physics - you're fine, you had a difficult course load that semester. If, the next semester, you had communications, english, psychology, and bio 101 and you ended with a 3.2 - something's up. Bottom line: your grades should correspond to the difficulty of your course load.

Hope this helped.

 

[Catalystik]

I agree that you having nothing to worry about.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I'm pretty sure that AMCAS generates grade distributions on a year-by-year basis rather than a semester-by-semester basis. Someone correct me if I'm wrong! But if that is the case, med schools will probably not take the time to calculate your semester breakdown. They will just see the trend from year to year, which seems to go up in your case.

 

[Catalystik]

I'm pretty sure that AMCAS generates grade distributions on a year-by-year basis rather than a semester-by-semester basis.

They will just see the trend from year to year . . .

This is correct.