stupid GPA question

[asdasd12345]

probably a silly question but what do you think the minimum gpa you need to have any chance to get into any medical school whatsoever? i know some schools have cutoff points where they wont even look at your application if its below a certain level, i guess this varies from school to school.

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[HessExpress]

it's not a silly question, but the fact is that there isn't any cut-off. What there are, however are statistical cut-offs. But, as you know, you yourself are unique and not a statistic - your whole resume is under review. Some schools do have their automatic cut-off procedures as everyone says, but that would probably be limited to the top-tier schools.

 

[doc05]

it's not a silly question, but the fact is that there isn't any cut-off. What there are, however are statistical cut-offs. But, as you know, you yourself are unique and not a statistic - your whole resume is under review. Some schools do have their automatic cut-off procedures as everyone says, but that would probably be limited to the top-tier schools.

actually, gpa cutoffs are not limited to top-tier schools.

 

[doc05]

probably a silly question but what do you think the minimum gpa you need to have any chance to get into any medical school whatsoever? i know some schools have cutoff points where they wont even look at your application if its below a certain level, i guess this varies from school to school.

so how low is your GPA?

 

[asdasd12345]

****ing low

 

[(nicedream)]

The lowest GPA I know of an accepted student having is a 2.85.

 

[willthatsall]

I read somewhere that there is a huge dropoff in acceptance rate right around 3.3. Not a set-in-stone cutoff, but certainly you want to be right around there or higher. If you are below 3.2, you really need something to set you apart I think.

 

[Spitting Camel]

What about a 3.2/30? I know a girl who is way worried about getting in and might not apply this year. I keep telling her to apply, but be selective in the schools she chooses to apply to. Am I steering her wrong?

 

[willthatsall]

What about a 3.2/30? I know a girl who is way worried about getting in and might not apply this year. I keep telling her to apply, but be selective in the schools she chooses to apply to. Am I steering her wrong?

Why be selective where she applies? Shouldn't she apply to a ton of places since her GPA is low so that she will have more chances to be accepted. If you mean selective as in not applying to top tier schools, I see what you are saying. But she should apply to a lot of mid/low tier schools.

 

[Spitting Camel]

Why be selective where she applies? Shouldn't she apply to a ton of places since her GPA is low so that she will have more chances to be accepted. If you mean selective as in not applying to top tier schools, I see what you are saying. But she should apply to a lot of mid/low tier schools.

That is exactly what I meant with selective, actually. She's more worried about applying at all...

 

[ddmo]

It completely depends on the candidate. Deficiencies in one area can certainly be overlooked due to bonuses in another. However, your GPA is an indication of how well you do in your classes and will provide an indication of whether or not you can cut it in medical school. If you can't pull a B average in undergrad, how are you going to pull your weight in Med school? It costs these schools money to educate you, and they don't want to take on liabilities. Because of this, I would think that 3.0 is about as low as you can seriously consider. Even a 3.2 probably won't cut it unless your MCATs are stellar or you spent 10 years doing AIDS/HIV research in Africa or have something that sets you apart so schools know you will succeed.

 

[ddmo]

What about a 3.2/30? I know a girl who is way worried about getting in and might not apply this year. I keep telling her to apply, but be selective in the schools she chooses to apply to. Am I steering her wrong?

Remember, the more schools she applies to, the better her chances might be, but the larger her monetary losses may be. It really is like playing roulette, the more numbers she covers, the better her odds, but the more likely she will loose big.

 

[(nicedream)]

What about a 3.2/30? I know a girl who is way worried about getting in and might not apply this year. I keep telling her to apply, but be selective in the schools she chooses to apply to. Am I steering her wrong?

I know this is the pre-allo board, but she'd have no problems with DO schools if she's at all interested.

 

[jlee9531]

That is exactly what I meant with selective, actually. She's more worried about applying at all...

she get doubles across the mcat?

just curious. is the rest of her application strong? if it is then id say apply to a lot of schools and express her passion well and hope for the best.

 

[Spitting Camel]

I know this is the pre-allo board, but she'd have no problems with DO schools if she's at all interested.

I never asked because although I don't feel there's anything wrong with it, she may... I would hate for her to think I am "talking down" to her or treating her like she is an "inferior" applicant.

I know this one guy who said he would NEVER EVER go DO... he said "You'll have to live with it for the rest of your life..." Guess where he is now? Uh huh... Imagine what it's like to talk so much smack, and then joing the profession.

Bottom line, if you're dedicated to medicine, you will get there any way you can (hopefully not by cheating and killing and stuff ).

 

[jlee9531]

its always nice to have at least a 3.0 at the minimum...tho there have been a small number of students that have been accepted with a sub 3 gpa...its rare...

so make sure your gpa is at least at 3.0

 

[bubbajones]

I have never heard of a student getting in a US MD granting school with a GPA less than a 3.2

 

[bigdan]

OP-
I think that you may be able to do some legwork, and find more specifics on your chances. There are some fairly obvious parameters...like anything approaching a low 2.something will be tough to justify...you can't get your degree with anything lower, right? It'd be a tough sell to medical schools.
But maybe you can email or otherwise contact some of your ideal medical schools. SUNY Upstate, where I'd like to go, informed me that they use the BBarron's College Guide to Selectivity to identify the "difficultness" of different undergrad schools, and then that is taken into account in the process. So my GPA from Utica College (a "less competitive" or "non competitive" school) will hold much less weight than an equivalent - or perhaps even a lower - GPA from Princeton. In addition, the person I spoke with was well aware of grade inflation, and understands that it is much more rampant at some schools than it is at others. So...a very low GPA might be doable if the cards fall right - you've gone to a great undergrad institution and there's no reputation for grade inflation there. And the MCAT can be "the great equalizer" if that beast is appropriately tamed...an extremely high score will never hurt your case.
If that's not the case, and you're committed to medicine, maybe do a grad program or post-bac (and be sure to get good grades there) to show that you can handle the work. Other circumstances may play in here too. At the risk of inciting a thread hijack or getting flamed by the masses, it seems that statistically URMs get in with a bit lower numbers and that DO schools have numeric (GPA/MCAT) averages that are a bit lower than those at MD schools.
Look around and review your options, and good luck.

dc

 

[asdasd12345]

university of florida reputation anyone? not too bad right?

 

[liverotcod]

I'm applying this year with an overall 2.95 GPA. That's the obvious weakness in my application. But I do have 3.8 for my last 6 semesters and 4.0 in my post-bacc. Also a high MCAT (probably, won't know for sure for a few weeks!). But I really feel that I have a reasonable chance. I know some schools won't give my app even a glance, but if I can just get a few interviews, I will be OK.

I do think that post-bacc work shows dedication and can show additional improvement.

 

[(nicedream)]

I have never heard of a student getting in a US MD granting school with a GPA less than a 3.2

A quick search of mdapplicants.com comes up with someone with a 2.8 being accepted to 9 schools (including Dartmouth and Cornell), 2.9 to UCONN, 2.7 to Loma Linda, 2.8 to 4 schools, 2.8 to 2 schools etc. etc.

 

[mosfet]

I have a GPA of 3.19 and an MCAT of 29. I received interviews from 2 schools. One put me on their waitlist and the other I am still awaiting their decision. Both are in the top 50 med schools in the country.

 

[dantheman]

I'm applying this year with an overall 2.95 GPA. That's the obvious weakness in my application. But I do have 3.8 for my last 6 semesters and 4.0 in my post-bacc. Also a high MCAT (probably, won't know for sure for a few weeks!). But I really feel that I have a reasonable chance. I know some schools won't give my app even a glance, but if I can just get a few interviews, I will be OK.

I do think that post-bacc work shows dedication and can show additional improvement.

I am basically in the exact same situation you are exept I applied last year and I am currently waiting to hear from two schools. Some schools did not even look at me because my overall GPA was so low. My advice to you is apply to as many schools as you can afford. You can PM me if you want maybe I can give you some little nuggets (aint that a funny word) of advice so you might not end up on the waitlist like me.

 

[bigbassinbob]

A quick search of mdapplicants.com comes up with someone with a 2.8 being accepted to 9 schools (including Dartmouth and Cornell), 2.9 to UCONN, 2.7 to Loma Linda, 2.8 to 4 schools, 2.8 to 2 schools etc. etc.

Yes and conversely I have a GPA of 3.9 and MCAT of 30, but have been accepted nowhere and am on 1 waitlist. Frickin ridiculous.

 

[(nicedream)]

Yes and conversely I have a GPA of 3.9 and MCAT of 30, but have been accepted nowhere and am on 1 waitlist. Frickin ridiculous.

That's strange. Where did you apply? How are your ECs and clinical exp? LORs? Any interviews?

 

[southern MD]

What about a 3.2/30? I know a girl who is way worried about getting in and might not apply this year. I keep telling her to apply, but be selective in the schools she chooses to apply to. Am I steering her wrong?

Tell her to apply as early as possible starting in June. My friend who's graduating this yr had overall gpa of 2.9, and he got interviews from 6 schools, and got accepted to Baylor and Albany Med so far. He applied to 38 schools though. So it's smart to apply as many schools as possible.

Southern MD
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Tufts University
School of Medicine
Class of 2007

 

[bigbassinbob]

That's strange. Where did you apply? How are your ECs and clinical exp? LORs? Any interviews?

Decent EC's: 4 honor societies, pre-med club, biology club, etc.
Volunteer Work/Clinical Experience: summer in physical therapy clinic, year in the emergency room
What is a LOR?
Independent senior research project
NC resident, applied to 14 schools, wasted a lot of money on secondaries, got 4 interviews, 2 rejections, 1 waitlist (Wake Forest), 1 waiting to hear (South Carolina)
My interviews were at UNC, ECU, Wake Forest, and South Carolina

 

[(nicedream)]

Decent EC's: 4 honor societies, pre-med club, biology club, etc.
Volunteer Work/Clinical Experience: summer in physical therapy clinic, year in the emergency room
What is a LOR?
Independent senior research project
NC resident, applied to 14 schools, wasted a lot of money on secondaries, got 4 interviews, 2 rejections, 1 waitlist (Wake Forest), 1 waiting to hear (South Carolina)
My interviews were at UNC, ECU, Wake Forest, and South Carolina

LOR is letters of recommendation. You sound like a fairly impressive candidiate, I'm sorry you haven't had luck yet. Unless your interviews were disasters, I'm bewildered.

 

[gary5]

3.5 GPA / 30 MCAT are standard values for getting into med school in general. I think it's rare for someone <3.0 to get in. A 3.0 would probably require a really high MCAT (36-39). You can see matriculated values at mdapplicants.com.

 

[yinxzon]

i think i saw somewhere that one hundred and fifty people were left after screening. apparently, the same people apply to the top tier schools? please correct me if that is wrong. so how many people actually apply to this?

 

[Blade28]

Decent EC's: 4 honor societies, pre-med club, biology club, etc.
Volunteer Work/Clinical Experience: summer in physical therapy clinic, year in the emergency room
What is a LOR?
Independent senior research project
NC resident, applied to 14 schools, wasted a lot of money on secondaries, got 4 interviews, 2 rejections, 1 waitlist (Wake Forest), 1 waiting to hear (South Carolina)
My interviews were at UNC, ECU, Wake Forest, and South Carolina

Sounds like you had quite a strong application. How do you feel your letters of recommendation were? Any honors or awards? Work experience? What was your major? Did you apply to mainly private or public schools, or both?

 

[rgporter]

probably a silly question but what do you think the minimum gpa you need to have any chance to get into any medical school whatsoever? i know some schools have cutoff points where they wont even look at your application if its below a certain level, i guess this varies from school to school.

Hmmm, depends on whether we're discussing US MD programs, (or DO programs) versus caribean programs.

I've heard of people with one point somethings going to a caribean school. I wouldn't reccomend it though.
US MD and DO schools are pretty equivilent in the education offered but it is usually easier (gradewise) to get into a DO program. I have a good friend with a ~2.9 and 24 MCAT who is at a DO school right now. I have heard of much lower stats but not in anyone I personally know. Probably safe to say you would be OK with 2.5, if you have a decent MCAT.
For US MD programs, who knows? You could have a 4.0 and 36 and still not get in anywhere (I know two such people), or you could have the 2.5 and 24 and still get in.
It's really hard for anyone to judge based on numbers alone if you can get into school because adcoms don't just look at numbers. Best of luck.
My advice to you is if you think your numbers aren't strong enough strengthen your app another way. Join peace corps or something equally impresssive, like maybe spend a few months volunteering in Africa. These experiences usually either require a lot of time or money but they will pay off more than shelling out $1500 to the MCAT prep. Gestapo, for uncertain results on a test with questionable value for admissions.

 

[bigbassinbob]

Sounds like you had quite a strong application. How do you feel your letters of recommendation were? Any honors or awards? Work experience? What was your major? Did you apply to mainly private or public schools, or both?

My letters were pretty good, I think. They were in the form of a committee letter from my advisor, but it was compiled from a bunch of other recommendations I had sent to him. I didn't do any honors classes, but it's quite possible I will end up with the biological sciences award at graduation since I have basically a 4.0 in bio courses. I'm a Bio major. I applied about half and half private/public -- mostly around the southeast. The only bad interview I thought I had was at ECU, and they rejected me pretty quick after it. Now I am on the waitlist at South Carolina and Wake Forest, but I was rejected everywhere else. Any advice if I have to do this all over again (ugh)? What schools to apply to? Things to do in the meantime?

 

[(nicedream)]

My letters were pretty good, I think. They were in the form of a committee letter from my advisor, but it was compiled from a bunch of other recommendations I had sent to him. I didn't do any honors classes, but it's quite possible I will end up with the biological sciences award at graduation since I have basically a 4.0 in bio courses. I'm a Bio major. I applied about half and half private/public -- mostly around the southeast. The only bad interview I thought I had was at ECU, and they rejected me pretty quick after it. Now I am on the waitlist at South Carolina and Wake Forest, but I was rejected everywhere else. Any advice if I have to do this all over again (ugh)? What schools to apply to? Things to do in the meantime?

How many schools did you apply to, and did you apply late?
MD schools with lower averages and a lot of out-of-state acceptances are Finch, Drexel, Temple, NYMC...and of course Howard and Meharry. However, it doesn't seem that numbers are your problem - something's amiss.

 

[bigbassinbob]

How many schools did you apply to, and did you apply late?
MD schools with lower averages and a lot of out-of-state acceptances are Finch, Drexel, Temple, NYMC...and of course Howard and Meharry. However, it doesn't seem that numbers are your problem - something's amiss.

I applied to 14 schools total, if I have to do it again I'll probably apply to around 20. Also, I took the August MCAT, so that may have set my application back a little. The deans at UNC and ECU offer to speak with rejected applicants about how they can improve their applications, so I'm hoping they can shed some light on why they hated me so much.