Undergraduate GPA at Duke and Medical School Admission...need help

[allie2274]

Hello,

I am a current first year undergraduate at Duke. As it would be expected at Duke, the pre-med courses are incredibly challenging. I have found that (coming from a public high school in Florida, where I did not even have teachers in some of my science courses), many of my classmates attended elite private schools that prepared them very well for the intro science courses I am taking now. As a result, on exams, I keep scoring in the average or one standard deviation above the average (which puts me in a B-/B range for my classes). At Duke, a B- is a 3.3 and a B is a 3.5. When I speak to my pre-med advisors about my GPA concerns, they encourage me to look at other majors/drop pre-med. At times this can be disheartening, because I do not think my performance in my classes is bad enough to warrant switching from pre-med. I study and work very hard to stay afloat and fill in my knowledge gaps. I even work a part time job and spend all of the money I earn there on tutoring. As a result of the curve, right now I have an A- in calculus (which I think I can pull up to an A) and a B- in chemistry (which I can definitely pull up to at least a B+ or an A-). My question is, what GPA is considered to be high enough for med school (I know there are other factors that play into med school admissions, but my GPA is my primary concern)? How much does attending Duke help in the admissions process?

As a side note, extracurricular wise, I have been successful in getting admitted to research programs in Duke, leadership in clubs, etc. I just don't want my GPA to be a barrier (especially given that my courses will only be getting more difficult). I know I still have to take organic chemistry, physics, and biochemistry, which are notoriously difficult and all curved to a B-.

All things considered, I do have an option of transferring to my state school where I know I could pull off a 4.0., and likely attend the medical school affiliated with the state school. But, I don't know if having a great GPA is worth the trade off of the extracurricular opportunities at Duke.

Thanks.

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[Lampstrike]

So, I actually go to Duke and am going through interviews right now. So I may be able to provide some perspective for you.

GPA > School Prestige.

School Prestige is a passable way to break a tie between two applicants who have equal GPAs. But a 4.0 at a state school is definitely gonna be valued higher than a 3.0 at Duke.

Having said that, I wouldn’t be so confident that you can get a 4.0 at your state school. When looking at curricula from other schools, I’ve found surprisingly often that public schools have tougher grading rubrics and tougher coursework than what you would get at Duke. With all due respect, I really don’t think you will be able to coast to a 4.0 at your state school if you are struggling with the same coursework at Duke.

As an aside, how can you even say that you are struggling? You aren’t even halfway through your first semester at college. Duke is still finishing up its first set of midterms, so I don’t know how you are so confident that your grades will stay where they are. Grades can change quite a bit throughout the semester (I would know...)

 

[710118]

So I was in your boat a couple of years ago (also at Duke). I came from an underprepared background unlike the elite high schools of my classmates. I ended up graduating in the top 10 percent (gpa wise), because I prioritized studying over other things. Figure out the most efficient way to study, and then do that. As a rule, I never went out on a Saturday or Friday night if I had a test that upcoming week. When people would come back drunk at 3am from shooters and asked me what am I doing, I told them I am “working on my dreams”. A couple years later, I am glad I did that. Keep your head up you will get the hang of it.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

So I was in your boat a couple of years ago (also at Duke). I came from an underprepared background unlike the elite high schools of my classmates. I ended up graduating in the top 10 percent (gpa wise), because I prioritized studying over other things. Figure out the most efficient way to study, and then do that. As a rule, I never went out on a Saturday or Friday night if I had a test that upcoming week. When people would come back drunk at 3am from shooters and asked me what am I doing, I told them I am “working on my dreams”. A couple years later, I am glad I did that. Keep your head up you will get the hang of it.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

[Tennisgirl92]

Whatever you do, don’t do these 2 things:
1) let other people decide if you’re good enough for medicine
2) give up because you’re not performing like you did in high school. College is different, harder, and you get 4 years to learn how to learn.

That said, I did undergrad at a prestigious college and did poorly. I did a masters at state and did great. There is a difference, but it is still not high school! It will still be difficult, and you will not be handed a 4.0 easily either way. I wouldn’t take my undergrad experience away. I learned more than books- I had resources and community not found in a large public school. You have to decide what you want. For some reason- you chose duke. What about it do you love? What do you want to get out of 4 years in college? There is not a one size fits all way to get into medicine. You may decide to study something entirely different. Do what you love- not what you think you should do! You have so much time to grow and learn and experience. Don’t let other people or pressures decide that for you.

And if you’re referring to UNC, that curriculum ain’t nothing to sneeze on.

 

[capriccio]

How are you taking advantage of your academic resources? Are you going into office hours? Is there tutoring available? Can you ask your classmates for help? Are you studying efficiently eg. using effective study strategies? It's very early into your first semester and for you to give up, and it's very normal for most people to have some growing pains during this transition period. Most people are not as put together as you think they are.

As a state school grad, I also second post #2—do not be so sure you could definitely "pull off a 4.0" at a state school. I took some very difficult classes and worked very, very hard at my state school to get the grades I wanted and to be where I am now.

To answer your other question, the average med school matriculant's cGPA is currently around 3.7.

 

[SleepingPillow]

Hi! I was at a similar situation as you my freshman year at a similar caliber school as Duke. I also did horrendously, did not transfer (didn't even think of it), and just put my head down and worked. I took 3 semesters until I felt I was on even ground as my peers, but I think it's definitely possible to pull it together faster if you find your study technique faster. For me, I just didn't know how to study coming from an ok public school and could not compete others who went to prep schools and such. Anyways, I'll suggest some things that may help you:

1. Anki: This is a program med students use, and honestly for college it's like a cheat. Look it up! I use it for memorization heavy courses (bio, anthro) and MCAT. I've done really well in all the classes I used anki in.

2. Pomodoro: This gets you to hold yourself accountable by keeping track of how much you study with a timer. No more saying you studied 50 hours in the library when really you only studied 25 hours.

3. Office hours: I did not use this freshman year. It's really helpful because sometimes professors will just tell you what's on the exam, or push you in the right direction, versus trying to study everything.

I think you definitely have a lot to gain by staying at Duke. State schools may not guarantee a 4.0 (I know if I had gone to my state school where the curve is at like a C and people can't even get into their majors because their grades aren't good enough, I probably wouldn't have done much better), doesn't have the level of personal support (40,000+ undergrads??), and doesn't have that many opportunities per student.

Search up how med students study to get even more details (med school insiders, medbros, prerak). I think they were very helpful in giving me ideas on how to right the ship and continue to med school.

*Also you are a freshman, that means you haven't even finished your first semester. You got this!! No reason why anyone should seriously suggest for you to transfer, but this is your chance to learn and improve yourself.

 

[710118]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Lol. I relaxed that rule by senior year by which I went out every single weekend and still managed a 4.0 but my first year I was strict with it Bc I was still new to the whole college thing

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Lol. I relaxed that rule by senior year by which I went out every single weekend and still managed a 4.0 but my first year I was strict with it Bc I was still new to the whole college thing

I'm laughing because I was similar (4.0 first year, didn't get drunk till sophomore year). That mental image is just hilarious.

 

[achilles0619]

Hello,

I am a current first year undergraduate at Duke. As it would be expected at Duke, the pre-med courses are incredibly challenging. I have found that (coming from a public high school in Florida, where I did not even have teachers in some of my science courses), many of my classmates attended elite private schools that prepared them very well for the intro science courses I am taking now. As a result, on exams, I keep scoring in the average or one standard deviation above the average (which puts me in a B-/B range for my classes). At Duke, a B- is a 3.3 and a B is a 3.5. When I speak to my pre-med advisors about my GPA concerns, they encourage me to look at other majors/drop pre-med. At times this can be disheartening, because I do not think my performance in my classes is bad enough to warrant switching from pre-med. I study and work very hard to stay afloat and fill in my knowledge gaps. I even work a part time job and spend all of the money I earn there on tutoring. As a result of the curve, right now I have an A- in calculus (which I think I can pull up to an A) and a B- in chemistry (which I can definitely pull up to at least a B+ or an A-). My question is, what GPA is considered to be high enough for med school (I know there are other factors that play into med school admissions, but my GPA is my primary concern)? How much does attending Duke help in the admissions process?

As a side note, extracurricular wise, I have been successful in getting admitted to research programs in Duke, leadership in clubs, etc. I just don't want my GPA to be a barrier (especially given that my courses will only be getting more difficult). I know I still have to take organic chemistry, physics, and biochemistry, which are notoriously difficult and all curved to a B-.

All things considered, I do have an option of transferring to my state school where I know I could pull off a 4.0., and likely attend the medical school affiliated with the state school. But, I don't know if having a great GPA is worth the trade off of the extracurricular opportunities at Duke.

Thanks.

Does your school have a pre-health website with sGPA and MCAT scores of students accepted to medical school? I went to a similar caliber school that was known for having a really hard pre-med program. Our pre-health office has posted MCAT and GPA grids online where it shows the data of accepted graduates. I found that to be really calming when I was worried about B's freshman year, since the GPA data from our school was several 0.1 points lower than the national average with very high acceptance rates. I'm not sure if that is the case or not with Duke but you could ask your pre-med office if they keep track of that data to see how you are comparing to other applicants from your school!

Also, you still have plenty of time to change your study habits. I did mediocre my first year and a half of undergrad but ended up with a great GPA trend my junior and senior year because I learned how to study better. It takes time, don't be too hard on yourself and always go to office hours for help.

 

[DNAJB6]

At Duke, a B- is a 3.3 and a B is a 3.5.

It doesn't matter what Duke calls it; AMCAS (the application processing service) will recalculate your GPA. It will look something like this:

A/A+ 4.0
A- 3.7
B+ 3.3
B 3.0
B- 2.7

 

[Jeremy Bearimy]

It doesn't matter what Duke calls it; AMCAS (the application processing service) will recalculate your GPA. It will look something like this:

A/A+ 4.0
A- 3.7
B+ 3.3
B 3.0
B- 2.7

Duke also uses the same scale