What is a good BCPM?

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Served

I'm currently a sophomore in college who completely bombed the first semester. Because of this, my GPA went down from 3.93 to 3.78, and my BCPM is around 3.7. If I play a what-if game and say I get A's in all my future math/science courses, the best BCPM I will get is 3.80, because I got a ****ing C+ in a 4 credit course. What do you consider a good BCPM?

Also, do med schools look at actual letter grades for each class or just the numerical value of my GPA?
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Served said:
I'm currently a sophomore in college who completely bombed the first semester. Because of this, my GPA went down from 3.93 to 3.78, and my BCPM is around 3.7. If I play a what-if game and say I get A's in all my future math/science courses, the best BCPM I will get is 3.80, because I got a ****ing C+ in a 4 credit course. What do you consider a good BCPM?

Also, do med schools look at actual letter grades for each class or just the numerical value of my GPA?
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I'm not admissions or anything but I'd say 3.7+ is "good" and 3.85+ is great
But, this is SDN so people are going to say 3.85+ is "good" 😛
 
3.7 is a great GPA. And no, they usually won't look at individual grades, but some secondaries ask you to explain why you got a C or lower in some class, so the C might be called to attention that way. If you have a reasonable excuse, you'll be fine.
 
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Ismet said:
3.7 is a great GPA. And no, they usually won't look at individual grades, but some secondaries ask you to explain why you got a C or lower in some class, so the C might be called to attention that way. If you have a reasonable excuse, you'll be fine.
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Would the whole "I was a freshman getting adjusted to the rigors of college" be a sufficient excuse?
 
yankee4life said:
Would the whole "I was a freshman getting adjusted to the rigors of college" be a sufficient excuse?
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A freshman C is a lot more understandable than a junior C. I'm not in admissions, but I would think that would be a reasonable excuse. Maybe expand on it a little more instead of just that.
 
Served said:
I'm currently a sophomore in college who completely bombed the first semester. Because of this, my GPA went down from 3.93 to 3.78, and my BCPM is around 3.7. If I play a what-if game and say I get A's in all my future math/science courses, the best BCPM I will get is 3.80, because I got a ****ing C+ in a 4 credit course. What do you consider a good BCPM?

Also, do med schools look at actual letter grades for each class or just the numerical value of my GPA?
Click to expand...

you must have a very generous definition of "bombed" if you're gpa only went down .15 points. Don't worry, you're fine.
 
gettheleadout said:
3.7 is a slightly above average GPA. In the context of college in general it's great, but as far as admissions go...
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🙄 It's a perfectly fine GPA as far as admissions goes. Let's not succumb to SDN mentality. A 3.7 sGPA was over 1 standard deviation above the average sGPA for matriculants in 2011.
 
My GPA is 3.7. I feel like it's the only 'hole' in my application that has been holding me back from more IIs to 'top' schools. I think for anything out of the top 20 or so it is probably fine, but higher than that and you just need to hope someone will look past it. If you are white or Asian, good luck with that.

Edit: I'm just talking about general trends. I know there are anecdotal examples all over the place of people with bad GPAs or MCATs getting IIs to good schools. My MCAT is in the top 3 percentile, and I don't think it has helped as much as I thought it would a few months ago.
 
Last edited:
Ismet said:
🙄 It's a perfectly fine GPA as far as admissions goes. Let's not succumb to SDN mentality. A 3.7 sGPA was over 1 standard deviation above the average sGPA for matriculants in 2011.
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I was thinking of cGPA, my bad.

Edit: That's not true though. Average was 3.61 and SD was .32

https://www.aamc.org/download/161696/data/table19.pdf

Edit 2: in any case I wasn't saying it's a *bad* sGPA, just that it's not a *great* one. It's a competitive/good one or whatever you want to say. It's above average but could be higher.

Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile
 
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A 3.7 GPA is solid and anything higher is just gravy on top. I applied with a 3.7 and have gotten interviews and acceptances at several top schools. (Of course, if you're applying with a 3.7 and want to go to a competitive school, you're going to need strong MCAT/EC's to back up that GPA)
 
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3.6 is the average BCPM GPA for matriculants to US MD schools according to AAMC data, while the average BCPM GPA of applicants is about 3.4

I'd say 3.7 is a great BCPM GPA, but it all depends on what schools you're aiming for
 
Thank you all. Also do you know if lab courses count toward your BCPM GPA? My school offers a separate 1 credit lab course for chem, orgo, and physics. Bio includes the lab, but these three subjects don't.
 
Served said:
Thank you all. Also do you know if lab courses count toward your BCPM GPA? My school offers a separate 1 credit lab course for chem, orgo, and physics. Bio includes the lab, but these three subjects don't.
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Yes they do count.
 
OOHH My goodness... I JUST found out that BPCM means (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math) !!!! I have been thinking all this time it meant Biochemistry Pre-Med !!! lol
 
Good (above average)
sGPA (BCPM) >3.7
cGPA >3.7

Great
sGPA > 3.8
cGPA >3.8

Outstanding
sGPA >3.9
cGPA >3.9


Also...those were all basically arbitrary except the first one
 
PinknGreenMD said:
OOHH My goodness... I JUST found out that BPCM means (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math) !!!! I have been thinking all this time it meant Biochemistry Pre-Med !!! lol
Click to expand...

Glad you necrobumped this six-month old thread to confirm this. I was getting worried, but I can finally rest now. Thank you.
 
3.5 or higher is acceptable, 3.7 or higher is competitive, and 3.8 or higher is competitive for upper level schools.
 
Old thread

Edit:
 
gettheleadout said:
I was thinking of cGPA, my bad.

Edit: That's not true though. Average was 3.61 and SD was .32

https://www.aamc.org/download/161696/data/table19.pdf

Edit 2: in any case I wasn't saying it's a *bad* sGPA, just that it's not a *great* one. It's a competitive/good one or whatever you want to say. It's above average but could be higher.

Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile
Click to expand...

I was gonna say... There was no way 3.7 was one SD above average...

PinknGreenMD said:
OOHH My goodness... I JUST found out that BPCM means (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math) !!!! I have been thinking all this time it meant Biochemistry Pre-Med !!! lol
Click to expand...

:laugh: We learn something new everyday...

Captain Sisko said:
hey now. She's from Alabama. let's be nice.
Click to expand...

True, true...
 
Old thread, but for anyone else who is thinking about the question.

You can probably compare it to what your school's average is for accepted students to MD programs.

The average GPA of people getting accepted to MD schools from my school is a 3.5/32.2. It's all relative. Some schools could have a 3.4, some could have a 3.7.
 
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