What is a good medical school GPA

[Iaka]

What is a good medical school GPA. After my first year i ended up with a 3.55. Is this still decent?

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[da8s0859q]

What is a good medical school GPA. After my first year i ended up with a 3.55. Is this still decent?

I'd definitely say so. Even if it's not, given the conventional wisdom of preclinical grades, I'd say that you're just fine. Enjoy your summer and don't stress.

 

[MossPoh]

I'd go by your success on nbme exams if you took them more than anything. You don't have to get in the 90 percentiles on everything, but as long as you are above the average most of the time then you will be fine.

 

[J ROD]

I think a 3.5+ is good. Board scores are much more important....

 

[DrBowtie]

That is solidly 2nd quartile at my school.

 

[da8s0859q]

That is solidly 2nd quartile at my school.

Mine also.

 

[weightyheart]

How do you calculate medical school GPA, Honors = A, HP = B, Pass = C?
So a 3.5 is like half honors and half high pass, which is also 2nd quartile at my school.

 

[doctor advisor]

The average GPA of matriculating medical students to Allopathic schools in the US was 3.66 for class entering Fall 2009.

 

[da8s0859q]

The average GPA of matriculating medical students to Allopathic schools in the US was 3.66 for class entering Fall 2009.

Well, yeah, but he's asking about GPAs in medical school, having finished MS-I.

 

[DrBowtie]

How do you calculate medical school GPA, Honors = A, HP = B, Pass = C?
So a 3.5 is like half honors and half high pass, which is also 2nd quartile at my school.

We use ABCDF.

 

[Iaka]

I'd go by your success on nbme exams if you took them more than anything. You don't have to get in the 90 percentiles on everything, but as long as you are above the average most of the time then you will be fine.

We do take NBME exams. How are they graded though. IS it graded so that the average is 50% nationwide or just a passing score of 70%

 

[ChiDO]

We do take NBME exams. How are they graded though. IS it graded so that the average is 50% nationwide or just a passing score of 70%

Graded to a ~500 average with a 50-70 std dev (i think)

 

[RySerr21]

i had no idea some schools were on a grading/GPA system. There can't be that many left.

 

[DrBowtie]

i had no idea some schools were on a grading/GPA system. There can't be that many left.

Actually ours told us many schools are inquiring about how it works for us and looking to switch back.

Besides, ABCDF is really H/HP/P/LP/F

 

[fahimaz7]

We're on an ABCDF system here at MCG. Quite nice actually. It's not based on a curve either.

 

[greg1184]

Actually ours told us many schools are inquiring about how it works for us and looking to switch back.

Besides, ABCDF is really H/HP/P/LP/F

My school is strictly P/F the first 2 years. Frankly I didn't realize that there were many schools with "gpa" left.

 

[Prime2000]

My school is strictly P/F the first 2 years. Frankly I didn't realize that there were many schools with "gpa" left.

The whole P/F thing is like giving every kid who finishes the race a gold ribbon. Suck it up and scrap for your grade.

 

[da8s0859q]

The whole P/F thing is like giving every kid who finishes the race a gold ribbon. Suck it up and scrap for your grade.

How do you figure?

 

[greg1184]

The whole P/F thing is like giving every kid who finishes the race a gold ribbon. Suck it up and scrap for your grade.

Ah gunners. They always come out from their rocks. 🙄

 

[Prime2000]

How do you figure?

Was mostly kidding, but I like a letter-graded, traditional GPA system. Keeps you aware of your performance instead of being lulled into the "I'll just pass for now then ROCK the boards" fantasy.....which may not end well.

 

[greg1184]

Was mostly kidding, but I like a letter-graded, traditional GPA system. Keeps you aware of your performance instead of being lulled into the "I'll just pass for now then ROCK the boards" fantasy.....which may not end well.

Yeah, the only caveat to my school's P/F system is that we have a numerical grade next to it... e.g. P-86. Residencies however do not see the mean or median of the grades so it is meaningless. If I am not mistaken the clinical years adds the "Honors Pass" grade. We also have quartiles to show our ranking. So my school isn't 100% noncompetitive, but our students are as non-competitive as medical students can be.

 

[da8s0859q]

Was mostly kidding, but I like a letter-graded, traditional GPA system. Keeps you aware of your performance instead of being lulled into the "I'll just pass for now then ROCK the boards" fantasy.....which may not end well.

Oh, well yeah, that makes sense. We've got A/B/C/F here; I don't mind it at all. Especially with a class that doesn't compete among itself.

 

[Rendar5]

Pass is a good medical school grade. As for learnign the material, you either learned it decently or not and only you know this. If you didn't, sucks to be you come board time.

 

[Jolie South]

Was mostly kidding, but I like a letter-graded, traditional GPA system. Keeps you aware of your performance instead of being lulled into the "I'll just pass for now then ROCK the boards" fantasy.....which may not end well.

I agree. My school switched to P/F after my class and I don't think it's gone well. A lot of people study just to pass which means that they are close to not passing.

 

[RySerr21]

I agree. My school switched to P/F after my class and I don't think it's gone well. A lot of people study just to pass which means that they are close to not passing.

Our scores have gone up since the switch to P/F, so it probably varies within each school and within each class and each student.

Was mostly kidding, but I like a letter-graded, traditional GPA system. Keeps you aware of your performance instead of being lulled into the "I'll just pass for now then ROCK the boards" fantasy.....which may not end well.

we are aware of how we do. They give us the average on each test and you can see the % of what you got correct.

 

[psipsina]

What is most important is where you are falling within your class. For competitive residencies you want to be in the top quartile. If your school shares the distributions of exams you should be able to get a feel for this though most schools don't let you know your rank outright.

 

[HPSPpayissues]

Pass is a good medical school grade. As for learnign the material, you either learned it decently or not and only you know this. If you didn't, sucks to be you come board time.

Not only that, 3rd year, internship and residency. Some people crammed their way into passing, but their lack of basic knowledge show up big time in rounds. There is no short cut: either you know it or you don't. If you don't well, go do family medicine 😀

 

[richse]

Pass is a good medical school grade. As for learnign the material, you either learned it decently or not and only you know this. If you didn't, sucks to be you come board time.

We have a H/P/F system with no recorded numerical grade in the first two years. I really thought it was a great system until I finished a class 0.1% below the honors cutoff. Then came the realization that my grade can't be differentiated in anyway from someone who passed the class with a 69.5%. I still think there is a lot of good in the system. It does seem to take away the some stress in preclinical years, but I would certainly favor some kind of numerical reporting.

 

[hurdlepup]

Not only that, 3rd year, internship and residency. Some people crammed their way into passing, but their lack of basic knowledge show up big time in rounds. There is no short cut: either you know it or you don't. If you don't well, go do family medicine 😀

Only because it is not competitive, right? Because a good family doc actually needs to know everything, if that were possible... i.e. practicing family medicine is arguably the hardest specialty. (Not trying to start a penis-measuring contest, but pointing out that FM is under-respected at times such as these.)

 

[MUBiomed]

We use a basic A/B/C/Fail system at my allopathic school. Anything below 70 is fail and there is no curve. It works well and I tend to agree with Prime2000 in that giving grades may make it more competitive but I like the environment. Everyone is still friendly in my class, but it also helps you stay on pace.

To me a residency that can actually see your preclinical grades would feel more comfortable with you as an applicant rather than simply seeing P or F next to your classes....regardless of how "unimportant" basic science grades are.

Just a soon to be MSII thoughts...

 

[KeyzerSoze]

To me a residency that can actually see your preclinical grades would feel more comfortable with you as an applicant rather than simply seeing P or F next to your classes....regardless of how "unimportant" basic science grades are.

That opinion would be worth something if you could provide evidence that residency directors prefer programs with preclinical grades to P/F programs.

Good luck with that.

 

[Antibodies]

We use a basic A/B/C/Fail system at my allopathic school. Anything below 70 is fail and there is no curve. It works well and I tend to agree with Prime2000 in that giving grades may make it more competitive but I like the environment. Everyone is still friendly in my class, but it also helps you stay on pace.

To me a residency that can actually see your preclinical grades would feel more comfortable with you as an applicant rather than simply seeing P or F next to your classes....regardless of how "unimportant" basic science grades are.

Just a soon to be MSII thoughts...

that is silly. Why would a residency director care how you did in the classes when they can just see your board scores. I doubt they will care that you got As your first year if you barely passed your boards.

 

[Antibodies]

With a P/F system you still know how you did compared to others because we get the average and distribution. There is no need to get that C to know your knowledge isn't adequate.

 

[XRanger]

I've been told by all the residency directors during speciality interest group lunch talk that grades preclinical year don't matter. As long as you're not failing, it doesn't matter what your grade is.

 

[sunset823]

To show how meaningless preclinical grades are, to let off some steam before my final final in a couple of hours, I calculated what my GPA would have been (with all my classes in except one) with a traditional letter grade system with no curve, and it is a...2.17 (ouch). And I solidly passed all my classes. Even someone who theoretically honored every single class, with the minimum honor level (usually mid-to-high 80s) would have a 3.2.

Not only does that make me love P/F, but it shows that each school is so different in not only how they grade, but what kind of tests they make (the distribution in most of our classes has tended to have a median in the mid-to high 70s, whereas in other schools that would be barely passing).

That makes me pretty convinced that preclinical grades are of minimal importance, and if they're not, they should be.

 

[dude1344]

Yes preclinical grades don't matter as much as board scores, 3rd year grades, etc. etc. But if you want to be AOA they DO matter...

 

[MUBiomed]

Yes preclinical grades don't matter as much as board scores, 3rd year grades, etc. etc. But if you want to be AOA they DO matter...

Right and that is basically the point. If you want AOA then you need to have good pre-clinical grades. While the grades themselves do not matter (according to CW), they ARE a means to an end. Plus I dare anyone to say that doing well in your pre-clinical classes hurts your chances of doing well on Step I. While there may not be a direct correlation (i.e. people with 4.0's kill the boards), it "should" definitely help the cause.

 

[RySerr21]

Yes preclinical grades don't matter as much as board scores, 3rd year grades, etc. etc. But if you want to be AOA they DO matter...

Schools that dont have grades still give students AOA (at least they can).

 

[riceman04]

Ah gunners. They always come out from their rocks. 🙄

yeah, but the sad thing is he is clearly gunning for the wrong reasons...bwahahahahaha

The fact that grading systems are not standardized, especially for the first two years, should be a simple hint that getting good grades is not emphasized over learning the material well enough to prepare you for step 1 and clinical rotations.

 

[riceman04]

Schools that dont have grades still give students AOA (at least they can).

not my school! we do NOT have AOA either!

Unfortunately, I hear that not having AOA at UCSD works against us simply b/c it is another check to mark next to something on your application.

 

[riceman04]

that is silly. Why would a residency director care how you did in the classes when they can just see your board scores. I doubt they will care that you got As your first year if you barely passed your boards.

👍

 

[RySerr21]

not my school! we do NOT have AOA either!

Unfortunately, I hear that not having AOA at UCSD works against us simply b/c it is another check to mark next to something on your application.

haha, thats why i said 'at least they can' cuz i know some schools dont. I was just saying you dont need grades to have an AOA system

 

[riceman04]

haha, thats why i said 'at least they can' cuz i know some schools dont. I was just saying you dont need grades to have an AOA system

ohhhh good stuff

 

[SlickNickMD]

mine😎

 

[Dral]

I got a 'P' first year. Is that ok?

😉

 

[p30doc]

I got a 'P' first year. Is that ok?

😉

Only a P+ would be 'ok', study harder. 😛