I am a recent graduate with a cGPA of 3.2. I've taken over 130 credit hours of courses by AMCAS standards (31 graded classes at my college).
My personal calculations* show this:
new GPA_____Credits needed
___3.25__________15 ___ (5 classes, or 4 with 3 labs)
___3.3___________25 ___ (8 classes, 1 lab)
___3.35__________38 ___ (12 classes, 2 labs)
___3.4 __________ 52 ___ (17 classes, 1 lab)
I am assuming 3 credits per class, 1 per lab, and a 4.0 for all new classes taken.
There is a diminishing return where the more courses you take, the harder it is to raise your GPA. At some point you have to decide that the amount of GPA boost you get from that year of classes is not worth the delay in application.
I haven't figured out where my cutoff is; I'm torn between applying next year with a 3.34 or the year after with a 3.4. However, I definitely recommend calculating it out yourself. My estimations prior to contacting my UG and discovering their official credit hour conversion rate was much much lower, and would have allowed me to apply after 1 year with a 3.4.
*These are based on my numbers and my course weightings. It cannot translate directly into your course requirements.
