when does sGPA overrule cGPA?

[pioneer22]

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What is an estimated threshold where adcoms start to question an applicant based on sGPA vs. cGPA?

example: a 3.6 sGPA, but 3.8 cGPA, assume top MCAT score(518+)....would a top 20 school screen out for interview, based on the 0.2 difference in sGPA and cGPA?

The AAMC table says sGPA is top factor, but most people seem to post about cGPA—so what is the threshold difference between the two that is questionable? 0.3? 0.25?

Thanks

 

[Lawpy]

GPA trends matter. A 3.4 sGPA with a downward trend is a red flag. A 3.4 sGPA with an upward trend is good. A strong MCAT will help greatly.

MCAT scores can be understood by themselves thanks to the exam being standardized. But understanding GPAs requires a context (i.e. transcripts, grade trends, university quality and rigor etc.).

I think someone with a 3.8 cGPA/3.5 sGPA would be okay. Maybe same with a 3.9 cGPA/3.5 sGPA. Anything more than a 0.4 difference without context of upward trends may be treated with caution.

 

[779163]

What is an estimated threshold where adcoms start to question an applicant based on sGPA vs. cGPA?

example: a 3.6 sGPA, but 3.8 cGPA, assume top MCAT score....would a top 20 school screen out for interview, based on the 0.2 difference in sGPA and cGPA?

The AAMC table says sGPA is top factor, but most people seem to post about cGPA—so what is the threshold difference between the two that is questionable? 0.3? 0.25?

Thanks

I don't think any school will screen you out for 3.6 sGPA.

I don't think the discrepancy is as important as the actual sGPA

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

No school would screen you out based on a 3.6 sGPA. 🙄

 

[mwsapphire]

The national data says that average medical school matriculant have about a 3.7 overall and a 3.64 BCPM. So that's a normally difference, but the higher your overall gpa the more your sGPA can lag. Obviously "fluffy" classes will inflate your gpa. So if you have a 3.9 overall, and a 3.7 BCPM, you're still a stellar candidate, even though that lag looks big. Trends are also seriously important, why would freshman year be as important of an indicator of med school success as upperclassmen years?

 

[Goro]

One should be worried if EITHER GPA is below the 10th %ile of a specific school.

A 3.6 sGPA will get you into Pitt or Yale.

Both GPAs are looked, and it seems that sGPA outranks cGPA, to a degree.

What is an estimated threshold where adcoms start to question an applicant based on sGPA vs. cGPA?

example: a 3.6 sGPA, but 3.8 cGPA, assume top MCAT score(518+)....would a top 20 school screen out for interview, based on the 0.2 difference in sGPA and cGPA?

The AAMC table says sGPA is top factor, but most people seem to post about cGPA—so what is the threshold difference between the two that is questionable? 0.3? 0.25?

Thanks

 

[pioneer22]

One should be worried if EITHER GPA is below the 10th %ile of a specific school.

A 3.6 sGPA will get you into Pitt or Yale.

Both GPAs are looked, and it seems that sGPA outranks cGPA, to a degree.

So what is a good threshold to stay above for sGPA at top competitive schools (even the stat heavy ones like WashU)? 3.7 sGPA?

 

[779163]

So what is a good threshold to stay above for sGPA at top competitive schools (even the stat heavy ones like WashU)? 3.7 sGPA?

There isn't a good threshold. It depends on your MCAT, upward trend, rigor of schedule, etc. I got an interview at WashU with a 3.55

Edit: obviously higher the better, but after a certain point, I think you get diminishing returns

 

[Goro]

3.6

So what is a good threshold to stay above for sGPA at top competitive schools (even the stat heavy ones like WashU)? 3.7 sGPA?

 

[efle]

even the stat heavy ones like WashU

the MCAT is the much bigger hurdle/selection factor for schools with 98-99th percentile medians

A 3.6, 3.8 and 4.0 are all going to get an interview if it is paired with a 37-38+ and the ECs are ok

 

[aprilfools]

the MCAT is the much bigger hurdle/selection factor for schools with 98-99th percentile medians

A 3.6, 3.8 and 4.0 are all going to get an interview if it is paired with a 37-38+ and the ECs are ok

Not so sure thats true. N=1 though. 3.63 s/cGPA and 519 MCAT with what I believe are pretty decent ECs/secondaries/PS and the only II's I received this cycle were Buffalo, Downstate, Einstein and Rochester. Applied to many "top tier" schools and no bites.

 

[mwsapphire]

Science GPA matters more. That is the material you will be going over in medical school. They don't care if you got an A in basket weaving. How bow dah?

Oh my God, your icon.
Also, I used to think that, too. But consider this- not everyone who applies to medical school is a science major. Some of them are performance majors, or Business majors, or Philosophy majors. For those people, philosophy, music, and the other classes that for most science majors are "fluffy" classes , are actually "major-relevant" classes ( so, more difficult for them).
For example, I'm a Bio major, and the philosophy class I'm in right now to fulfill my Gen Ed requirement is lower-level. It's not the same thing that sophomore Philosophy majors will be taking. That would be a much harder class, and actually relevant to the person's major. Science GPA might matter more, but don't think that just because *our* english/sociology/psych/music/film classes are our easy classes, that such is the case with everybody.