Trust me, those numbers are inaccurate. Premed has always been competitive - it just feels tougher because you are scared.
Heres the skinny on numbers:
1. To make the first cut for interviews, you need better than a 3.0 for sure, or your file goes in the trash. (With this GPA, it will still be tossed by many programs.) If youre going to have a 3.0 overall -which sucks but happens- your trend should be low grades initially then high grades the last few years. Mention this trend clearly in your personal statement. Your MCAT better be higher than 30.
2. 3.3 overall or above is a much safer number, with better than a 27 MCAT.
This will get you an interview at some state schools, which are a great place to get your MD. Trust me, you dont need to go to Cornell (or fill in a big name school here) to get into a competitive residency. You just need to get into a US med school, make a high Step 1 score and get good letters of rec.
The advice I got that when picking med schools: The best med school is the cheapest US school that accepts you in a location where you can be happy and productive for three years (your fourth year is a blow off year anywhere.)
I recently saw a post on this forum in which it was said that
"I would rather graduate at the bottom of Harvard Med than at the top of a state school." That is a perfect mindset for someone who wants their mom to be able to brag about them, while not minding if they end up in family practice/primary care.
3. 3.5 overall with a 30 MCAT is a strong application.
Once you get to med school, work consistently hard, study like crazy for STEP 1, because this counts as much as the rest of your entire application. It is the (supposedly) objective evaluative tool that is used to compare you to every other US student. 1% of residency programs give preference to Ivy League grads, which means that its not worth it to surround yourself with gunners for an extra $100k in debt.
A person in the top 30% of the class at a state school who applies with a high board score to competitive residencies still gets interviews at the same places as the Harvard grads. The state school people still match at Mayo for Derm or NYU for Plastics.
swifteagle43 said:
http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2004/2004mcatgpa.htm
This is a pretty ridiculous stats for 2004. Is it me or is premed getting more competetive?
Average GPA for Science is 3.56?
Average NON-SCIENCE GPA of 3.7?
That meanst the AVERAGE person in medical school had atleast a 3.7? HOW THE HELL ARE WE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE GUNNERS!