How to determine the significance of your Science GPA
How to determine the significance of your Science GPA
Once you’ve calculated your Science GPA, you should determine its impact on your chances of getting into medical school.
Significance of your Science GPA
Ideally you want a science GPA that is above a 3.5. If it is below that, your chances of getting accepted into a competitive medical school decreases, but thankfully the GPA is not the only factor medical schools consider when accepting applicants into their program.
Significance of your progress over time
Medical schools, when considering whom to invite to interview, will look at the trend of your science GPA in your frenchman, sophmore, junior, senior, and postbac year. They look for a positive trend.
Let’s see how they will evaluate two students with the same science GPA but different trends.
Student 1 Science GPA Trend
- Freshman year: 2.90
- Sophmore year: 3.10
- Junior year: 2.95
- Senior year: 3.05
- Cummulative Science GPA: 3.0
Student 2 Science GPA Trend
- Freshman year: 2.1
- Sophmore year: 2.5
- Junior year: 3.6
- Senior year: 3.9
- Cummulative Science GPA: 3.0
Which student is the admissions committees going to invite for an interview? You guessed it. They will invite the student who has demonstrated a positive trend in their Science GPA, which is an indication that they have figured out how to study effectively and do well in their classes.
Medical school requires learning a significant amount of material in a short amount of time. In medical school, you must demonstrate knowledge of the material by passing the required national board exams for medical students (USMLE). Your science GPA gives the medical school admissions committee an idea of whether you will be able to meet the challenges of medical school. To show them that you can do this, you need a strong science GPA and/or you need to demonstrate a positive trend in your science GPA over the course of your college training.
Some students learn how to study as postbac students, and go from poor undergraduate grades to spectacular postbac grades. Again, these students will be considered for admissions because they show a positive trend in their science GPA.
Source
“You’re Going To Be a Doctor!” talk given by Marco Angulo (UC Irvine medical student) and Anabel Arroyo at the LMSA Health Policy conference at UCSF, April 2010.
Related LInks
How to determine your Science GPA
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