<p>So my friend is applying this cycle, he's a fellow bio major like myself at a fairly good state school (U of I).
This good friend of mine, however, is worried sick of the worst case scenario, he tells me he very well might end up being turned down at every school including regional schools, because he has an overall GPA of 3.75 with a science GPA of 3.7, which according to him is even below national average?</p>
<p>Is he serious? No, is he actually right? A 3.7 is below "national" average for med school admissions now? Can someone verify this. He's done fairly well on the MCAT, I think, he scored a mid-30s last spring, seems like a solid applicant by his numbers to me, but maybe I haven't been brought up to date on my numbers.</p>
<p>That's crazy. A 3.7 and mid 30s mcat being national average. It seems to be the general consensus that it's pretty tough to keep up a 3.7 here after a year of hellish orgo... I wonder if I'll be able to stay competitive with my stats after this year.</p>
<p>And, more deflated than math or physics? I doubt it. I also doubt that engineering GPA's are horribly deflated. I've seen a study done on the avg. GPA of various colleges at Cornell (Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Hotel Management, Architecture, etc.). The average GPA for the engineering school at Cornell was 3.15ish (this was back in 1996ish) and was very comparable to the other colleges at that time (that was when the avg. GPA of the entire school was in the 3.2 range).</p>
<p>if the national average is a 3.7, then, how is it that all of the averages by major are lower than a 3.7? What exactly are we missing here?</p>
<p>Do the bio matriculants (or applicants?) really have the highest GPA compared to all other majors? I don't see how that's possible; majoring in biochem or molecular bio is significantly harsher on your GPA than, say, a psychology major, at least that's the case at my school...</p>
<p>The national average is somewhere in the 3.6's. The national average for Asian and White applicants is 3.7. </p>
<p>The issue of average GPA's has been discussed before. Keep in mind, med schools are not looking to reward students for hardwork. If you spent your time doing engineering problem sets while the English major spent his time volunteering as an EMT, the med school would still prefer the English major at the same GPA.</p>
<p>Engineering is a great backup career, better than English or bio. But, it becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy when you major in it and you want to go to med school. That's the price you pay. Can't have your cake and eat it too.</p>
<p>^^^^Hmm, kinda what I tell all my friends who are "nursing pre-meds" at my school, which is a major nursing school in the area. They start off with one premed req a year (taking G. Chem instead of Survey of Chem, etc.), but then as clinicals, fundamentals, and other fun things begin to pile up, they begin to think to themselves "Hmm, maybe life as just a nurse is fine." And that motivation is lost to go all the way.</p>
<p>"why are the gpa's of URM students lower than white/asian matriculants"</p>
<p>I'm just guessing, but I think it's because they get more of a leeway in terms of GPA/MCAT, just like they get an advantage for undergrad applications.</p>