I am a second semester senior at one of the Ivy Leagues. I will be graduating at the end of this year and am looking to go to medical school. My only worry is my GPA, and particularly my sGPA. My first year and a half of undergrad was rough academically and it really hurt my GPA moving forward. At the end of the first 3 semesters of college I had a 3.2 overall. This was due to some personal issues and some poor course selection and management in my first 2 semesters. However, I have been fortunate enough to find the support I needed to refocus my energies and I am looking at graduating with a 3.71 overall. I also took my MCAT and scored a 516. I have some clinical hours (about 200), volunteered as an EMT (~400 hours), and a bunch of other volunteer work with refugees and economically disadvantaged populations (~700 hours). I’ve had an internship with a large health insurance company and worked in a neuroscience lab for the better part of the last 3 years and published a paper with them last spring. I will graduate with a Neuroscience major and a “minor” in Public Health. I’m still waiting to hear back from a few places I applied to before I can finalize my plans for my gap year. I originally had not planned to take a gap year but ultimately felt it was the best choice after my dismal first year.
My only fear is my GPA. I know 3.71 is on the low end to mid-average for accepted GPA for most med schools. On top of all that, despite my best efforts (and As in all science classes since my third semester) I could only get my sGPA up to 3.61. This is not only not great but pretty subpar for most medical schools. I was wondering what you all think are my chances at medical school and what I can do better, fix, or change to be a better candidate. (Should I go after a masters degree?, Take post-grad classes to boost my GPA?, etc. etc.). Do I stand a chance at a competitive med school (even though all schools are competitive!) or is my best bet to apply to mid-tiers? (I don’t really care what the school is or if its a “big name school.” I just want a good medical school where I can achieve my dream I really like UMass, which is my state school, both for the price and the quality of education (med school is way too expensive these days!)) Let me know what you guys think. Thanks in advance everyone!
I would concentrate on applying broadly to mid-tiers next cycle, including your state med school. Your stats + ECs fall solidly into the average-but-not-exceptional range. If you have no luck on your first cycle, then apply more broadly and include some osteopathic schools on your list.
I would pass on a master’s degree (unless it is critical fo your Plan B) since it will not do anything to improve your competitiveness for medical school.
Taking additional undergrad classes may not do much to boost your GPA/sGPA since you’re a science major and it will take a lot of credits to move the GPA needle.
To help you draw up your list, invest $30 in MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements) available at AMCAS.
MSAR lists admitted students stats by percentiles for every US med school. Do NOT apply to any medical school where your MCAT and/ or GPA/sGPA place you below the 10th percentile. You want to apply to schools where your stats put you solidly in the middle 25-75 percentile range. Med schools do engage in yield protection so only apply to schools where your stats are >90th percentile if you can give an convincing reason for “why school x?”
If you want to apply to 1 or 2 “competitive” med schools–go ahead but realize your chances for an admission are not great.
Concentrate on applying to:
in-state publics
privates where your stats are competitive
OOS-friendly public schools (like UVermont) where your stats are ABOVE the median for accepted in-state students (Note-- it will help if you can elucidate a compelling reason for “why” that specific state/school.)
Be cautious about applying to chiefly “low yield” schools–BU, Georgetown, George Washington, Temple, Drexel, Jefferson, Tufts, Tulane… Maybe Wake Forest. These schools get in excess of 10,000 applications for 150-175 seats. I would also call Brown “low yield” because of its small class size and large BA/MD program that leaves few seats open for other applicants.
Your MCAT is Golden, but not all Ivies are the same when it comes to GPA . At Princeton or JHU(i know not ivy) that GPA rocks, at Brown however (that would be a low GPA) and yes Med schools know the expected GPA from each individual school. Look at the numbers applying and accepted. Then place your self in the mix and assume at any ivy top 1/3 are serious contenders for the top programs and work your way down…There are always exceptions . GOOD LUCK. I also would agree that all allopathic schools in USA ranked near the bottom are still awesome and fantastic residencies in any field can be obtained.
Med school admissions committees love upward trends. With your fairly strong MCAT and EC’s and barring any red flags in your application, you should get several interviews at some great schools. Of course there are no guarantees. Good luck!!
Your sGPA 3.61/cGPA 3.71 is a bit below the MD school average but MCAT 516 is pretty good and ECs seem pretty strong. You should definitely apply broadly including all your state schools. Master program is NOT going to help, so stop wasting more money. Your best chance is your state schools plus all low tiered ones. Unless you are URM, forget about any top (or mid) schools.
Like all the other posters have already mentioned, you have a good chance to be accepted by more than one schools, if you apply broadly, some thing like 25-30 schools. Do not look down upon the lower ranking schools because all medical schools are good. Its what you do in med school that matters, not school. My nephew was in a lower ranking state school(within his state), but he got in an opt residency. For physicians, it is the final residency/fellowship that counts, not the school.
Not every Ivies will write committee letters, if your school does and you can get a committee letter, your possibilities increased a lot. Good luck to you.
A 3.71 cumulative GPA/3.61 BCPM GPA would be in the Top-20 percent for a school like WashU. 516 MCAT might be slightly low compared to your peers though. A 520 with your GPA would be solid for a Top-50 medical school.
UMass Amherst is a good school and you might be around the target for Tufts. If you had a higher GPA/MCAT, BU might have been a reach worth trying for.
The GPA and MCAT are in range, and particularly coming from an Ivy you should get into med school. I would be OK with a US med school, and don’t think your chances are good for particularly selective one.
@WayOutWestMom “Be cautious about applying to chiefly “low yield” schools–BU, Georgetown, George Washington, Temple, Drexel, Jefferson, Tufts, Tulane… Maybe Wake Forest. These schools get in excess of 10,000 applications for 150-175 seats. I would also call Brown “low yield” because of its small class size and large BA/MD program that leaves few seats open for other applicants.”
Is there somewhere we can get yield info for Med schools? Most show #applicants of applicants for #of seats, but that doesn’t show how many they actually accept to be able to fill those seats.
The elimination of the AMCAS acceptance reports this year has rather significantly changed how many students medical schools are accepting and waitlisting. Schools are being much more conservative in offering acceptances this year because while it’s always possible to add more student to class by accepting people form the waitlist, over-accepting and having a class size that exceeds a school training capacity leads to serious multi-year problems and is something that gets Admission Deans fired.
In the context, I was using the term “low yield” above in this thread means that for the applicant these schools are highly unlikely to yield an interview or acceptance because of unfavorable applicant to available seat ratios.
I really like UMass, which is my state school, both for the price and the quality of education (med school is way too expensive these days!)) Let me know what you guys think. Thanks in advance everyone!