At my school, we have to take 3 quarters of O-Chem. In the first quarter I got a C-, but I got a B+ in the second quarter and am about to finish this last quarter with a solid A.
I read somewhere that medical schools do not take C-, but clearly I’ve improved quite a bit, and it’s not like 3rd quarter OCHEM does not implement 1st quarter teachings. Also, I can not retake classes unless I score a D+ or below at my school, so what now?
This might be faulty information; I don’t see anything on any of the websites of med schools I’m interested in mention anything about a specific letter grade requirement in pre-reqs.
Some may; most will not.
Check MSAR for a list of required prereqs for every school plus any minimum required grades for pre-reqs.
TMDSAS clearly states all grades need to be C or better to fulfill admission requirement at all TX med schools.
JHU’s premed advising site (one of the best out there)
For example, Duke SOM states it will not accept C- grades, but you have dig deep, deep, deep down into their admission FAQs to find that information.
One thing you need to be aware of–medical schools don’t check for admission requirements fulfillment until after a student has been admitted and a final transcript has been submit (in May-June after a student has finalized enrollment).
If a med school doesn’t accept C- grades and there is one on the transcript, any admission can be revoked. ( BTW, Med schools generally cannot grant exceptions because LCME audits all student records for compliance with a school’s own stated admission policies. A med school can lose its accreditation if it grants an exception.)
@CCEdit_Suraj
Respectfully, that article isn’t relevant to this poster who is college junior hoping to apply to medical school with C- in a core pre-req.
@imahakr. Without a MCAT score, you have no idea if you’re even competitive for the med schools you’re “interested in.” Med school applicants need to prepare the strongest application they can and be prepared to apply broadly to many med schools, public and private, instate and OOS. The median number of med schools successful applicants apply to 1s 14-16. But that number also depends on their state of residence. Some states are better to live in for pre-med than others. For example, only 10% of CO med school applicant matriculate in-state. In MD, only 10.5%. So, unless you live in South Dakota, West Virginia, Kentucky or Puerto Rico, betting only on in-state med schools (public AND private) is a bet you’re likely to lose.
See: https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2019-11/2019_FACTS_Table_A-5.pdf
@WayOutWestMom We have decided to take the article out from this thread in order to reduce further confusion. Thanks!
so despite getting a solid A in the final quarter of OChem, I’m going to be rejected from most med schools regardless of final GPA, regardless of MCAT score, regardless of extracurriculars, research, etc?
@WayOutWestMom I’ve searched many med school sites for admissions requirements, and I can’t seem to find one that specifically mentions a C-, so is it possible that these med schools mean a score of 70% or higher?
I know that some schools don’t use the +/- system, so could the “C” mentioned in these requirements possibly include a C-?
I found a community college offering the intro chem course nearby and satisfies requirements according to assist.com. By taking that course, can it nullify the C- taken at my current institution?
If so, when submitting transcripts to the med school, do I submit transcripts from both my primary institution and the community college? Or do I send the community college transcript to my primary institution?
Neither AMCAS nor AACOMAS allows grade replacement.
You will need to report BOTH grades when applying to medical school and both will be included when computing your GPA and sGPA.
But repeating the class & earning a grade > C- will fulfill admission requirements for medical school.
When you go to apply to med school, the rules require you to send an official transcript from every educational institution you have ever taken a college level course. (This includes any dual enrollment classes from HS even if those grades are shown on your transcript at your 4 year college.)
Ah I see. And by “repeating a class”, that includes taking an equivalent course outside of my primary institution, right? I can’t repeat the 1st quarter of OCHEM at my current school because it’s not a D+ or lower.
Yes, repeating a class includes taking an equivalent class at an institution that is not your home program.
If you want to research minimum passing grade policies of various medical schools, I urge you to buy the MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements) from AMCAS.
Many med school websites are convoluted and sometimes hard to navigate. The MSAR is easily searchable and includes all sorts of useful information about every US & Canadian medical school. It includes MCAT scores and GPA broken down by quintiles/deciles, admitted students, in-state vs OOS interview rate, in-state vs OOS acceptance rate, required and recommend courses.
It’s the best $28 you can spend if you plan to apply to med school.
You might want take look at the 2020 Applicant Guide--which explains AMCAS' policies for applying to medical school.
<a href="https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/14/6f/146f366e-d54a-4792-9870-ffe451b2e473/aamc-2020-amcas-applicant-guide041119.pdf">https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/14/6f/146f366e-d54a-4792-9870-ffe451b2e473/aamc-2020-amcas-applicant-guide041119.pdf</a>Medical schools can and do reject all sorts of highly qualified applicants every year. At least 15% of applicants with GPAs >3.80 and MCAT scores >518 [96th percentile] get rejected at every single medical school they apply to.
There is a surfeit of applicants for a very limited supply of seats. A medical school can reject you for any reason, even [not so] minor technicalities like a C- in a pre-req. In fact, a med school can reject your application for no reason at all other than they already have plenty of other well qualified applicants in their pool. Med school adcomms are looking for reasons to reject an applicant. Your job as an applicant is not to give them any possible reasons to reject your application before it gets to the interview stage.
Would you consider applying to D.O. schools? They might be more lenient with that one C- grade.
Agree with @thumper1. I know people in Texas who got a D, repeated and got a much better grade but didn’t get a single interview in Texas MD schools. They were admitted at at least one private DO school in the next cycle.
I urge you to consider MD schools, no matter where, before thinking DO schools. If you have a M D school GPA and Mcat. DO students are at a disadvantage when applying for residencies, especially for the highly selective ones.
With regards to the C- in ORG-I, you should retake and get an A.
My daughter is a recent D.O. graduate. At some point, I will write a more extensive post about her experiences. But let’s just say, she is starting a residency at her number one choice (an academically affiliated program). She had 32 interview invites for residency programs, plus four waitlists that she eventually declined because she had sufficient interviews.
There has been sufficient “dissing” of D.O. programs by some posters. I think this needs to stop.
According to 2018 statistics there are 114000 DO physicians in US and they are allowed to practice in all 50 states. Several of the top 20 colleges list DO students as part of their medical school applicant success percentages.
The recommendation to apply to DO schools does not preclude one from applying to MD schools. Very bright people spend several more years trying to get additional qualifications, post bac or masters etc to compensate for lower GPA or bad grades that in some cases eliminate them for consideration in the MD programs irrespective of repeating and getting a better grade.