DD is now a sophomore at a competitive school in California, majoring in physics. GPA so far is about 3.2, but higher in the few premed type classes, maybe a 3.6?
If she stays in Physics, I expect her GPA will drop to maybe be right around 3.0 when she finishes (with luck). Do schools more look at the core premed GPA or overall GPA?
Or should she just switch to Biology and get a better overall GPA?
There are 2 kinds of GPA that med school admission officers look at:
- the cumulative or overall GPA (includes all college coursework taken)
- the science GPA (sGPA) which includes every biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics class an applicant has taken
According to recent survey of medical school admission deans, adcoms ranked the sGPA as being of the “highest importance” when considering applicants.
The survey results are on p.4 of this document [Using MCAT Data in 2017 Medical Student Selection](https://www.aamc.org/download/462316/data/2017mcatguide.pdf)
Medical school adcomms don’t especially care what an applicant’s major is. Being a math, physics or engineering major (or some other “hard” major) doesn’t earn an applicant any brownie points or special consideration. It also doesn’t earn them any slack where GPA/sGPA are concerned. They will be evaluated in the same way as a sociology or bio or music major is.
If your D is struggling in physics, perhaps she should consider majoring in another field if med school is her ultimate goal. But the grades she’s already earned in her math & physics classes will be included twice in her GPA calcualtions–once in her cumulative GPA and again in her sGPA.
One thing to consider before making any final decision: her post-graduation employment outlook is much better as physics major than it is as a bio major. And every pre-med hopeful needs a Plan B career option because every year >60% of med school applicants don’t get a single acceptance.
FWIW, my older D was a physics major who went to med school. Her GPA was less than ideal but she had other factors that made her a competitive applicant.
great info. Will the adcomm count premed-type courses taken outside the university in the main GPA, say she takes a summer class in her home city?
Every college level class your daughter has ever taken (even dual enrollment classes in high school) are included in both GPA and sGPA calculations. She will be required to send official transcripts from every college where she has ever enrolled in a class–even if she only audited the class, withdrew without a grade, or dropped the class during the drop-add period.
She can certainly take summer school courses at a college near home, but she should not take them at a community college. And she needs to be cautious–taking a number of science classes at a school that is not her home programs can raise a red flag. It makes it look like she is avoiding tough classes/tough professors at her home institution. Generally speaking, she should only take science classes at a different school during the summer only if she will go on to take a more advanced class in the same subject at her own college.
BTW, summer school is probably the least productive use of your D’s summer. Summers are for developing the expected pre-med ECs–without which any med school application is DOA. (Expected pre med ECs include: community service, particularly with vulnerable populations; clinical volunteering; physician shadowing; leadership positions in her activities; clinical or laboratory research; and some schools really like to see TAing/teaching/tutoring/coaching experiences since a large portion of a physician’s job is education patients about their health.)
What type of clinical volunteering is open to premeds? Candystripe type activities?
I don’t think candystripers exist anymore…
Your D need 2 types of clinical experience:
-
physician shadowing – following a single physician as she/he goes about their daily work. Your D should shadow several different doctors in different specialties, if possible, particularly physicians in primary care specialties
-
clinical patient exposure. This can be a paid or volunteer activity. Or both. She can work/volunteer at any of a variety of places, but the key is she needs to in a clinical setting–somewhere can see close up, first hand how doctors and their patients interact. Clinical sites include: hospital, nursing home, hospice, group home for the mentally ill or physically disabled, rehab hospital, cancer treatment center, dialysis center, public clinic (Healthcare for the Homeless, Planned Parenthood, county free health clinic). Paid employment as a CNA, EMT or patient care assistant. The rule of thumb is she has to be “close enough to smell the patient”.
Medicine is a tough job. Not everyone is cut out to spend their days ministering to the sick, injured, dying, mentally ill, chronically ill, physical disabled, elderly demented and the families. Your D need to demonstrate she understands what a medical career entails & that she is comfortable working with patients–who are often not nice people.
Nearly every college has health profession advisor. Your daughter need to go there to get educated about the process of applying to medical schools and what she needs to do to develop a strong application.
Admission to med school has gotten extremely competitive. Every year fewer than 40% of applicants gain an acceptance. And California is one of the most competitive states to live in. UCLA alone graduated over 1100 med school applicants last year. That’s more applicants from just that one school than there are medical school seats in the entire state of California.
https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/86042/factstablea2.html
OK, I’ll have her check in at her health profession adviser. And maybe her old Biomed adviser from high school; she had done the biomed track, then switched out…
The proposed summer classes would be psychology or stats, which can’t fit in around her physics class schedule, no matter how she twists it. Would it be detrimental to take those at the local community college?
That’s fine.