<p>Take a look. For example, if you have a 3.0-3.2 GPA but score a 33-35 on the MCAT, you still have about a 40% chance of getting in to a US med school. To me, this is quite a reasonable chance, assuming you have extracurriculars. (lots of research, volunteering, great interview skills, etc)</p>
<p>If you have a 3.2 GPA and 33-35 MCAT, your chances are 50%, even better.</p>
<p>So... what am I missing here? Why do folks on this forum keep saying stuff like "Get your grade up to a 3.5 or start looking for another career path"? That seems like utter nonsense.</p>
<p>D1 was accepted with 3.44 GPA and 36 MCAT. She was accepted at 1 school; rejected at 10. (Though they were very late rejections. Her last one came just this past week.)</p>
<p>But she was a non-trad with great deal more than the usual pre med’s medical experience. (She’s an EMT-I.)</p>
<p>I think for more traditional applicants (i.e. straight from undergrad) there’s is a greater emphasis on your GPA since you don’t have a ‘real world’ record of achievement.</p>
<p>A 40 % chance is not good, neither is a 50% chance. Also, is you have a low gpa ur likely to have a low mcat. Thats why even though the percentage seems fair, there are low numbers of applicants at those levels.</p>
<p>Also, those students with low gpas most likely are non-trad and have a master degree or did some extraordinary ECs like doc with no borders or peace corp.</p>
<p>It may seem a reasonable chance until you spend thousands of dollars during the application process, get rejected 60% of the time, and then have an even HARDER time getting into medical school the next time around.</p>
<p>And just saying “I’ll score a 33-35 on the MCAT” is not as easy as it sounds. A 33 is about 1 standard deviation from the mean score, which would put you in the 85th percentile of MCAT takers.</p>
<p>Could it be possible that the results are skewed by certain earlier decision programs, by some of the easier state schools, or by the URM status?</p>
<p>well sure, a 36 is a mighty-fine score. Indeed, it is in the top ~4% of all test takers. Thus, expecting to earn a 36 when one only has a fair-to-middlin’ gpa borders on “utter nonsense.”</p>
<p>Of course, a neighbor has a 3.65 at a non-HYP Ivy, and just pulled down a 39.</p>
<p>You have never actually applied to med school, have you? If you have, you’d understand what a big hassle and expense the application process is for just a 40% chance of getting into a school. </p>
<p>If you look on your own grid, only about 10% of those with GPA’s b/w 3.0-3.2 scored 33 or above. Someone with a below average GPA is not likely going to be scoring above average on the MCAT. That’s just common sense. So, if I see someone with a 3.2 GPA, I’m going to ask them to reexamine how they’re studying and consider if they have what it takes. I’m not going to say to them, “just score a 39 and you’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>I wonder how many of those admitted with lowish GPAs are students who went to college for a couple of years… got “so-so grades”…then left college…did something else…then returned to college and got high grades. Their overall GPA may be lowish, but they put some serious space between their “bad grades” and their “good grades” .</p>
<p>And I agree with the post that no one wants to go thru the med school app process with only a 40% chance of admittance to one MD med school.</p>
<p>40% isn’t a great number, but it isn’t terrible, either. The OP intended only to say that your chances are still there even if your GPA is only 3.0 or slightly higher. </p>
<p>While just a 3.0 is not ideal, it isn’t fatal, and if you excel in other aspects, you still have a chance, and people on here shouldn’t act as if the GPA can’t be overcome under any circumstances.</p>
<p>^You have to read all the post on the thread. Nothing is impossible to overcome, but the likelihood of it should make anyone with a GPA below 3.5 reconsider. 40% of 10% is a very low number, and if you attend to fall in this category you are essentially shooting yourself in the foot.</p>
<p>With a 3.20-3.39 GPA, your base chance of getting in is 27.1%, and the rest depends on your MCAT. Assuming you get the avg MCAT of matriculants (a 30) your chance of being accepted is 38.4%. If you get at least a 33, you have a 51.3% chance, which is okay but not great. </p>
<p>As others as said, planning to get a 33 is horrendously unreliable, especially if you’ve accumulated a 3.20-3.39 GPA. Also, these are the chances of being accepted to at least one place. Hopefully, you are fortunate enough to live in a state where the med school disproportionately favors in-staters.</p>
<p>*I think for more traditional applicants (i.e. straight from undergrad) there’s is a greater emphasis on your GPA since you don’t have a ‘real world’ record of achievement. *</p>
<p>I think the above is very true.</p>
<p>*40% isn’t a great number, but it isn’t terrible, either. The OP intended only to say that your chances are still there even if your GPA is only 3.0 or slightly higher. </p>
<p>While just a 3.0 is not ideal, it isn’t fatal*</p>
<p>I think it is fatal for non-URM and traditional applicants. I don’t know what the percent is, but I’d venture that it’s fatal for 90% of non-URM and traditional applicants.</p>
<p>I know that this would just be anecdotal, but of those of us who post in this forum, together we know or have known a lot of med school applicants. I wonder how many of us know of any non-URM and/or traditional applicants that were accepted to a US Med school with a 3.0 -3.2 GPA and a high GPA. </p>
<p>For a traditional, non-URM applicant, a 3.0-3.2 GPA is revealing. It’s saying that someone who went thru college wanting to be a doctor couldn’t get or didn’t try to get the typically-targeted GPA for med school.</p>
<p>Couldn’t agree more. Applying to medical school is a lot of work (likely more than you realize) and can be quite emotionally draining. Going into it knowing that you have, at best, a 40% chance at acceptance (or maybe 50%, assuming the “soft” factors of your application are out of this world) would be daunting, in my opinion (having just gone through this process). </p>
<p>I think a lot of med school applicants (myself included) are so familiar with excelling at whatever they’re doing–high test scores, college acceptances, winning scholarships, doing great in classes, etc–that they just fail to realize the quality of the competition out there. You probably have no visceral concept of what it’s like to have a 6% chance at acceptance somewhere–and to think, “at least that’s better than 4%!” You’re probably more familiar with “well, this school only has a 30% acceptance rate, but since I’m competing with a bunch of regular joes, I’m definitely in the top of their pool, and should have no problem being accepted.” </p>
<p>That’s simply not the case with medical school. The pool is insanely competitive, and you probably won’t understand that until you’re actually applying. With the benefit of hindsight, if I had gone into this process with only 40% chance at acceptance, there’s no way I would have applied.</p>
<p>So, do you have a chance with a low GPA? Theoretically, it looks like you do. But would you really want to put yourself through this process with such a low likelihood of success? I personally wouldn’t. I don’t know what the answer is for the applicant with a less than ideal GPA!</p>
<p>(For reference, my stats combo put me at like…80ish %)</p>
<p>*I wonder how many of us know of any non-URM and/or traditional applicants that were accepted to a US Med school with a 3.0 -3.2 GPA and a high GPA. </p>