<p>Hello everyone! I'll be a freshman this fall at Duke as a premed student. I was wondering if it is feasible/possible to make a 3.7 or above as a premed student beause after reading these posts it seems that making even a B in the science/math courses is quite a challenge. People have said that a 3.5 at one school (ex. Duke) is the same at a 3.5 from another school (state school) when applying to medical school, but do medical schools take into account the rigor of courses at a university like Duke? Does Duke medical school consider the rigor of Duke's undergrad?
thank you</p>
<p>The 3.5 from Duke will be similar to that of another school- however, since Duke has such a strong premed program- you will likely get a higher MCAT score due to the better education.</p>
<p>Schools do take into account the rigor of Duke's program. A 3.5 at Duke is about the same as a 3.7 or so at most schools. (this is just an estimate, some schools will give you more consideration and some less)</p>
<p>Obviously you still want to go for the highest GPA you can.</p>
<p>i think low 3.7s is top 25% at duke (cum laude), mid 3.8s is top 10% (magna), and mid 3.9s is top 5% (summa)</p>
<p>For information about Latin honor and dean's list cutoffs from the previous years check out the registrar's website:</p>
<p>Academic</a> Honors - Office of the University Registrar, Duke University</p>
<p>haha thanks! i was hoping someone would do the dirty work - i didnt feel like looking it up.</p>
<p>You have to also consider your science GPA (includes bio, physics, chem, and math) vs your overall GPA for med school. Science GPA is typically lower. A 3.7 overall with a 3.5 science will get you into some good med schools; a 3.5 overall with a 3.2 science will get you into some ok ones.</p>
<p>mcat pending of course. a 40 on the mcat with a 3.2 gpa would still mean some top schools... though it'd be nearly impossible to get a 40 with a 3.2 gpa. it just doesnt happen.</p>
<p>I don't know if med schools will really care if you went to duke or not if your gpa isn't at the avg of most med school applicants which is about 3.40-3.50. In other words, I don't believe adcoms for med schools are going to say, oh you went to duke so your 3.3 is really a 3.5. It just doesn't work like that. Now of course there are going to be adcoms with preconceived notions about the rigors of certain universities but don't bank on that. Check the avg applicant stats for students admitted to med school from duke. Getting a 3.7 at most colleges is no walk in the park so good luck!</p>
<p>actually they do...the average duke kid admitted to med school has a 3.5 overall gpa and a 3.3 math/science gpa, which is a good deal lower than the 3.7 overall/3.5 math/science national average. generally, it is safe to tack 0.2 points onto your gpas when figuring out which schools to apply to for med school. duke kids do especially well on the mcat, with the overall average around 34. the few kids (<10-15% of those who apply) who don't get into med school from duke (averaging ~3.3 overall, 3.0 math/science) score an average of 30 on the mcat, which is the same as the average of those kids applying from hopkins who get into med school...</p>
<p>But see the 34 mcat score can compensate for a lower gpa. 3.5 is about avg. for med school applicants. You can't just tack on said amount of gpa points without having a good app all around, Mcat, gpa,extra currics. The mcat score can make up for a somewhat low gpa but you can't go to the extreme either. 34 is good enough to make up for a slightly lower gpa.</p>
<p>Does anyone here know people at Duke who were admitted into top medical schools (Harvard, JHU, etc.)? </p>
<p>If so, what was their GPA and MCAT?</p>
<p>duke is a top med school itself</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does anyone here know people at Duke who were admitted into top medical schools (Harvard, JHU, etc.)? </p>
<p>If so, what was their GPA and MCAT?
[/quote]
Probably 4.0's and 35+ MCATs. And those schools only accept <3% of applicants so its not exactly as easy as getting into a top undergrad.</p>
<p>4.0 is setting the bar a little too high. Pratt last year for the first time had someone graduate with a 4.0 (two people actually), I'm sure more than 2 people went to medical school in the history of Pratt. On the other hand, for top schools, 35 is a bit low on the MCATs. I read a while ago on harvard's admission site that the average MCAT score for matriculants is somewhere around 40. </p>
<p>Also, I believe Harvard's admission rate is around 5% but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>um? class of 2008 had zero people get 4.0. the highest gpa's were ONE A-, and i think two people tied (ie, 3.99 or w/e that comes to).</p>
<p>anyway, please look up stats before spitting stuff out. i am not convinced that a 40 on the mcat is needed for harvard.. mainly b/c 40 is crazy high (99.5 percentile). i found this on the harvard website in about 30seconds.</p>
<h1>average GPA: 3.76</h1>
<h1>average MCAT scores were:</h1>
<p>Verbal-11.01
Physical Science-12.09
Biological Science-12.03</p>
<p>meaning the average is about 35-36</p>
<p>check out this site to get an idea for percentiles...
AAMC:</a> MCAT: Characteristics of Examinees and Summary Data</p>
<p>Oh my bad, I meant last year as in the class of 2007 not this year's graduating class. And also, I went back and reread the email the dean sent out, there were 3 students who got 4.0s.</p>
<p>Anyway, it's been a couple of years since I looked on Harvard's webpage so I guess my information was incorrect. Sorry. I might also have been looking at their MD/Ph.D program when I was doing research on their admissions. I remember that their program was particularly competitive. Anyway, sorry about the misinformation. I guess now I can rest a little easier knowing that the bar has been lowered yet again (if only in my mind) :)</p>
<p>I am rising junior, BME major. Both of my gpa and bcpm gpa are about 3.2. I haven’t taken mcat yet. Just wondering if it’s possible to get in med school with these low gpa? Any course suggestion to raise bcpm gpa? Is EGR53L count as a math since it’s QS? Thanks.</p>
<p>No it doesn’t count as math, it’s classified as engineering by the AMCAS. </p>
<p>As for raising your GPA, not much you can do now aside from maybe taking some advanced science classes. But there are no guarantees and you might even hurt yourself. Another option is to take some time off after graduation and either do something that’ll strengthen your application or some post-bac classes.</p>
<p>Thanks SBR. I may just have to take some time off. It’s even harder now to raise my gpa by taking 2-3 bme courses each semester. My state med school requires some Bahavioral & SS courses, if I take psy with NS in it, will it count for bcpm? </p>
<p>If I get 35 on mcat with gpa 3.2, do I have a better chance to get into med school? Do you know any Duke students have this stat, and got accepted? Thanks.</p>