<p>Would it be better to go to an easier instate school like Virginia Tech or James Madison and graduate with a 3.7+ than graduate with like a 3.2 from Wake Forest or William and Mary? </p>
<p>Probably a dumb question but I'm wondering.</p>
<p>A GPA of 3.2 isn’t going to get you into an allopathic medical school.</p>
<p>The best option is to go to Wake or W&M and graduate with 3.7…</p>
<p>
Well 19.3% of the white applicants from 2009-2011 would disagree with you. ;)</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/157958/data/table25-mcatgpa-grid-white-0911.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/157958/data/table25-mcatgpa-grid-white-0911.pdf</a></p>
<p>The stats would indicate that even with a 3.0-3.2 GPA if you scored well on the MCAT (i.e.33+) you have a better chance than if you had a 3.8-4.0 GPA and a low MCAT (i.e. 24-26). GPA is important but it’s not impossible to get in to a medical school if you don’t have a 3.7.</p>
<p>^^ I agree and I have a data point close to home to support that getting into med school with under a 3.7 GPA is possible.</p>
<p>What I should have said is a 3.2 GPA will not get one into medical school unless there is some other strongly compensatory factor or factors.</p>
<p>A 33 MCAT is in the 90%ile and a score of 33 or higher is achieved by only 11% of all test-takers. </p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85332/data/combined08.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85332/data/combined08.pdf</a></p>
<p>Earning a high MCAT score is not something one can count on and is in many way much less under one’s control than GPA.</p>
<p>Also one’s success w/ a low GPA can be highly dependent upon things such as one’s state residence.</p>
<p>Since that data is from 2008 I would be curious as to if that percentage (11%)has stayed the same or gone up/down in the last three years. Maybe a better way to put it is your odds will not be very good with a lowish GPA. I just hate the definitive “wont” and I know of a friend of my D who is attending Ohio State MS (out of state) who had around a 3.3 GPA. I doubt he scored much higher than low 30’s on his MCAT so I know it’s possible.</p>
<p>Here’s last year’s scaled scores:</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/download/264234/data/combined11.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/download/264234/data/combined11.pdf</a></p>
<p>Percentile ranks haven’t changed, but the number test takers scoring a 33-34 went up slightly. Now 12% of test takers now score 33 or above.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. I will definitely pass it along to my son.</p>
<p>OP,
How do you know which one is easier? I know many many who went to state schools (smart kids at the top of their respective HS classes who were smart enough not to spend family fortune on UG degree but instead save it for Med. School). None of them admitted that classes were easy. They were challenged very much, much more than they anticipated. I would refrain from conclusion that classes are easy at some college. You will be to a shocking news, guarantee!!
As a reference: D. has graduated #1 from private prep. HS. Went to state on full tuition Merit award, was challenged plenty there, adjusted well to higher college requirements a.k.a “worked her b–t off”, got decent MCAT (also with enourmous effort, I do not know single person who said that taking MCAT is a walk in a park), got accepted to few Med. Schools (couple in top 20) and currently is MS1 working harder than ever in her life to keep up. She has many many in her Med. School class who came from Ivy’s / Elite UG and even PhD from Harvard and couple lawyers. Med. School is NOT easier for them than for my D. (also one of the youngest in her class) who came from state UG.<br>
You alone can make a difference in reaching your goal. Rely only on your work ethic, not college name, not anything else. It is not going to be easy, not in UG, not in Med. School (no matter which one). You have chosen one of the hardest path…</p>
<p>In regard to "Originally Posted by WayOutWestMom
"Well 19.3% of the white applicants from 2009-2011 would disagree with you. " - I would imagine without much investigation that vast majority of these are not “regular” applicants. They might have significant achievements and/or work experiences that pushed their GPA’s to secondary consideration. For vast majority regular kids college GPA and MCAT score are of greatest significance and I strongly agree that having goal of GPA=3.2 will put you into very unfortuante situation.</p>
<p>^^That post you quoted wasn’t mine…it was KDogs’s.</p>
<p>^Sorry, forgot to delete another line, realized after posting. I understand that you are actually having an oppoisite opinion.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP, I don’t disagree that a lowish GPA puts you at low odds. I just disagreed with the comment that you won’t get into a medical school with that GPA as statistics show it is possible. ;)</p>
<p>…I am saying that I am not sure if it is possible going straight from UG to Med. School with 3.2. Even all combined programs that guarantee spot have higher requirement for GPA.
I strongly believe that applicants with lower stats are older/non-traditional applicants. So, if one is planning to have college GPA=3.2, maybe they should plan on working for few years after UG, accomplish something significant or something like getting law degree or any other plans. Traditional non-URM applicant with 3.2 will not have any practical chance and more so considering that number of applicants is going up every year. However, there are foreign Med. Schools and DO.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP, So are you saying the 1,106 acceptees with a 3.00-3.19 GPA all took at least a year off? I’m sorry but I don’t buy it.</p>
<p>I think a key point here is the assumption that state school = high GPA and more rigorous school = low GPA. Personally, I think that’s some faulty logic.</p>
<p>There are tough classes at both schools and easy classes at both schools. There are smart kids at both schools and students who really don’t care at both schools. While state schools may have a higher percentage of students who don’t care much about school (or at least, didn’t while they were in HS), I can guarantee you that the students who are serious about pursuing professional school will be competitive (and by that I mean smart and driven, not necessarily premed gunners) no matter where you go.</p>
<p>Will you get a bonus for going to a prestigious school? Probably. Do W&M and Wake count as prestigious schools? Probably not. So really, what you’re down to is where you’ll spend the least amount of money and where you’ll fit the best. I’d personally spend more money on UG if it meant a considerably better fit, since fitting in and being comfortable in your UG environment is pretty freaking important when it comes to crafting the soft aspects of your application (extracurriculars, leadership, relationships, internships, etc).</p>
<p>Is GPA important? You betcha. What about MCAT? Duh. What about all the other stuff? It matters too. So the trick is finding a school that fits your lifestyle and will prepare you well. Which of those 3 schools is best for you? Impossible for anyone here to know, since as far as I know we’re not like, your friends or mentors or parents etc.</p>
<p>(For what it’s worth, I graduated from a state flagship and am currently a med student. My friends graduated from a variety of undergrads and attend a variety of med schools, and I’m basing this post off our collective experiences.)</p>
<p>And to Kdog: sure there are kids who get in with low GPAs. I bet there are even Caucasian kids who get in with low GPAs. I believe the point that others are trying to make is that banking on being one of those exceptions (and anyone who is accepted with <3.2 is an exception) is a risky move, and that the likelihood of anyone being accepted who has <3.2 and is otherwise an unhooked applicant is so low that there’s a good chance the majority of those applicants have something else going for them.</p>
<p>The stats were from “Caucasian” students and I agree it is risky to try and get in with a GPA that low, but it does happen. To say you “wont” get in with a 3.2 or you don’t think it’s possible to go straight into medical school with that GPA is inaccurate as there are stats to prove otherwise. That being said, there are also students with 3.8-4.0 that don’t get in. Obviously one should aim for the highest GPA and MCAT possible as your odds are much better and I am not arguing that fact.</p>
<p>@Kdog044: The number of average applicants who went straight from Undergrad to med school with a 3.2 is just so low that you might as not count it. Med school is something you don’t want to gamble on. And the chances of getting into any med school with a 3.2 GPA without anything else special that MiamiDAP/WayOutWestMom mentioned is a huge gamble. Actually, it’s too risky to even count it as gambling. </p>
<p>The average age of med school acceptees is 24 throughout the nation. That’s two years after the normal 22 graduation date from UG. Med schools like to look for maturity and experience in their applicants too. It’s likely those 3.2 GPA matriculants waited a year or so to do some more research or did something special or amazing that offset their low GPA.</p>
<p>to go to an easier instate school like Virginia Tech</p>
<p>lol</p>
<p>Uh…since all the kids in your pre-med pre-reqs will be STEM majors and pre-meds, what the heck makes you think those classes will be easier??? Those kids will be the best of the best on campus. You’re not going to have El-ed majors in those classes.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP, So are you saying the 1,106 acceptees with a 3.00-3.19 GPA all took at least a year off? I’m sorry but I don’t buy it.</p>
<p>These could be military people, people who returned to school as older students but still had some old crappy grades on their records that get included, people who did post-bacs, people with amazing hands on experiences that tipped the scales in their favor, legacies, who knows.</p>
<p>But the fact remains that the typical unhooked white kid applying to med school right from undergrad will have an almost impossible time getting in with that GPA.</p>
<p>^No offense, but why do you phrase it as if it is IMPOSSIBLE to do?</p>
<p>My point exactly. With the other 2,878 acceptees with a 3.2-3.39 GPA there are almost 4,000 “white” acceptees with a GPA between 3.00 and 3.39. I’m sure some of them did research and whatever else that was talked about but the fact remains it is “possible” to get into medical school with a 3.2 GPA. Would I recommend it? No, but that wasn’t my argument to begin with.</p>
<p>I don’t know how everyone views statistics in admissions, but I have always told my kid that the kids getting in (wherever) with stats in the bottom 1/4th ain’t her. In UG we would always omit the bottom 1/4 and then re-center, making the assumption that those kids had something she wasn’t bringing to the table. ;)</p>