Med School Admission

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I am currently a freshmen in college. I just finished my fall semester and did not do well in General Chemistry so I'm planning to retake it in the spring. According to the university's policies on retake course, only the highest grade will be count towards GPA, therefore, i am aiming for an A next term. My goal is to get into medical school. However, will my previous bad grade affect my admission in the near future? </p>

<p>In addition, what do medical schools look for in their applicants and how can i obtain an outstanding profile for a good chance of acceptance ?</p>

2

<p>AMCAS will use every grade you’ve ever earned in college level classes in calculating your GPA and sGPA for med school admission. Even if your college allows grade replacement, AMCAS does not. You are required to report both the original grade and retake. Both will be used to compute your GPA and sGPA.</p>

<p>The bad grade has hurt you in that it has damaged your GPA. How badly has it damaged it? That depends on your other grades and how well you do in your future coursework.</p>

<p>As for what med schools look for: strong GPA, sGPA and MCAT scores, and meaningful ECs.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/321494/data/2012factstable17.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/321494/data/2012factstable17.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In 2012, the successful applicant had an average GPA of 3.65 and MCAT of 31.3.</p>

<p>However, your stats will only get your application past the first round of applicant screening. To get an interview invitation, you need to have ECs. Expected ECs for applicants include: research (bench or clinical); community service; clinical volunteering that involves patient contact; physician shadowing; and leadership positions.</p>

<p>The strongest applicants don’t have a list of checked-off list of activities. The gestalt of their ECs demonstrate their personal passions/interests.</p>

<p>This thread has some terrific resources:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1486654-premed-resources-thread-start-here-first.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1486654-premed-resources-thread-start-here-first.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>"outstanding profile " = 4.0/40 and close to NOBODY is obtaining it. However, 4.0/40 still does not guarantee acceptance to Med. School.</p>