Hey I am about to enter my junior year of college, and have taken 2 years of mechanical engineering courses but am thinking about switching to pre-medicine. I have a GPA of 3.25 and have taken some generals and a ton of math courses. Am I screwed with this gpa and if not would I be able to complete a pre-med degree in the next three years? thank you
What is a “premed degree”. In most colleges, you can major in anything so long as you take the requisite courses for medical school applications.
In my opinion, you need to bump up your GPA…but that’s my opinion.
So you have a better idea of where you’re at GPA wise, understand med schools calculate GPAs mainly in two important ways. One, a cumulative GPA (cGPA) for all college courses taken (even if taken in hs). Besides a total cGPA, a cGPA is also calculated for each year. Two, a total science GPA (sGPA) for all science (bio, chem, physics, math, (or BCPM)) courses taken (even if taken in hs). A sGPA is also calculated for each year. One’s sGPAs are considered to carry more weight. A target GPA for MD schools is 3.7, for DO schools 3.5.
Are you “screwed with this GPA…?” Although competitive GPAs are only one part of gaining an acceptance, what are your cGPA and sGPA at end of first year, second year? totals to date?
It’s simple math, you just finished 50% of credits, so “assuming” you will get 4.0 (straight A’s) for the remaining 50%, then your GPA will be (3.25 + 4.0)/2 = 3.625 which is still low for MD schools but ok for DO schools. Since you haven’t taken any pre-med hard science classes yet (Bio, Gen Chem, Orgo, Biochem) which are typical the weeder classes, you can’t just assume getting straight A’s in them. On the other hand, why you wanted to switch to pre-med? Have you done any shadowing or hospital volunteering to understand the medical profession?
What state of residency is yours? If you’re CA resident, 3.625 is bad. For TX resident, that might be ok.
How strong you feel about going pre-med? Pre-med is a much harder path than ME, particular if your bio/chem is not that strong.