@sajju786 - I heard the same thing at UPitt from Dr Rao. If I may ask, when did your DS/DD interview last week? We were there on Wednesday.
@NoviceDadā As far as I know, all current HPME students are above the GPA requirements.
I thought the current GPA requirement is only 3.5 only from 2019 class they increased to 3.7
Also would choosing particular major have an effect in boosting science GPA? How does bio major compares with chem major at WCAS? can you comment on this please?
Hi everybody! Congratulations on all your acceptances! I am choosing between the UIC GPPA program and Northwestern HPME. For HPME, Iām also slightly concerned about the high GPA requirement.
From previous posts on this forum, it seems like a 3.7 is manageable. @bsmdbamd could you PM me? I was trying to send one to you but I donāt think I can!
@sajju786 we emailed GPPA coordinator and looked at the classes and curriculum to clarify how long the program really is designed for. Eliza Callahan replied back to us stating that this is an 8 year program. I would say to look at your studentās classes and evaluate whether or not they can complete in 7 years realistically.
@PPofEngrDr , can you please tell me the nickname for UIC? Iām just curious. @sajju786 @whitecane @grtd2010 I would appreciate your comments on the following: We looked at the curriculum and the requirements and it appears that this is not a 7 year program. According to the GPPA coordinator, Eliza Callahan this is designed as an 8 year program. It would take very careful planning to get it done at that rate since there is a capstone project that must be completed. Also there are extra requirements that are required for GPPA medical students. Depending on what major the student chooses the courses may be extra time spent to complete them. For example if one majored in Neuroscience it looks like there are an extra 5 sciences course that are required to complete outside of this major. In order to complete this BS one must have at least 120 credit hours satisfied. Adding the extra 5 classes would be at least 15 credit hours more. My conclusion is now is the time to check the fine print in all of these BS/MD programs.
At GPPA, you can definitely complete the program in 7 years. In fact, about half of the GPPA students do complete it in 7 years. They support students who choose to take a gap year for pursuing an additional degree or research, but 7 years is certainly doable.
Though we arenāt IL residents, aware of this program. Historically it used to let students complete even in 6 years. Those with a load of AP/IB/College level credits coming into the program. Then they made it mandatory that it canāt be less than 7 years and I believe the policy is still in place.
I would suggest you check what their AP credit policies are. Do the students in the program get credit at the same level as the traditional route students get (some schools like BU donāt). If your S or D has enough credits like the ones mentioned above, I think 7 years is quite doable. Unless they want to try applying out taking extra year to focus on strengthening research and ECs.
@positivelybsmd I know a second year student in the GPPA program, and she would be happy to help answer any questions you have! If you want to PM me, I can give you her contact information.
@golfgirl101 I am fairly new to this forum. How do I PM you? Since you are a new member can you receive PM?
Check post number 2882 on page 193 for details on private messaging, courtesy @GoldenRock
Also if you donāt see the message button enabled yet, try logging out of your college confidential account and log back in.
With each year, this group is becoming more of Sherlock than becoming Docs!
For any college which is under your consideration, search / call and get these for review.
- AP/Dual/Other College credit policy doc with the mapping of the EXACT course number for that college. It should be available in their web site itself, if not call some one and get it.
- The document published by Pre-Med Office, which gives the requirements for the general pre-med group. But note for colleges like GPPA or any college which allows opt out (non binding) you still need to meet the pre-med requirments in order to get the committee letter. This doc clearly gives which specific course number of that college you need to complete.
- All the requirements related to that college's specific BS/MD program. If AP is allowed or not, what additional course needed, major choices or no choice etc
These 3 docs will help you if you can do it 7 or 8 years and to evaluate the program and options.
Again wait until all your offers are in your hand. GL.
@positivelybsmd check PM for UIC nicknameā¦
Several students at UIC GPPA mentioned that they were able to transfer lot of AP courses and was able to complete the course requirements in 2 to 2.5 yrs. They do have 3 yr mandatory requirement before getting into medical school
Rice/Baylor decisions will be out today
@bsmdbamd
Last year HPME students had a GPA requirement of 3.65 (not 3.5).
I mean for interviews
Anyone interested in GPPA check out condition of acceptance letter at https://gppa.uic.edu/current-students/conditions-of-acceptance/
Pick your year and select medicine one, it is pretty comprehensive.
Anyone with HPME admssion
HPME 2017 - GPA was 3.5 (@Mimic17 batch)
HPME 2018 - GPA was 3.65 (@NoviceDad D batch)
HPME 2019 - GPA is 3.7 (whoever decides to accept admission)
So certainly it is an upward trend for whatever reason.
On side note, NU also has program called NUPSP, which is NU UG students can become HPME after 2 years in UG. What we have learnt that has hard cut off 3.8 GPA, ~50 eligible, ~16 called for an interview and ~7-8 offered an admission so even that is a cut throat ~15% acceptance rate for NU UG students.
[QUOTE=""]
class was 52 or 54 and the highest score 76.5 :smiley: So obviously he had to curve.
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Standard deviation is a standard approach for curving. But then in one of the classes, perhaps Physics, the Prof did warn ahead that he also would compare the current batch against previous ones and wonāt hesitate giving more Cs if he thinks they are not on par.
Another approach is to raise the scores of the class with an offset so that at least certain fraction of the class (like 1/3 or so) is in the traditional C range (70-79). So they add that offset to every studentās individual score, capping it at 100 (D lost out on certain 100+ scores due to this capping 
From all articles, discussions and forums Iāve read/accessed - Northwesternās HPME program came out as one of the top BSMDs. As such some level of rigor in academic sense is expected from students. Northwestern also has several āqualifyingā rounds before an applicant is granted admission to this āeliteā program. They donāt give out applications to everyone and in that process start applying a selective approach to their incoming class. I truly believe if an individual has secured admission to HPME they can meet their GPA requirements. To everyone that has come this far, you should not be intimidated by that, you can do it!
GPA and MCAT upward trends at BSMD programs are usually based on the incoming traditional applicants GPA and MCAT averages. Some of the top schools need 3.9 UG GPA and 99 percentile MCAT (for ORMs) to even get an interview.