Myth 4: I can take my pre-requisite courses abroad.įact: You need to take your pre-requisite classes at an accredited U.S. ||Read: FAQs on applying to medical school|| For example, if you received an F in organic chemistry and then retook it and got an A, medical schools will count both the F and the A into your final GPA. Myth 3: I can retake a class and medical schools will only see the newer grade.įact: For all medical schools under the AAMC (which is almost all MD medical schools), All classes taken for a letter grade will be counted in the GPA that medical schools will see. That is why medical schools want students who can do well both in the classroom and on the MCAT. Course difficulty varies by institution, but the MCAT is the equalizer. Admissions committees always look at GPA and MCAT together. For example, even if you have a 4.0 GPA, if your MCAT score is 492, you will have a very difficult time getting into a school.
On the flip side, having a high GPA does not make up for a low MCAT. Lastly, if you’re a B average student, what evidence is there that you will do extremely well on the MCAT? There are probably very few people who can pull that off. For example, if your GPA is a 3.0, even a 517 will not mean very much to admissions committees. Nevertheless, for the majority of people, a high MCAT score (514-518) will not make up for an abysmal GPA (for premeds, this would be anything below 3.2). That is mainly because a 3.4 is not a terrible GPA and 519 is in the 99th percentile and only 0.4% of test takers achieve that score. For example, a student who has a 3.4 GPA (which would be considered a low GPA by premed standards) but a 519 MCAT has a decent chance of getting into an allopathic medical school. Myth 2: A high MCAT score will make up for my low GPA, or vice versa.įact: This myth is true at a certain level but only in extreme cases. So yes, your freshman year grades do matter. Your grades from any of these levels of education, if taken prior to applying, will be counted towards your GPA. College courses taken during high schoolĢ. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) lists your GPA’s in this order:ġ. That means even if you took community college courses in high school, you will have to submit those transcripts when you apply. Myth 1: Freshman year grades do not matter.įact: The grades from any post high school institution matter when you apply to medical school. *The facts stated below are specifically meant for U.S. Here is a comprehensive list of common premed myths: How do you avoid this? How do you know what advice to follow and what to ignore?
Little do you know that he has absolutely no idea what he is doing either. Then an older friend (let’s just say he is a junior) who is also premed takes you under his or her wing and starts to teach you about being premed.
HIGH SCHOOL DREAMS APP HOW TO
But you have absolutely no idea how to go about doing it. You’re a freshman in college and you decided to pursue medicine as a career. But how do you know what is true or not? Here is a list of premed myths that should be clarified. As a premed, you may get various advice from counselors, friends, family, websites or anybody else who is willing to help you.