HELP ME! - I'm a Junior with a GPA below 3.3!!
1.
Should I apply to medical school this summer? The first thing you need to decide is whether you are going to apply after Junior year. We would
strongly urge you to wait. Most medical schools use GPAs as a cut-off for interview offers and our experience is that students with GPAs under 3.3 get very few, if any, interview offers. If you don't get interviews, you won't get acceptances. Some students (or their parents) feel that it's a good idea to
“have a crack at it” and see what happens. This is a bad strategy. Not only will you be wasting a lot of time and money (approximately $2000 just to submit your primary and secondary applications) but you will also be hurting your chances of getting accepted in the future. Most schools will
not consider a second application from the same student unless there are
substantial differences from the previous application, which means waiting a couple of years before re-applying. You will be in a much better position if you wait and apply at a time when your application is more likely to be successful. There may be a small amount of GPA flexibility for students from groups that are under-represented in medicine. This applies primarily to students with African-American, Mexican-American, Native American, and Pacific Islander ancestry. If you are a student from one of these groups, please come and speak to one of the Resident Premed Tutors.
2.
What happens if I don't apply this summer? The good news is that you still have a chance at applying to medical school after Senior year. You've completed 4 to 5 semesters of your undergraduate degree so far but you have at least 3 semesters left to go.
So hit the books! The average GPA at Harvard is a 3.4 and with some dedicated work you should be able to beat this average. If you have academic problems go and talk to the Bureau of Study Counsel. Identify difficult courses early on and get additional help. If the problem is motivational then you need to think carefully about why you want to go to medical school and whether you would enjoy the amount of work (and the type of work) required to become a doctor. If you are over-extended with other commitments then you need to think about your priorities and whether your real interests may lie outside of medicine.
3.
What if my science GPA is really dragging me down? If your science GPA is substantially lower than your non-science GPA then you should consider taking additional science classes during Junior and Senior year. If you have a particular interest in a given field, for example neurobiology, they you can pursue that interest. If not, you should take either higher-level courses in pre-medical disciplines (ie chem, physics, math) or you should take courses that are relevant to medical school. The first option is very brave and is really only recommended for those who nearly failed a pre-med course and feel strongly that they can exonerate themselves in higher level chem, physics, or math classes. For most students, a better option is to take challenging higher-level biology courses such as biochemistry or molecular biology (ie MCB 52). Medical schools respect these types of courses and they are also useful preparation for the first year of medical school. Be warned, however, that these courses are challenging so don't take them unless you are willing to commit the necessary time and energy.
4.
What happens after Senior year?If your grades improve substantially in Junior and Senior year then you will be in a position to apply to medical school after Senior year. This is great news! Don't forget, however, that applying to medical school with a GPA of 3.3 or 3.4 requires that you be very open-minded about which medical schools you apply to. You need to include a healthy dose of less competitive schools in your application pool. You must
absolutely, definitely, positively apply to your local state school if you are fortunate enough to have one. You should also scour the Medical School Admissions Requirements handbook (a copy is available at OCS and at the Winthrop Resident Dean's office or you can order one online through the American Association of Medical Colleges) to identify medical schools with lower GPA requirements.
5.
What if my GPA is below 3.3 after Senior year? The answer to this question is on the page ”HELP ME - I'm a Senior with a GPA below 3.3!”
