Average science major's GPA

bluedog
Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:23:40 +0000

I think going to a prestigious undergrad to get into med school is WAY overhyped. Frankly, I know countless people at Duke who would have been better served going to State U and doing much better there. I know people who graduated with a 3.0 gpa biomedical engineering/chem double major, 36 on the MCAT (aka a GREAT score), and couldn’t get in anywhere…went to get a masters degree and then apply again. At a DO program now (still a doctor, but not an MD). I guarantee you had he/she gone to State U, gotten a 3.6 (which would have happened), and a 36 on the MCAT (which also probably would have happened; yeah Duke might prepare you a bit better, but if you’re smart and you take the same Princeton Review courses geared towards the MCAT anyways, you can do just as well), he/she would be going to a much better med school. Or he/she should have chosen an easier major(s) at Duke.

If you’re 100% committed to going to med school, I think getting a scholarship from State U, graduating with no debt, getting a 3.7+ GPA, and scoring well on the MCAT will suit you much better than going to Hopkins/Duke/Upenn. There are MAJOR caveats with that though. First, the VAST MAJORITY of people change their mind in college - majors, career paths, etc. If you end up liking finance, for example, going to Duke/UPenn route is significantly more beneficial than State U. Secondly, if you’re trying to get into Harvard Med (which shouldn’t be the goal; it should simply be to get in anywhere), then going to a prestigious school AND doing well is almost a must. Thirdly, I do think going to Duke/Hopkins/Upenn sets you up for great extracurriculars and research opportunities. If you go to State U, you need to make sure there are opportunities for research and you might have to be more proactive in seeking them out. But if you’re a top student there, I don’t think it should be a huge problem. Finally, public schools may not have as good of an advising program as Duke does, which certainly helps in the applying process. But if you’re motivated enough and smart, you should be able to figure it out on your own.

I may be in the minority in this opinion, but med schools don’t care that much about the prestige of your school and don’t factor in difficultly of curriculum as much as they should for GPA comparisons, in my opinion (both across majors and across schools; Princeton is way harder than Harvard, for example). Duke and the like set you up well since they give you access to great research opportunities and advising, but from the GPA/competition with your peers standpoint, it can be a killer. If I was 100% dedicated to medicine (which is NOT very common) and knew that was my lifelong dream, I’d seriously consider going to a “weaker” school (I’m talking like Illinois, Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan, still not bad schools by any stretch) and excel there. I just know too many smart people who got weeded out, while people I went to high school with who were nowhere near the same level are now at med school. Don’t get me wrong. I love Duke and think the experience of going there is priceless. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. (I wasn’t premed though, but took a lot of classes with premeds as a BME major). There is a lot more to college than simply getting into med school - socially, academically, and extracurricularly. But if you only cared about one thing - getting into med school - then I think my above argument holds water. Just one guy’s opinion, though.

Having said all that, I don’t mean this to sound discouraging but rather provide another perspective. I also highly encourage you to go to apply to Duke as it DOES set you up very well for pre-med IF you succeed. I guess it’s a good measure of if you’ll be able to survive med school, though, so might as well learn it sooner rather than later, I suppose. Good luck!