Cornell GPA- For Med School

myfewcents
Wed, 16 Jun 2010 06:48:56 +0000

I was trying to make the decision on whether or not to attend a state university, where my GPA would most likely be higher, or Cornell as a pre-med. In speaking with a med school admissions advisor, I was told that they “rank” undergrad degrees by level of difficulty. This particular med school used a Barron’s guide where Cornell undergrad was assigned a Level 1 difficulty, and the two state univ (1 in NY and 1 outside NY) were ranked a 2 and 3 respectively.

She indicated this was a factor in their decisions when reviewing transcripts, and that where they would require an overall 3.5 in the science classes from a level 2 or 3 university, they would require a 3.0 - 3.2 overall GPA in the sciences from Cornell.

She also indicated they are looking for the level of sciences taken, and additional weight was given to the more difficult level of science. For example, classes like biochem/cell biology/genetics they would be looking for a 3.0, but less difficult sciences they would want to see that 3.2.

Her advice? Take the hardest classes possible at Cornell, even if your GPA suffers, because they were aware of the level of difficulty and it would be a factor in their decision, versus a 4.0 from State U.