GPA

Hello,

Alex, I had a question on the GPA selection. How much emphasis do you think the admissions committee gives on GPA for each term or do they always see the overall GPA and do not really care about how much your GPA was for each term.

Thanks

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In general, medical schools will focus on your overall GPA, although you should know that AAMC will list both an overall GPA and a "BCPM" GPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics). Medical schools will definitely look intensely at both of these.

However, medical schools are aware of your grades in all classes. This is significant only if you have gotten a failing grade in a class, or if your academic portfolio has changed over time. For instance, the admissions committee will look more favorably at someone who has a 3.0 GPA made up of C's in the freshman year that have improved to A's by senior year than someone with the opposite circumstances - dropping grades from A's to C's over their college career. The first case shows a growth of maturity and taking ownership of one's academic progress; the latter shows someone who has "given up," hit the hardest material they can master, or who has become lazy.

So, my answer is that -- unless you have someone particularly egregious in one particular term -- medical schools will really be looking at your overall and science GPAs.