Chances with GPA

[qw098]

Hi guys,

 

I'm going to be applying to Dalhousie Medical School next year, and i have a cGPA of 3.764. If you are to look at my last two years my cGPA is 3.871. Would I have good chances to be accepted at Dalhousie Medical School with that GPA.

 

I know medical school is VERY competitive, and I just want to have an idea where I stand compared to others GPA wise.

 

Thanks,

And Happy Holidays!

[Corneld]

Are you IP, or OOP?

[MaeFleur]

You can also check out the sticky accepted thread to see what others have gotten in with over the past few years. It's interesting to see how accepted GPA values vary from person to person because of their different strengths and geographical position (i.e. OOP/IP, or NS/PEI/NB).

[qw098]

I am IP, from New Brunswick.

[collegedude22]

If you look at the Dalhousie MD Admissions website, the average GPA for accepted students is 3.8, so a 3.87 puts you above average for accepted students; however, your GPA is only worth 15% of your application. Have you taken the MCAT yet? Do you have much medically-related volunteer work/volunteer experience outside of medicine? Have you held jobs whenever possible, i.e. part-time during school and full-time during the summers? Do you have a strong story to tell about your path to a career in medicine that would make a convincing essay? These things are worth a lot more combined than just your GPA. In addition, the interview alone is worth 40% of your application.

 

Briefly, this is a breakdown of how your application will be assessed:

 

Academics: 25 points

--GPA: 15 points

--MCAT: 10 points

Supplementary Information: 35 points

--Essay: 10 points

--Work Experience: 5 points

--Medically-related volunteer experience: 5 points

--Other volunteer work: 5 points

--Extracurricular activities and interests: 5 points

--Discretion points: 5 points

Interview: 40 points

 

While it is important to do as well as possible in school, a few bad interview stations could negate a strong GPA entirely, as could a bad essay, etc. Point is, you need to do well overall. That said, there's a lot of room in Dal's application to make up for weaknesses in one or two areas. Best of luck.

[qw098]

This is great; thanks!

 

And no, I write the MCAT this year, should be a blast... aiming for 35+