The Medical School Admissions Guide Book Event: University of Virginia

As part of The Medical School Admissions Guide: A Harvard MD's Week-by-Week Admissions Handbook book tour, I have been speaking to pre-med groups throughout the country. On March 28, 2011, I had the pleasure of meeting with the University of Virginia AMSA. Thank you to Shayan Moosa for making this event happen.

The day started off well with the independently-owned University of Virginia Bookstore agreeing to sell The Medical School Admissions Guide. It should be available as of next week. Of course, the book is always available through MDadmit, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

One question that came up repeatedly in the Q&A session concerned GPA. What is the GPA needed to get into medical school? This is such a difficult question to answer given that GPA is only one of many components medical school admissions committees use to evaluate an applicant. As a general guideline, a 3.7 GPA and even MCAT over 30 (ie. at least 10s across the board) is "good enough." Of course, you need more than just a good GPA and MCAT to get into medical school. Below a 3.0 is generally a non-starter and you should consider post-bac and special masters programs to gain more science experience and improve the GPA. Obviously, there is a huge range between 3.0 and 3.7. No magic number exists. You could have a 3.5 GPA and 33 MCAT and get into Harvard if you have other stellar components of your application. You could have a 4.0 GPA and 43 MCAT and NOT get into Harvard. I can't say GPA is not important. It certainly is. But it is only one of many factors that determine if you will gain admission to medical school.

Do you have specific questions about your GPA and how it affects your chances of getting into medical school? Visit www.MDadmit.com or contact Dr. Miller at 415.939.525/info@MDadmit.com to set up a strategy session.