Postbacc GPA vs Curriculum

[BB4Green]

Hi everyone!

I majored in biomedical engineering and got a 3.1 uGPA. I am going to do a SMP to make up for the low gpa.

All else equal, do you think medical schools prefer a high gpa (3.9) at a very good grad school, or realistically a lower/average gpa (3.6) at a large program that uses a med school curriculum?

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[MugiwaraBoshi]

I think you should ask your advisors at your SMP program. Since you are doing SMP right now, just do well and get 4.0 no matter what

 

[BB4Green]

I have been accepted into but not yet started the SMPs. I am deciding between one program in which I can get close to a 4.0, and one which offers a med school curriculum.

Realistically, it will be much harder to get a 4.0 in the one with a med school curriculum.

How should I choose?

 

[MotherOfDragons]

I have been accepted into but not yet started the SMPs. I am deciding between one program in which I can get close to a 4.0, and one which offers a med school curriculum.

Realistically, it will be much harder to get a 4.0 in the one with a med school curriculum.

How should I choose?

I personally would chose the one with the med school curriculum. I feel like being in a situation where you need to do an SMP, there’s doubts on whether or not you would be able to handle a med school curriculum. This would be a perfect opportunity to prove that you can, especially to yourself. As well, you’ll be able to explore which study habits work for you or not and that you can then carry on with you to medical school. I as well was in the same situation about deciding which program to chose especially fear of failure but ended up choosing the one with the medical school curriculum and was the best decision I made. uGPA 3.2 SMP GPA 4.0

 

[BB4Green]

I'm sure I can handle the med school curriculum and get a 3.6, but I'm not sure whether I could get a 3.9 in the med school curriculum program.

The stakes are just so much higher in the med school program; a 3.6 is a good gpa, especially considering that most med schools are pass/fail, but a 3.6 wouldn't even get an interview in the program's own medical school.

I think we should just consider the most likely case in each program (average gpa):
Would a 3.9 in a non-medical school curriculum SMP trump a 3.6 in a medical school curriculum SMP?

 

[orrari]

It might depend on your MCAT score. I would definitely try to focus on the MCAT first if you have not already, but definitely don't do that while doing an SMP. Also, which is more expensive? Like if the SMP is a lot more than grad school I'm not sure id go through with that one in particular unless it is a top SMP, which one is it?

 

[BB4Green]

It might depend on your MCAT score. I would definitely try to focus on the MCAT first if you have not already, but definitely don't do that while doing an SMP. Also, which is more expensive? Like if the SMP is a lot more than grad school I'm not sure id go through with that one in particular unless it is a top SMP, which one is it?

Both programs are graduate SMPs and are around the same price, but only the easier one will give me enough time to study for the MCAT. However, I am starting to study for the MCAT today and we'll see if I'll be prepared enough to take it before the SMPs start. The two SMPs are Vanderbilt and Tufts. Vanderbilt is pretty new and very flexible, and Tufts offers the established medical school curriculum.

 

[MugiwaraBoshi]

Of the two, I would choose Tufts. SMP are like the "backdoor" to medical school, so choose a program that aligns closely to med school curriculum. Have you considered just taking more undergrad courses and raising your ugpa?

 

[BB4Green]

I definitely agree that a medical school curriculum is better than a non-medical school curriculum, but how much lower GPA (and free time and MCAT study time) is it worth?


I took way too many credits in undergrad for more undergrad courses to raise my uGPA.
There are no linkages at either SMP, so these are more like extra undergrad than "backdoors".