University of Virginia Health System

Frequently pre-medical and pre-health professions advisors are asked about the role that grade point average and entrance test scores play in getting accepted to a health professions school. This section discusses factors to consider when reviewing your chances for admission.

Medical school admissions officials will be looking closely at your entire academic history, which will include a breakdown of your science grades (biology, chemistry, physics, and math), and your non-science grades in each of your undergraduate years and in each institution that you attended. It is recommended that you take your science courses at your school, not at a community college. If you do poorly in a science course, repeat it, but do so at a well-regarded college. If you fall behind in your coursework and need to enroll in a community college for summer school, take electives, not science courses. Transfer students must do well in the years following their transition. Remember, your transcripts will follow you everywhere. AMCAS will also provide a breakdown of any post-baccalaureate or graduate school work you may have completed at the time of application. This will give admissions committees a clear sense of what your performance has been over a number of years, rather than making a judgment based on a single cumulative GPA.

Admissions committees understand that some students may have a difficult semester or year during their undergraduate career that adversely affects their GPA. Whenever possible, committees will try to take extenuating circumstances into account when evaluating your academic performance. It is important to provide detailed information to admissions committees about any aberrations in your academic history. Many committees will also take into account the difficulty of your curriculum, the selectivity of the undergraduate college attended, and how involved you were in extracurricular or work activities during your enrollment in school. Keep in mind, however, that these factors alone will not excuse poor performance. At most medical schools, there is a strong correlation between science grades and performance in the first two years of medical school, so committees feel justified in relying on science grades as a predictor of academic ability in medical school.

If you had poor grades, particularly in the sciences, it will be important not only to explain why, but also to compensate for a weak performance by doing well in subsequent coursework. If by your junior year in college you surmise that you have not yet demonstrated your true academic ability, consider applying to medical school after graduating so that improved senior year grades can be a part of your application. Discuss your academic qualifications with your pre-medical advisor and plan a strategy for applying when you feel your credentials will be strongest.

MCAT scores, like science grades, have been shown to predict performance in the first two years of medical school. The MCAT derives from the basic pre-medical requirements in biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics. Even if you have done well in your pre-medical science work, make yourself familiar with the MCAT and prepare for it by obtaining one of the many MCAT workbooks available (see next page for recommended references). Make sure you understand the format of the test as well as the timing of the test. Many applicants are caught off guard by how quickly examinees must move through the test. Many summer academic enrichment programs offer a simulated MCAT so that participants can experience the content, format, pace, and environment of the test.

Admission committees will be evaluating your MCAT scores as a test of your fund of scientific knowledge. This is the foundation upon which the first and second years of medical school will build. To some extent, the MCAT also tests your ability to take this kind of standardized test, which will become part of your life in medical school. It will also help prepare you for the important standardized U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) which all medical students must pass in order to practice medicine.

If you did well in your science coursework and prepared carefully for the MCAT, but received low scores, thoughtfully consider why you did not do better. If you feel certain that your fund of scientific knowledge is sufficient, you may decide that the problem lies in your ability to succeed in this kind of standardized test. Your SAT scores may be a clue to discovering whether this is true. If indeed you feel that standardized tests are a problem for you, seek out help in learning how to cope with this type of test so you can be better prepared to take the test again if necessary, and to give you some test-taking strategies for future standardized tests in medical school and for the USMLE. Talk with your pre-medical advisor about evaluation resources at your school, and plan a strategy for retaking the test when you feel you are best prepared to improve your scores.

Most medical school admissions committees will view your academic record in conjunction with MCAT scores to gain a sense of how well you will succeed in medical school during the first two years. These are the years in which medical students must absorb and retain a large volume of scientific information that enables them to become competent clinical physicians. It will always be important to demonstrate to admissions committees that you can handle the coursework in medical school, and the best way to do that is with objective, quantifiable evidence in the form of grades and MCAT scores. Meet with your pre-medical advisor prior to applying to medical school to assess your academic strengths and weaknesses, and to devise a plan that addresses your weaknesses.

Although competitive grades do increase chances for admission to medical, osteopathic, dental, optometry, veterinary, and podiatric schools, performance on entrance exams such as the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Dental Admission Test (DAT), Optometry Admission Test (OAT), and Veterinary College Admission Test (VCAT), is the major factor as to whether or not you will be accepted or rejected. With this in mind, you must determine in advance what you must do in order to be prepared and to earn competitive scores.

You are urged to obtain a copy of the MCAT Student Manual published by the Association of American Medical College and to read this carefully. This manual contains a description of the MCAT and the topics tested as well as information on the test sections, time allowed for each section, and sample test items similar to those found on the actual test (i.e., MCAT Practice Test I). It is highly recommended that you take a simulated MCAT. A number of the summer academic enrichment programs offer this option as well as preparatory exercises in biology, chemistry, physics, verbal reasoning and writing, and quantitative skills. AAMC also publishes additional materials to assist individual in preparing for the MCAT, and these, too, are highly recommended. These include the following:

• MCAT Student Manual

• MCAT Practice Items: Verbal Reasoning and Writing Sample

• MCAT Practice Items: Physical Science and Biological Science

• MCAT Practice Test II

• MCAT Practice Test III

• Preparing for the MCAT (a videocassette)

While the efficacy of preparatory review courses is debated by the AAMC and some pre-health professions advisors and admissions officers, many students have found these courses to be beneficial in terms of gaining familiarity with the exam structure and organization. You should seek the counsel of your pre-medical advisor to determine whether you should take one of these review courses. Some of the review courses provided by the commercial houses include Stanley Kaplan, The Princeton Review, Columbia Review, Graduate Admission Preparation Service (GAPS), Betz, Flowers, or Hyperlearning. Some of these companies allow students to retake the course for free if they do poorly on the MCAT, and others provide tuition assistance to help defray costs for the financially disadvantaged student. Please refer to Appendix B for a list of MCAT review books and Appendix C for a list of MCAT review courses.

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