While there are a number of factors used to determine who to admit to medical school, the two biggest are the GPA and the MCAT scores. So if a high GPA is good to have does that mean that going to a college with high grade inflation will make you more competitive for medical school?
The answer is no.
Let’s take two well known colleges as an example. Harvard is the poster child for grade inflation. The most commonly given grade at Harvard is a perfect A. The average GPA is something like a 3.8. Princeton on the other hand used to have grade inflation like Harvard. But a few years ago they changed their grading policy to be more in line with reality and overnight the average GPA dropped to about a 3.3. Are Princeton students dumber than Harvard students? Of course not.
But more importantly, does Harvard have the best success rate in the country for medical school admissions. No. There are many colleges that historically place more of their students that apply into a medical school than Harvard.
Conversely, did the acceptance rates into medical school drop when Princeton realigned their grading? By all appearances the answer to that is also, no.
The admissions officers at any medical school, law school or graduate program are not stupid. They know that different colleges have different average GPAs that have nothing to do with how talented the students are. That factor is taken into account when deciding on who to accept.
It is true that generally, the higher your GPA the stronger candidate you will be for medical school. But it also depends on the average GPA is of the college you attend.
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