Medical Education US

How important is MCAT in gaining admission to med schools? Does having good GRE scores help also? I ask because I saw that for most top-tier programs, average GPA is around 3.60 or 3.70 while mine is only 3.5. I did well on MCAT with 36Q, but I feel like if my GPA isn't good enough, I have a very low chance of getting into med schools. Is BCPM GPA more important than overall GPA?

I would say MCAT is one of the two most important factors in acceptance to med school - the other factor being GPA. I have never heard of GRE scores being used for acceptance to medical school. A 36 MCAT score is excellent (not sure what the Q indicates as the essay was brand new when I took the MCAT). A 3.5 GPA is decent, but depending on the college especially, is probably fairly average for most students who get accepted to med school. You certainly have good enough grades + MCAT scores to get into medical school. Your question is also about top-tier programs though. I'd guess that you'd have a chance to get into some of the more competitive programs, but definitely no promises. Even with better grades, at competitive programs there seem to be too many variables that come into play - more of the "other" factors are likely an issue at the more competitive programs - unique experiences, diverse backgrounds, special talents, etc, in addition to good GPA and MCAT Scores.

I'd say that BCPM GPA is important, but I think admissions offices look to see that you have BOTH good science + good non-science GPA.

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