How High of a GPA is Needed for Med School?

Many of my students aim to get into medical school.  I hope that they also want to succeed in becoming caring, inquisitive, and knowledgeable doctors. One common question they ask is: What GPA do I need to get into medical school? 

In an article for US News and World Report, reporter Ilana Kowarski interviewed me and others about this question.  In general, most other experts included in the article and I agree that students should aim for a GPA of at least 3.5.  In fact, for my NIH-funded internship programs, I am not even allowed to take students with GPAs below 3.0.  
In the article, I was quoted as follows: 

"Dr. Luz Claudio, a tenured professor with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the author of "How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper: The Step-by-Step Guide," warns that signing up for easy A college classes isn't the best strategy for improving your odds of admission. "I see that students sometimes take relatively easy courses to raise their overall GPA, but if their science grades are still low, this may not help them enter med school," she wrote in an email.


"Another thing that students wanting to go to medical school may consider is doing medical research internships, especially if those lead to publication in good peer-reviewed research journals," Claudio says. "Published papers coupled with spectacular letters of recommendations and excellent MCAT scores can sometimes propel a student who is on the borderline to get into medical school."

To read the full article published on October 2, 2018, please click below.

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