In the highly competitive medical school admissions process, grades can make or break an application, experts say. Top programs often expect a GPA of 3.6 or higher, with A’s and B’s in science courses carrying particular weight as schools assess academic readiness.
There are three GPAs on the med school application: cumulative, science and nonscience.
“Most schools will want a minimum of a 3.6 overall GPA and 3.5 science GPA, but this is a bare minimum,” says Holly Proffitt, a medical school admissions consultant for Blueprint Prep, a test prep and training provider.
GPA requirements depend on the competitiveness of the application year and the institution, she says.
“I have seen upwards of 3.8 overall and 3.75 science GPA. The higher the better, but 3.5 is a general cut-off,” Proffitt says.
Here’s what you need to know about your GPA to get into med school.
Competitive GPA for Medical School
A high GPA can give premed students a competitive advantage when applying to med school.
“What is interesting, is that since 2020, the average total GPA for allopathic medical school matriculants has increased by 0.01 to 0.02 every year,” says Dr. Jessica Freedman, chair and founder of MedEdits Medical Admissions.
With grade inflation common at many colleges, a high GPA has become almost a baseline requirement for applicants, she says.
“That said, we see that some undergraduate colleges do not inflate grades. Think Vanderbilt, Princeton and Rice to name a few,” Freedman says.
When advising students on competitive GPAs, Freedman says her team weighs two factors: their undergraduate institution and their goals.
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For allopathic medical schools, a 3.6 science GPA with an upward trend is recommended; for osteopathic programs, a 3.4 science GPA with an upward trend is typically sufficient, Freedman says.
For both types of schools, she adds, it’s ideal for a student’s nonscience GPA to be in the same range or higher than their science GPA.
College GPAs of Students Accepted Into Medical Schools
The mean GPA in 2025 was 3.67 for med school applicants and 3.81 for matriculants; an increase from 3.79 in 2024, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
While a student’s major is considered, medical schools place the greatest weight on the “science” or BCPM GPA — that of biology, chemistry, physics and math subjects — compared with total and non-BCPM GPAs, Freedman says.
“Many students start college with lower GPAs than what they earn by senior year and grade trends most definitely matter. Colleges understand that as students mature their grades improve. This is why upward grades trends are so commonplace,” Freedman says.
However, a drop in grades later in college can be concerning, Freedman says.
“I believe we are in a time where admission committees look holistically at an applicant’s entire application,” says Valerie Wherley, premed and pre-health admissions consultant for Accepted. “There is value in a rigorous STEM major, and equal value in a social science or arts major.”
Still, it’s important that applicants show strong grades in premed coursework, which can provide foundational knowledge for the MCAT, Wherley says.
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“The cool thing about medical school admissions is that you can really major in anything and as long as you complete the required premed courses, you can study whatever you’d like,” Proffitt says.
Successful completion of premed requirements and other courses demonstrate an applicant’s ability to succeed in medical school, Proffitt says.
“So, success in these, or a lower GPA start and then strong performance in these, are a good indicator for moving forward with an applicant for an interview,” Proffitt says.
How Premeds With Unimpressive GPAs Can Get Into Medical School
Even with lower GPAs, applicants can still get into medical school, experts say.
“A high MCAT score, which is the great equalizer and the only way med schools can objectively compare applicants, can certainly offset a lower GPA,” Freedman says. “This year, for example, we had a student with a 3.51 BCPM GPA and a 518 MCAT who has several allopathic acceptances.”
Students with low GPAs or low BCPM GPAs may want to consider enrolling in a postbaccalaureate premed/pre-health program, Wherley says.
“These programs entail one to two years of study, and offer structured science coursework, academic advising, MCAT prep and possibly some clinical or research opportunities,” Wherley says.
Students can also consider doing a special master’s degree, such as a STEM-based master’s program.
“Special master’s programs are, in fact, specifically designed for students who need academic enhancement,” Freedman says.
Contributions in scholarly, community service or extracurricular work may also help, but “the experiences alone won’t move the needle,” Freedman says.
Students should focus on crafting powerful narratives about their experiences, insights and lessons learned in the written medical school application since that’s “what actually earns a student interviews,” Freedman says.
[Read: How Long Is Medical School and What Is It Like?]
What Premeds Should Do if They Have a Bad Undergrad Semester
Sometimes students have an off semester — but there’s still hope. Timing of the bad semester matters, such as whether it was early or later in college, experts say. If it happened early in college, an explanation may not be necessary, Freedman says.
“But if it was later in college, we might recommend the student work this explanation into their overall narrative to explain what else was going on in their life that might have led to an outlier academic performance,” Freedman says.
For students who lack a solid explanation for why they performed poorly, “we typically suggest the student not address this in the written application unless asked to do so in a secondary essay, and instead to be ready for that question during interviews,” Freedman says.
While a bad semester typically won’t sink a student, they may want to look into grade replacement, depending upon school policy, and if the class grade is C or lower, Proffitt says.
“If you can retake a course that was a C and get an A, that can be a game changer,” Proffitt says.
Another option is to consider a gap year with a grade enhancer program like a postbaccalaureate program.
“It also never hurts to reach out to an admissions rep when the cycle is over and ask for feedback on your transcript if you are concerned,” Proffitt says. Searching for a medical school? Get our complete rankings of Best Medical Schools.
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What College GPA Is Needed for Medical School? originally appeared on usnews.com