When it comes to being a student, we tend to compare our self worth to the worth of others based on a few factors: how many friends we have and what our GPA in School is.  When deciding on whether or not graduate school is the right path to take, the question arises as to whether it’s all about the GPA or not.

I mean, is it true that not having a top notch GPA will affect a admissions committee’s decision in an individuals acceptance or rejection?  I would say yes and no and my answer comes based on personal experience watching my fellow peers apply to Medical school.  Some will tell you that if you don’t get a 4.0 then you will have a hard time, however I have had friends with a GPA of 4.0 get rejected from all schools they applied to while those with lower scores got in.  So from that I have formed the opinion that GPA does matter somewhat but that ultimately it is merely a piece of all the things that makes an application stand out.

Should you give up on your goal because you may haven’t gotten a 3.5 or more?  No way!  So does that mean that you can settle with a lower GPA because of what I said in the previous paragraph?  Absolutely not!  You definitely should work hard to get the best GPA possible.

For those of you who have a lower GPA and are still in school, this is a great opportunity for you and here’s why.  Medical schools (and I’m sure other graduate schools too) will get to look at your transcripts from all of your semesters in college.  What does that mean for you?  It means that if you work hard to get better grades from now on, they will see it and say, “Sure this applicant got a ___ GPA at the beginning, but look at the growth they had over their college experience in improving their grades.”  It looks well on an applicant to show improving grades from semester to semester rather than worsening grades, make sense?

Good for you!  Just please make sure that you keep your grades up as each semester rolls on.  Like I stated in the previous paragraph, if your grades start high and dramatically plummet, it may not look so good on you.  In fact, it may look like you got lazy towards the end or perhaps got a case of senioritis.  All the advice I have for you is to keep up whatever good study habits that you have been doing so far.

So make sure that what ever GPA you have right now, study hard and do the best that you absolutely can!