What GPA do I need to get into Med School?

Firstly, if you are contemplating this question, it probably means that you’ve successfully completed the GAMSAT®. Congratulate yourself on this! Surviving the torturous run-up and the terrifying challenge of the GAMSAT exam is something to celebrate. Now, with one of the three components of your application set, it’s easy to become preoccupied obsessing over the GPA needed to secure yourself an interview at your preferred medical school. 

I really get it. You are filled with immense excitement and immense trepidation in the months that follow, trying to work out your chances of getting into medical school, running through hypothetical scenarios over and over again. It’s important to realise firstly, these are hypotheticals and nobody can certainly predict the future, so aim to minimise this source of worry.

What we will do here is try and demystify the typical GPAs required for each university. In my experience of the life of medical school applications, I found that the main topics of concern throughout June varied from “what GAMSAT® score did you get” or “what GAMSAT® score do I need” to the far more complex, “what GPA do I need to be competitive for a place in medical school?”

The answer is a little more complicated than a simple score for a few reasons. Universities all have different criteria and weightings on the different components of your application. Really puts into perspective that your GPA is merely one component of the entire application process. Multiple aspects of an application are considered when selecting an applicant: GPA, GAMSAT®, interview performance, and even portfolios at some universities (or depending on your study background). GEMSAS itself – the body administering graduate medical admissions – has a nice and long explainer if you fancy a read.

Because of this, we are naturally reduced to questioning in absolutes, such as “ What GPA/ GAMSAT® score do I need to get into Medical School?” You can find some past data here on our guide to GAMSAT results, but it’s important to read through this data with a refreshed pair of eyes.

One look at the tables and we immediately realise that the system is very turbulent and the results vary a lot year to year; as such, these results can be misleading. The marks required at universities change all the time - depending on popularity, the number of spots available, changes in admission requirements and the universities’ jostling for reputation. Try and talk about an absolute cutoff now!

As we said, universities create a combination score which allows them to appreciate GAMSAT® and GPA, it’s calculated using a similar formula to this:

Combo = (GAMSAT/100) + (GPA/7.0)

An elaboration: some universities place greater emphasis (or weighting) on different parts of a student’s application: GPA, GAMSAT®, medical school interview, and even Portfolios.

For example, The University of Melbourne uses 50-50 weighting between GPA and GAMSAT® to rank students for interviews, then considers each of three equally when offering spots. The combination of these scores is what determines if a student will be offered a spot. This does also mean that an area of lack can be supplemented by a stronger area. 

Again, it is dependent on the university. For another example, Flinders University only uses GAMSAT® to determine who they will interview. Then, once a student has been interviewed, they will consider each GPA, GAMSAT®, and Interview scores equally.

 A case study to illustrate:
 
A student at Melbourne University gained entry with a combined score of 1.49; the combination of a 6.02 GPA and 63 GAMSAT®. Another student with a combined score of 1.85 may miss out. This is because it comes down to interviews and how people perform in them: Student 1 with the lower GPA and GAMSAT® may have aced the interview and therefore gained a greater entry ranking than the other student a super GAMSAT® and GPA but perhaps the wrong motivations for medical school. Numbers aren’t everything and the process needs to be appreciated in its entirety.
 
A final word on statistics: if you, for example, scored 65+ in the GAMSAT® and put yourself in a solid position to gain interviews, you may not quite appreciate how well-placed you are. When you started this GAMSAT® journey, you were 1 in 10,000+ medical student hopefuls. With approximately 2,000 spots nationwide each year, those odds are pretty tough.
 
However, following a good GAMSAT® and a strong interview, you’ve got to realise how far you and your odds have come. The process of getting into Medicine is undoubtedly a difficult one, and so obsessing over details of the past such as GPAs isn’t always the best use of your time. Do your best, look after yourself, and trust the process.

GAMSAT®, GPA, and interview performance are all important. Don’t neglect one aspect of your application, but love them all equally. Most importantly, love yourself as you do! You might also be interested in reading our other article, What can I do after the GAMSAT Exam?