# Can a straight C student get to a Medical School? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 30, 2000, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395 "2000-11-30T17:09:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smithwow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Smithwow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smithwow)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/1 "2000-11-30T17:09:49Z")
I always wandered if a straight C student can be accepted to a Medical School. How are the applications approved or rejected. I’ve heard of one student whose GPA was 2.2 but he got in. Is it possible? What are the requirements? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/2 "2000-11-30T17:16:29Z")
Well, the first requirement would probably be to lay off the drugs and stop listening to that rap music. You might get your grades up. But be thankful for Affirmative Action. Just mark that ol’ ethnicity section “Nigerian” and you’re home free. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/3 "2000-11-30T17:17:53Z")
But anyway … Sure, but it’s hard. First of all, requirements vary from med school to med school, and most don’t have hard and fast cut-offs - they generally accept the most qualified who have applied. Second, even those with hard rules allow themselves a bit of discretion to take someone who fails their standards, if they have some other qualities (life experience, unique strengths, rich dying uncle …) Several of my friends whose undergraduate grades weren’t particularly good (usually due to alcohol consumption) chose to defer applying to med school and instead picked up a M.S. in anatomy, physiology, etc. They buckled down while studying for these degrees and got high marks, which they then used to demonstrate that they could do the work required in med school. An ex-girlfriend got around the problem by go to med school in the Caribbean, but we don’t talk about her. 😉 Sua ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/4 "2000-11-30T17:19:15Z")
Ender, what on _earth_ was that? ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/5 "2000-11-30T17:38:24Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=48489](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=48489) There you go, matt. –John ---
**Author:** ![barker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@barker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barker)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/6 "2000-11-30T17:39:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*Ender, what on _earth_ was that? \*\* Matt you must have missed this thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=48489](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=48489) ---
**Author:** ![Grendel69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7bcc69/32.png) [@Grendel69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grendel69)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/7 "2000-11-30T17:52:47Z")
Yes, if the medical school is the one that was in Doonesbury…the one in the Carribean that was run by Duke 🙂 Seriously though, if there are extenuating circumstances it is possible. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/8 "2000-11-30T18:02:52Z")
Thanks for the link, fellas. I missed that thread myself, and I got to admit it is fuckin’ _hilarious!_ Some classic work from both mods and regs… “I want to you hear you say ‘We are quite proud of our extensive oil deposits and rice is one of our staple crops’ in Hausa.” – **Alphagene** ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/9 "2000-11-30T20:01:49Z")
Did anyone notice that here ([I am proud to be white](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=47464&pagenumber=2)) Smithwow implies he’s white?: > [@](#): > > As to the being proud because I am white. Well, I like my skin color but I did not make it that way so it was not really up to me, so there is not reason to be proud of it. Have to be carefull with sun-exposure time though Didn’t he pretty much indicate in the thread linked to above that he was a black man from Nigeria about to go on his first “white” date? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/10 "2000-11-30T20:53:40Z")
Er, maybe he has a skin condition that causes him to break out when he spends too much time in the sun? Ok, that’s a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/11 "2000-11-30T20:54:52Z")
Whoa, I missed that one. Great catch Ceejay! So in the evening of November 28 he’s black and just after noon on November 30th he’s white. Maybe by “his first WHITE date” he meant that it would be his first date with white skin. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Smithwow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Smithwow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smithwow)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/12 "2000-11-30T21:17:18Z")
people just answer the quesiton 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/13 "2000-11-30T21:24:23Z")
Ok, I’ll give it a try: You are a lying, racist dogshit-fer-brains and you should go fuck a pile of sand. Wait, what question were you referring to? ---
**Author:** ![Smithwow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Smithwow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smithwow)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/14 "2000-11-30T21:27:43Z")
why you… bring in on people, just bring it on… ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/15 "2000-11-30T21:30:49Z")
Or was it: You’re too busy typing one-handed to even lie effectively. No? A different question? ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/16 "2000-11-30T21:39:47Z")
Don’t smile at me, you bivalve. First of all, you’re not posting in the right forum. A question about the way medical school admissions process work belongs in GQ. If you’re turly wondering if people with low grades get into med school I’d say yes it can happen. But unless you’re someone rich, famous, or have a strong letter of recommendation from President Olusegun Obasanjo then I wouldn’t bet on it. But I would decide on your ethnic background before filling out the application form. Like the SDMB, med school admission boards rarely like “suprises” and “tests”. And most medical schools have students who are, as you say, “those kind of people”. I’ve had enough of this guy. Where the white women at? ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/17 "2000-11-30T21:42:44Z")
Actually, if you went from white to black you’d be the anti-Michael-Jackson, wouldn’t you? Maybe that’s how it happened, you guys switched skins. Yeah, that’s the ticket! [/quote] Q: What do you call the medical student who graduates last in their class? A: Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/18 "2000-11-30T21:54:35Z")
Speaking of Michael Jackson… Q. What’s the difference between Neil Armstrong and Michael Jackson? A. You see, Neil Armstrong was the first man to WALK on the MOON… and Michael Jackson just likes to touch little boys where they pee. (I know, I’m sorry…) ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/19 "2000-11-30T21:56:02Z")
**Smithwow** why are you wasting our time here? If you’re serious about going to medical school, you ought to know how to do a literature search and find the information you need. Most, if not all, schools publish entrance requirements online. It’s not too hard to look it up. But I doubt you’re looking for that information. Given your lack of reading skills (you haven’t opened a new thread in the proper forum **YET!!** ) and your lack of writing skills (lack of punctuation and other grammatical errors), I doubt any school would take you. I predict you’ll either be banned from SDMB within the next 48 hours or simply go away because “Dem folks done been mean at me, laffin’ at mah lack of ed-u-ma-ca-shun!!” ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395/20 "2000-11-30T22:52:56Z")
Judging by his posts, he’s going to have to really start hitting the books to bring his grade up to a straight C. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-straight-c-student-get-to-a-medical-school/43395.md?page=2)