Advice Needed: 3.6 cGPA/3.5 sGPA(upward trend). Post-Bac or study like hell for MCAT

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PlanBPlease

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3.6 cGPA/3.5 sGPA. Yet to take the MCAT. My GPA dilemma is primarily due to my freshman grades; I went out like three times a week and ended up making like a 2.7 sci GPA. I have maintained over a 3.7/3.65 for the last three years. And will still graduate cum laude at my school. Should I do Post-Bac, masters, or study like hell for MCAT to make myself competitive for MD-PhD Programs? People have already told me just to study for the MCAT for MD Programs and not to worry about taking more classes. Does this advice still apply for MD-PhD Programs? I have tons of research experience(4 years) and clinical experience(400 hours). Any advice would be appreciated, and this is stressing me out considerably.

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I'm in a somewhat similar boat to you (3.5 cGPA) and I decieded to take a few years being a research tech to beef up my application
 
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3.6 cGPA/3.5 sGPA. Yet to take the MCAT. My GPA dilemma is primarily due to my freshman grades; I went out like three times a week and ended up making like a 2.7 sci GPA. I have maintained over a 3.7/3.65 for the last three years. And will still graduate cum laude at my school. Should I do Post-Bac, masters, or study like hell for MCAT to make myself competitive for MD-PhD Programs? People have already told me just to study for the MCAT for MD Programs and not to worry about taking more classes. Does this advice still apply for MD-PhD Programs? I have tons of research experience(4 years) and clinical experience(400 hours). Any advice would be appreciated, and this is stressing me out considerably.
While your GPA is on the low side, it is not prohibitively so. I believe most admissions committees will not worry about it, provided you have a strong MCAT. Therefore, you need to put resources into the MCAT with the goal of scoring at least 515. I would not do a postbac; extra courses are not going to be terribly helpful. Working in a lab for a year before applying would be a much better use of your time.
 
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See the other thread that I started on the MSTP tables. I support the idea of the post-bac, the cGPA might be the lower for the accepted class, but it isn't too bad if you have great potential as a future clinician-scientist. MCAT still will be important for MD admissions, and it is likely that some form (mean, median or ranges MCATs) are expected by MSTP reviewers in the text of the application.
 
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While your GPA is on the low side, it is not prohibitively so. I believe most admissions committees will not worry about it, provided you have a strong MCAT. Therefore, you need to put resources into the MCAT with the goal of scoring at least 515. I would not do a postbac; extra courses are not going to be terribly helpful. Working in a lab for a year before applying would be a much better use of your time.

I am going to start studying for the MCAT now.
 
See the other thread that I started on the MSTP tables. I support the idea of the post-bac, the cGPA might be the lower for the accepted class, but it isn't too bad if you have great potential as a future clinician-scientist. MCAT still will be important for MD admissions, and it is likely that some form (mean, median or ranges MCATs) are expected by MSTP reviewers in the text of the application.

Thank you for responding. I am very dedicated to the MD-PhD route. I am going to take next year off to try to increase my GPA and study for the MCAT as hard as humanly possible.
 
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While your GPA is on the low side, it is not prohibitively so. I believe most admissions committees will not worry about it, provided you have a strong MCAT. Therefore, you need to put resources into the MCAT with the goal of scoring at least 515. I would not do a postbac; extra courses are not going to be terribly helpful. Working in a lab for a year before applying would be a much better use of your time.

Honestly I haven't applied yet
 
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