Advice Please! (2.5) GPA, (36) MCAT, What should I do?

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tienzing

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So as you can see in the title my gpa is extremely lowww. I'm just a terribly lazy person, and as you can see my MCAT score is pretty good. Do you guys think I have a chance? Do you also think a higher MCAT score would help? I'm almost certain I can almost get around 40 if I study a little more for it. I really am at losts with future here, Should I keep trying? BTW Im a 2nd semester junior now, and my degree is going to be in Political Science with an Asian Studies Minor.
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tienzing said:
I'm just a terribly lazy person
Click to expand...

Part of the reason that grades are so important to adcoms is that they are trying to weed out the lazy people. You can't be lazy and be a good doctor at the same time. Do you still have a chance? The answer is almost always yes, but it depends on how you change, mature, and show that you are capable of being a good physician.
 
So as the title says my GPA is just HORRIBLE! I've just had problems with attendance and I'm also a lazy SOB... So with this 2.5 GPA and my 36 MCAT, Im currently in my second semester Senior year, however I will be staying an extra year to finish some requirements for my major, which is political science btw and minor is Asian Studies. So what do you think are my options and chances now? I'm most certain that I can retake the MCATS and bring it up to around 40 if I studied more. Do you think that's I shoud even bother taking it again for the 40, because of my low gpa?
 
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If you can get your GPA to 3.0, I think you have a chance. Figure out how many credits you need to get a 3.0, and then go ahead and do that.

And probably a good time to stop being lazy.
 
Chances of raising a 36 to a 40 deliberately with one attempt are low, unless you're averaging 40+ on previously untaken practice tests.

If you're a "lazy SOB" how do you think you'll survive medical school?

If you can change your work ethic, try and get into an SMP to fix the GPA issue.

That is all.
 
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So as the title says my GPA is just HORRIBLE! I've just had problems with attendance and I'm also a lazy SOB... So with this 2.5 GPA and my 36 MCAT, Im currently in my second semester Senior year, however I will be staying an extra year to finish some requirements for my major, which is political science btw and minor is Asian Studies. So what do you think are my options and chances now? I'm most certain that I can retake the MCATS and bring it up to around 40 if I studied more. Do you think that's I shoud even bother taking it again for the 40, because of my low gpa?
 
:troll:

Three threads on the same topic? Really?
 
sorry, i meant to post two one in what are my chances and one here. really need help soon as I need to know soon if i should pursue this or not and start changing next semesters classes, can u tell me how to delete this thread please? thank you
 
On the off chance this isn't a troll,

Don't retake a 36 MCAT unless you have a subscore below 8 or so. Consider doing a post-bacc or SMP to improve your GPA situation.
 
Do well in your last year of classes. Don't retake the MCAT if you can help it. Trend is important.

Apply early and broadly. Apply to an SMP as a last resort.
 
tienzing said:
sorry, i meant to post two one in what are my chances and one here. really need help soon as I need to know soon if i should pursue this or not and start changing next semesters classes, can u tell me how to delete this thread please? thank you
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Cross-posting in general is against the Terms of Service, and you are unable to delete the thread.
 
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hi thanks for your reply! :D I know laziness is where my main flaw is and med school is all about hard work. I have however begin to change and have picked up my grades in the previous semester but since I only have a year left and with however high grades I recieve I know my GPA wont go above a 2.6 probably. And exactly how do I show med schools that I am capable be a good physician?
 
Isoprop said:
Do well in your last year of classes. Don't retake the MCAT if you can help it. Trend is important.

Apply early and broadly. Apply to an SMP as a last resort.
Click to expand...
Even with a year left, with a 2.5 his cumulative will be below a 3.0 and trend won't matter because schools won't even look at him.
 
Every1 says dont retake and I know the reasons not to retake as well. But personally I know that I can do muchhh better as the first time I studied almost nothing besides glancing through a few pages of that Kaplan book. However I have started studying now and have taken 2 practice tests where I've averaged 39. Im pretty sure theres no chance of me getting into american schools, but how bout carribean ones? do u think with 36 and 2.5, a carribean school would accept me?


P.S. really sorry about the troll.
 
I don't know about you guys but I don't want a "lazy sob" as my doctor.

But yea see how many credits you need to increase the GPA to a 3.something. Depending on your EC's you might actually have a slight chance of being looked at.
 
gettheleadout said:
Even with a year left, with a 2.5 his cumulative will be below a 3.0 and trend won't matter because schools won't even look at him.
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That's not a hard and fast rule. About 1/4 of applicants around his GPA and MCAT got in the past few years. But they probably had something to make up for it (URM, extenuating circumstances, etc). Recent performance is considered to be more indicative of ability by some adcoms.

Plus he can get his GPA close to a 3.0 in a year and a half of straight As.

Some dirty math:

2.5GPA * 3.5 years = 8.75
4.0GPA * 1.5 years = 6
(8.75 + 6) / 5 = 2.95 GPA
 
Isoprop said:
That's not a hard and fast rule. About 1/4 of applicants around his GPA and MCAT got in the past few years. But they probably had something to make up for it (URM, extenuating circumstances, etc). Recent performance is considered to be more indicative of ability by some adcoms.

Plus he can get his GPA close to a 3.0 in a year and a half of straight As.

Some dirty math:

2.5GPA * 3.5 years = 8.75
4.0GPA * 1.5 years = 6
(8.75 + 6) / 5 = 2.95 GPA
Click to expand...
I probably should have added a qualifier in there, that some/most schools won't even look at him. While I agree that it is possible to get in with a sub-3.0, I wouldn't want to rely on having extenuating circumstances as you've said, and given however many schools have GPA screens, I would be wary of applying broadly with numbers that low simply because it would make reapplying even more costly (more broad application = higher cost.) I would just try to err on the safe side and only apply when you think your application is the best it can be, within reason. Still, he does have a high MCAT, so maybe that evens it out a bit when added to an upward trend.

I think the real question here is whether OP can even pull an upward trend out of the laziness that has saturated him for the duration of his 2.5 cGPA.
 
You've completed five semesters with a 2.5. If you start earning straight As and stay in college an extra year, then at the end of five more semesters, your cGPA would be a ~3.25. An applicant to MD schools with a 3.25/36 could have as much as a 60% chance of an acceptance somewhere (probably more like 44% when corrected).

Alternatively, after your cGPA exceeds a 3.0, you might apply to a Special Masters Program to redeem your low GPA. With excellent performance, your chance of an MD acceptance could be higher.

Another option would be to retake all your lowest grades, apply to DO med schools and take advantage of their grade forgiveness policy where they only count the most recent grade. This is the fastest way to raise your GPA to a competitive range.
 
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tienzing said:
Every1 says dont retake and I know the reasons not to retake as well. But personally I know that I can do muchhh better as the first time I studied almost nothing besides glancing through a few pages of that Kaplan book. However I have started studying now and have taken 2 practice tests where I've averaged 39. Im pretty sure theres no chance of me getting into american schools, but how bout carribean ones? do u think with 36 and 2.5, a carribean school would accept me?


P.S. really sorry about the troll.
Click to expand...
Do NOT go to the Caribbean. Don't. Don't think about it. Just no.

With a 36 and a higher GPA if you do better in future courses you should be at least more competitive for DO schools than US MD. I've said more in your other thread, eventually the mods will merge them though.

Also, most people would probably agree it's risky to retake a 36 even if you average a 40 for the next 7 practice tests. Ultimately this is up to you, and if I was in your situation and averaged above a 40 for the rest of the AAMC FL's I understand how it would be tempting. Still, your MCAT is not the thing holding you back here, and raising it further would be minimally beneficial in comparison to the risk you take of it going down/only going up 1 point by chance. It's not even worth the cost to retake it honestly.
 
don't retake, unless you got a 14-8-14, like someone said earlier. 39's are still within the margin for error on the first exam (means even if you are consistently practice testing at 39, you have just as good a chance of making 33 on the real retake).

2.5 is low even for a carib school - they'd probably take you though. but here's the thing. the laziness has got to be resolved before you get to any med school, otherwise you will wash out the first semester. there's a reason people don't get into US schools with a 2.5. you can't just keep winging it and expect everything to come out OK - oh wait, it hasn't even really been coming out all that OK, has it?? this is true even for Carib. you might get by for a while, but eventually you will get hammered, and there aren't many second chances down there.

you're in SMP territory, because you need like 100 credits at 4.0 to put yourself into contention for US MD, even with that MCAT. 50 @ 4.0 would get you to 3.0, where you'd have a great shot at DO, i'd think. Don't do SMP until you're serious though - if you wash out of that, your only remaining options are overseas.
 
In all honesty, with a 2.5-2.6 GPA, I have my doubts that there's anything you can do to get into allopathic med schools, although I am certainly no expert here. What I do know is that allopathic med schools tend to have a minimum GPA requirement of around 3.0, and even then, you need around a 3.6-3.7 to be competitive. If you are really interested in becoming a physician, I'd say that a DO program is the way to go. Apparently, DO schools have a grade forgiveness policy, and if you spend some extra time in college retaking classes with a C grade or worse---especially any science courses---you could bring your GPA up pretty rapidly and get into a DO school. However, allopathic med schools DO NOT have a grade forgiveness policy and, in the best case scenario, will only average out your poor grades with any retakes.

I would not advise re-taking the MCAT. A 36 is an excellent score, and you probably don't want to risk taking it a second time, only to get a not so good score, especially since a 40 or even a 45 won't make up for that low GPA. Med schools want to see consistency, and with the kind of contrast you're presenting, you come-off as very intelligent, but not very hard working, which doesn't look good to adcoms. If I were you, I'd spend some serious time retaking classes and uping my GPA to a level that is acceptable for DO schools, and leave my MCAT where it is. I am not a hundred percent sure about this, but I am pretty sure that your MCAT score won't expire for another three years, giving you plenty of time to up your GPA without having to worry about retaking the MCAT.

You'll also want some solid EC's on your resume. Shadowing, clinical and nonclinical volunteer work, some teaching and/or leadership, maybe some research, etc.

Right now, there are just too many students with excellent EC's, a killer MCAT, and a high GPA to warrant accepting someone with less than a 3.0 GPA. :(
 
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Postbac.
You need it to learn to stop being lazy and get your act together. If you're getting 2.5 in political science, you're not ready for medical school.
36 MCAT is just slightly above average. You're going to be with people who are just as smart but work much, much harder than you, and you won't be able to keep up. Just like, you know, right now.
 
You've posted the same question at least 3 times across these forums in different places.
 
In my MSAR book is does say that 12 people applied with around a 2.5 gpa and around a 36 or higher on their MCAT. Of those 12 people two of them got accepted. It's not impossible, but it is hard. I would just try your best from now on and give it a shot. If it doesn't work the first time maybe go for a Masters and try it again if you really want to be a doctor.
 
littlealex said:
Postbac.
You need it to learn to stop being lazy and get your act together. If you're getting 2.5 in political science, you're not ready for medical school.
36 MCAT is just slightly above average. You're going to be with people who are just as smart but work much, much harder than you, and you won't be able to keep up. Just like, you know, right now.
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Just curious, but how is a 36 just slightly above average? A score of 36 has been right around the 95th percentile for the last couple of years: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/157904/data/combined10.pdf.pdf
 
tienzing said:
So as the title says my GPA is just HORRIBLE! I've just had problems with attendance and I'm also a lazy SOB... So with this 2.5 GPA and my 36 MCAT, Im currently in my second semester Senior year, however I will be staying an extra year to finish some requirements for my major, which is political science btw and minor is Asian Studies. So what do you think are my options and chances now? I'm most certain that I can retake the MCATS and bring it up to around 40 if I studied more. Do you think that's I shoud even bother taking it again for the 40, because of my low gpa?
Click to expand...

Were you lazy or are you still lazy? You could not have picked a much harder career if you are not a motivated person. You'd have to have Einstein's IQ to pass med school without working (even then your grasp of medicine would be tenuous).

And a 36 is well above average. National average isn't high (25?) and average for matriculants is something short of 32 (31.7 or something). If you can get your GPA up with the time you have left you will be a good candidate for an SMP (3.0 GPA/36MCAT). According to the AAMC with a 2.80-2.99 GPA and a 36-38 MCAT you have a 39% chance of getting in. That is actually not that bad considering a very low GPA.
 
NO...a higher MCAT would not help...what would? a higher GPA. Sub 3.0 gpa does not lead to medical school. Take post-bacc classes to raise your GPA.

And the reason only 12 people applied with those numbers is because the others probably realized they would be spending a lot of money with no gain...
 
i don't understand why we must sympathize with someone who shamelessly claims to be "lazy". Regardless of whether or not you do well on a standardized test, there are thousands of students who passionately want this, who have been working hard to make it a reality since before they could remember, and who get rejected every year due to lack of schools' capacity to accept them. For you to insinuate that just because you do well on the MCAT means that you should be allowed the opportunity to study medicine and be granted an MD degree is laughable.

being a doctor is not a game of numbers, it is a career pathway and a serious career choice. It gives one the opportunity to make an impact of people's lives. i haven't had reason to post many comments, but I just find this whole post ridiculous and could not resist. Had you wanted to be a physician from the get-go, or been passionate about this, you would have found some way to get the motivation to not be lazy, and prove that this is what you want. This is what most ADCOMS will think when they see your stats.
 
Catalystik said:
An applicant to MD schools with a 3.25/36 could have as much as a 60% chance of an acceptance somewhere (probably more like 44% when corrected)
Click to expand...

what do you mean? smps, urms, people with favorable in state admissions?
 
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