Any Advice On Where To Apply With These Stats

[AngelBear]

Hi Guys,

This is such a helpful forum and Congrats to everyone who got in this year ! Hopefully some of that would rub off on me for this application round.

I would really appreciate any help on where to apply. I graduated from UC Davis and applied back in 2002 to 35 schools and did not get any interviews. I think this was due to my poor GPA. I had great community service and research having done 6 years of research with UCD, Stanford and UCSF combined. I also co-founded a free clinic for the homeless, which is the main community service activity I highlighted on top of other things.

I went back and did a post bac and took a bunch of advanced science classes and here are my new stats.

Under Cumm GPA: 2.86
Undergrad BCPM GPA 2.59
Post-bac GPA: 4.00
MCAT: 28P

Any suggestions on which schools to apply ???

Thanks

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[southbelle]

AUC? Ross? Maybe SGU? If you have some experience in the DO world you certainly want to take a crack there. It's not looking good in the allopathic scheme of things though.

 

[drlexygoat]

I'll be honest... I don't think you're going to have much luck with MD schools. Your undergrad GPA is what's keeping you down, despite the upward trend in your post-bac work. You may want to try some "lower tier" schools for a shot. Pick up a MSAR book and rifle through it.

Your really should consider some DO schools as well. You'll get an excellent education, still have great residencies to chose from, and will have a better shot at getting into some of those schools.

Best of luck to you in the future!!!

 

[LaurieB]

With such a strong post-bac GPA, you might get noticed somewhere so I would argue that you apply to many schools and include carribean and osteopathic schools if that is something you'd be open to. Also, your postbac GPA will figure into your BCPM GPA so that should help you quite a bit. Go onto the AMCAS site to see exactly how your GPA's will be calculated so you know what you're working with.

To get an idea of schools to apply to, check out mdapplicants.com and search for folks with stats that are in the same range as you. There aren't that many, but enough that you can see that you have hope. See where they got interviews because those places might give you a chance too.

Good luck and congrats on such a strong postbac.

Laurie

PS You might even contact some of the more attainable schools that rejected you previously to see if they'll talk to you about your application. That might help you get on the radar screen so that you can get past the initial number crunch.

 

[PublicEnemy]

Foreign med schools are always an option. I think you should recalculate your current BCPM gpa including all the post-bacc science courses you've taken. If you can get this # above 3, then your chances at getting into a DO school are pretty good. If not, you'll prolly need to keep taking classes until your science gpa comes up to a certain point so that you make it past pre-screen cutoffs. Another option that might be helpful in addition to post-bacc work is the special masters route. As far as allopathic schools go, in order to be competition you'll have to raise the science gpa quite a bit and you might want to re-take the MCAT to try to get a score over 30 in order to offset the lower gpa.

Adcoms will see your effort and achievements in your recent years. Truthfully, all options: MD, DO, or foreign med school are still open to you, its just a matter of how much time and effort you're willing to invest to make yourself more competitive.

 

[skypilot]

Your stats are calculated incorrectly. The two most important numbers are:

Undergrad GPA (including all postbac courses)
BCPM GPA (including all postbac courses)

If the BCPM is in the 3.3 -3.4 range and undergrad is 3.0 or above you still have a shot despite your lower undergrad especially if there has been time since you graduated and you have a good application otherwise.

 

[axm397]

Also - could consider re-taking the MCAT - if that is an old score, more the reason to retake.

 

[southbelle]

skypilot, what school you headed to next year?

 

[skypilot]

Still waiting on a few schools. Might be either Jeff or BU. I liked both schools a lot. I liked Jeff's curriculum and environment but I love Boston.

 

[yasmeensak]

Definitely try DO - I think you would have a good chance

 

[AngelBear]

thanks for the encouragement you guys !! I wll definitely take your advice into consideration.

Any ideas of which DO's are pretty reputable ??

 

[Adapt]

thanks for the encouragement you guys !! I wll definitely take your advice into consideration.

Any ideas of which DO's are pretty reputable ??

Well, since you're from CA, I would say COMP. It's the best DO school in California. If you don't care where you go, NYCOM, KCOM,TCOM and PCOM are among the top of DO schools.

You still need to improve your gpa. The avg gpa for DO schools is a 3.3 so get that gpa up.

 

[skypilot]

If you are an urban person and don't mind coming to the East Coast, the schools in Philly and NY are well respected. I think PCOM has been around for 100 years or so!

 

[Peterock]

My guess is that your bacc had the same credit hours as two regular semesters... so your gpa is roughy a 2.9/3.1. I think if you could move your gpa up 3.1/3.3 (basically another year of post bacc'ing), you'd be nesting on a 3.3/28. Those numbers are not great, however, you'd have roughly 2 years of straight A's, lab experience with published papers and interesting and compassionate interests. I think this would get you a shot at a lot of schools, particurarly the fact that you're non-trad and you have so much experience after graduation.

I dunno about where you want to apply - from what I've read on this site try the Philly schools, NY, SLU, Creighton, UVermont, Finch etc etc.

OR

If you have the money you might try enrolling in Finch's post bacc program... where if you do well you will gain an acceptance into their med school.

~Good luck

 

[DD214_DOC]

Her science GPA doesn't meet the cutoff for many DO schools (2.7, some are 3.0) and others she barely meets it (2.5). Find the DO schools with the 2.0 and 2.5 cutoffs and try them, but you will have trouble with your MCAT.

I don't know where this idea that DO schools will take anyone comes from. They DO have cutoffs and with those low grades and a 28 mcat, she will find it difficult to get into many DO schools.

I would suggest you look towards the Caribbean, unless you have a few thousand dollars that you don't want.

*EDIT* Just realize you didn't include your postbacc, but a 2.9 still isn't that great.

 

[Blade28]

I agree with the above posts. Try diversifying...not only apply to a bunch of MD programs, but look at DO programs and the Carribean schools too. Have you considering getting a Master's, or doing a specialized post-bac program (like the one at Tulane) that facilitates entering med school?

 

[LaurieB]

You could always apply while taking more classes so that you are in a position to reapply, but also have a chance to avoid that extra year. This might be an awful suggestion - what do you other SDNers think?

Also, I agree with some earlier posters - a stronger MCAT could help you overcome grades. I think I squeeked by on my scores and my experience.

Laurie

 

[seacatch]

Angelbear,
My stats are surprisingly similiar to yours... so far. I haven't taken the MCAT's yet and I am still doing my post bac work. So far my post bac is all 4.0 and assuming I keep it up, my recalculated undergrad GPA is over 3.0 and the BCPM GPA is higher. In addition, GPAs are calculated differently for the DO schools. In my case, I can replace many of my poor undergrad grades with the new post bac grades since I'm essentially repeating many classes. If you took some of the same classes as an undergrad this could help you too. My BCPM for the DO schools is now something like 3.75.

Anyway, some additional feedback I received is that since I graduated from undergrad almost 20 years ago, Adcoms won't hold it against me quite so much. The further away from a rotten undergrad GPA... the better. So good luck to you, sounds to me like you have a good shot. Be persistant. I know I will.....

 

[IndyZX]

i have a quick question. is post bacc coursework easy or something? it seems like everyone has a 4.0 post bacc. i understand that its perfectly possible that a person who goofed off in college got their **** together is now a great student, but it seems fishy.

 

[TheGuy2000]

Yah i have to agree with indzyx, what is up with the 4.0 at post-bacc, are these classes just ridiculously easy or is there major grade inflation. No disrespect to the OP but a 2.5 at a UC with a 28 MCAT, and then u miraculously pull a 4.0 at a post-bacc. Makes me wonder too

 

[AngelBear]

Yah i have to agree with indzyx, what is up with the 4.0 at post-bacc, are these classes just ridiculously easy or is there major grade inflation. No disrespect to the OP but a 2.5 at a UC with a 28 MCAT, and then u miraculously pull a 4.0 at a post-bacc. Makes me wonder too

Well I would have to defend all post-bacc's out there. It takes a lot of dedication and not to mention smarts to go back and take 4-5 scence courses per quarter and earn straight A's . At least for me, I took upper division science classes that I didn't have a chance to take while at UC Davis. I think that is speaks volumes when people can demonstrate this type of commitment and dedication to get in medical school.

And maybe.. just maybe ...instead of ignorantly rolling your eyes you should applaud people who have the persistence to go after their goals.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

I don't think people are criticizing their actual, real life performance. I think people are doubting their "forum honesty".

 

[seacatch]

FYI. In my case, I take classes with regular undergrads. In answer to your question, there is nothing fishy. People change after 20 years. Those of us who decide to go back to school are putting a lot on the line and are very focused on acheiving the result. I'm not distracted by the same things as when I was 20 (parties, part time jobs, crazy room mates...). GPAs are not always an intelligence test. Smart people sometimes do get low GPAs. Twenty years ago a high GPA was not my priority and I had no intention of spending the next 7 years becoming a doctor. In fact, I didn't think I would ever go back to school. Man was I wrong! I've got an MBA and now another couple of years as a post bac... before hopefully starting med school. You just never know!!!!!!!!

 

[CeLo]

It's a lot easier to get a 4.0 when taking all science courses. I did this my entire senior year of undergrad and got a 4.0 both semesters. Fall semester I had biochem, animal phys, genetics, and micro. Every class had the same topics and that really enforced my learning. Sometimes the topics even overlapped, so that I was esentially having two tests on the same topic. That's why I don't think the post-bacc people are lying when they say they got a 4.0. I thought taking all those science classes at once was going to be so hard, but it was easy. Having those concepts drilled in your head in every class really helps!

 

[vtucci]

Post-bac programs are not at all easy. The ease or difficulty depends on the program, the classes you take and the preparation you have going in. I do not know any post-bacs at City College that have a 4.0 when they apply to medical school. Many of us are at the 3.75-3.9 range and never had a physics or organic chemistry class before we started the program. It is a work ethic that many older students have that undergrads do not. We have to do well to get in-- we have no choice.

How many years are you out of school? If you were out of school 10 years, your undergrad record will not be as important as compared to a person only out for 1-3. I think the best thing you can do it get the MCAT score over a 30 and then apply to a wide range of allopathic and DO schools.

Good luck!!