cGPA 3.42/sGPA 3.36 before Post-Bacc

[adran49]

I'm contemplating my chances before I enter a formal Post-Bacc program this fall. I want to make sure I do all I can to be in a good spot to get into medical school. I know a lot is still up in the air because I have to finish prereqs and take the MCAT but I want to make sure that my GPA is still salvageable. Any advice or thoughts on my chances would be greatly appreciated. Also I want to aim for MD because I really like research but I am not opposed to DO, I want to be a doctor.

Male, Caucasian, 23
New York Resident
BA Psychology, Private Liberal Arts College
First Generation College Student

GPA
Freshman-3.27 (Humanities at Community College)
Sophomore-2.1 (Computer Science at OOS State School) (Failed calc 1 and comp programming)
Junior-3.91 (Psych at private school)(Calc 1-A, Calc 2-B+, Stats-A, Bio 1-A, Chem 1-A-)
Senior- 3.89 (Bio 2-A, Chem 2-B+)
AMCAS cGPA- 3.42
AMCAS sGPA- 3.36
AAMCOMAS cGPA- 3.5
AAMCOMAS sGPA- 3.65

I am taking Orgo, Physics, and Biochem in my Post-Bacc. Factoring in 5 A's gets me:
AMCAS cGPA- 3.51
AMCAS sGPA- 3.61
AAMCOMAS cGPA- 3.58
AAMCOMAS sGPA- 3.8

Research
Cognitive Neuroscience-3000 hours (3 years), 2 publications (2nd author on both, 1 high impact journal), 1 poster presentation at international conference
Clinical/Social Psychology-1000 hours (2 years)
Animal Behavior-300 hours (6 months)
1 individual paper presented at school sponsored conference

Volunteering-Clinical
none yet, I have applied to volunteer at a local hospital

Volunteering-Non-Clinical
Secretary of National Honors Society-250 hours (2 semesters)
Statistics Teachers Assistant- 250 hours (2 semesters)
Psychology Tutor-250 hours (3 semesters)
Tutoring High School Students in Chem-50 hours
Speaker at New Student Orientations- 50 hours (2 years)
SPCA-50 hours (1 semester)

Shadowing
Grand Rounds- 5 hours
Pathology/Neuropathology- 15 hours

Employment
Co-Founder and CFO of a Clothing Company- 2 years
Pharmacy Technician-2500 hours (2.5 years)
Physical Therapy Aide- 400 hours (6 months)

Awards
Summa Cum Laude
Most outstanding student in Psych Department
Most outstanding student in College of Arts and Sciences
Psi Chi National Honors Society
Alpha Chi National Honors Society
Member of College of Arts and Sciences Research Society

Most of everything in my app happened in the last 2.5 years of college for me. Do you think adcoms would look past my first 2 years? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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[GrapesofRath]

If you do well in your pre-reqs you'll be fine

 

[Grace184]

It's salvageable- your sophomore year was essentially bad but this is all hypothetical. Focus on now and not what could be. You also have the MCAT too. Anyone can make excel spreadsheets of perfect grades- work on what's in front of you or else you may get discouraged when Life doesn't follow along.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Anyone can make excel spreadsheets of perfect grades- work on what's in front of you or else you may get discouraged when Life doesn't follow along.

This is the perfect quote for the three million "will my bad GPA be ok if I all of a sudden remarkably start getting 4.0's" threads on here every week.

 

[adran49]

If you do well in your pre-reqs you'll be fine

It's salvageable- your sophomore year was essentially bad but this is all hypothetical. Focus on now and not what could be. You also have the MCAT too. Anyone can make excel spreadsheets of perfect grades- work on what's in front of you or else you may get discouraged when Life doesn't follow along.

Thank you so much for your advice, I greatly appreciate it.

I do realize that I am getting a bit ahead of myself, but I would like to get a feel for my chances before I put down 50k for a formal post-bacc program. I don't think that wanting a good return on investment is being overly cautious.

As for me remarkably getting 4.0's. My last 6 semesters of coursework averaged me a 3.9 GPA. That means that a few of those semesters, that had 4-5 courses, were 4.0 semesters, with science pre-reqs. I don't think it's inconceivable to think that I can get a 4.0 while taking 1-2 courses a semester. But that is besides the point considering I wrote "Factoring in 5 A's gets me," not "I will definitely get A's so here's my new GPA." I was painting a picture to give the best possible outcome so that people may see a range in which my GPA will fall.

But alas, thank you again for the advice, it sincerely is greatly appreciated. Just wanted some insight from a community that is striving towards the same goal.

 

[adran49]

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[Banco]

Thank you so much for your advice, I greatly appreciate it.

I do realize that I am getting a bit ahead of myself, but I would like to get a feel for my chances before I put down 50k for a formal post-bacc program. I don't think that wanting a good return on investment is being overly cautious.

As for me remarkably getting 4.0's. My last 6 semesters of coursework averaged me a 3.9 GPA. That means that a few of those semesters, that had 4-5 courses, were 4.0 semesters, with science pre-reqs. I don't think it's inconceivable to think that I can get a 4.0 while taking 1-2 courses a semester. But that is besides the point considering I wrote "Factoring in 5 A's gets me," not "I will definitely get A's so here's my new GPA." I was painting a picture to give the best possible outcome so that people may see a range in which my GPA will fall.

But alas, thank you again for the advice, it sincerely is greatly appreciated. Just wanted some insight from a community that is striving towards the same goal.

You get those 5 A's, and you're back in business. Your activities are excellent, but definitely volunteer at a hospital and shadow more. Round it off with a good MCAT and you're pretty competitive for MD, and super competitive for DO.

 

[adran49]

You get those 5 A's, and you're back in business. Your activities are excellent, but definitely volunteer at a hospital and shadow more. Round it off with a good MCAT and you're pretty competitive for MD, and super competitive for DO.

Banco, thank you very much for the reply. I will be starting to volunteer at a local hospital this month and am trying to set up shadowing opportunities. I'm glad to know that I still have a chance and I will definitely be busting my butt to do well in those classes and on the MCAT. Thanks again, that makes me feel much better about my course of action!