Fall Semester: Should I work or take more classes?

[vashka]

Short story, I'm broke and living on my last dollars lol.

My cgpa is a 3.5 something. My sci gpa is a 3.49 right now. This is after a full year's worth of classes to pull my gpa up big time. When I started my sci gpa was a 2.9 I took genetics, cell bio, animal behavior, parasitology, animal physiology, orgo 2, retook chem2 and gen bio2 ( and a bunch of other classes that aren't high level bios). My post bacc gpa is a 4.0 after 42hrs of credits. Now, I could take another 2 full semesters to get myself to a 3.6 sci and cum. Or take a couple more classes just to get my sci gpa to a solid 3.5 something.

I gotta choose between working at my lucrative old job and saving loads of money before entering med school while taking 1-2 classes in the fall to bump up my sci gpa to a full 3.5+. Or I can take a full load and try to find a part time job to make sure I have my necessities. I'm sitting for the mcat is maybe 5wks so I have no idea what I'll score. Is the extra 0.1 point bump in gpa worth it?

Thanks!

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[477552]

The MCAT might make or break that decision. I can't offer more than my $0.02, so here's my experience:

I've done the reverse, taking a class here and there while working full-time, and I was told that it's just not enough. Currently, my plan includes summer session and fall quarter (possibly winter, depending on interviews and possible acceptances). All in all, my post-bacc units will total 40. I was interviewed/waitlisted at my top choice school before all of this. And my GPA will still be lower than yours after all of it, presuming I maintain my post-bacc 4.0.

So, if you rock the MCAT, that 0.1 might be a moot point. However, it also depends on where you're applying and how your ECs are. My recent chat with the AD of admissions indicated that they would prefer me to NOT bail out of life entirely and just study. They want to see a balance between studying, volunteering, and life. Ironically, not bailing out of life entirely and just studying when I was an undergrad is why I'm applying to medical school for the umpteenth time at 31. So, solid, interesting ECs are a factor to consider.

On the financial front, my work's being very flexible and the idea of having little/no income just made me and my spouse break into cold sweats. The old lucrative job might be a good deal, because that money's going to come in handy. Not only for savings, but for interviews, etc.

 

[MedPR]

Short story, I'm broke and living on my last dollars lol.

My cgpa is a 3.5 something. My sci gpa is a 3.49 right now. This is after a full year's worth of classes to pull my gpa up big time. When I started my sci gpa was a 2.9 I took genetics, cell bio, animal behavior, parasitology, animal physiology, orgo 2, retook chem2 and gen bio2 ( and a bunch of other classes that aren't high level bios). My post bacc gpa is a 4.0 after 42hrs of credits. Now, I could take another 2 full semesters to get myself to a 3.6 sci and cum. Or take a couple more classes just to get my sci gpa to a solid 3.5 something.

I gotta choose between working at my lucrative old job and saving loads of money before entering med school while taking 1-2 classes in the fall to bump up my sci gpa to a full 3.5+. Or I can take a full load and try to find a part time job to make sure I have my necessities. I'm sitting for the mcat is maybe 5wks so I have no idea what I'll score. Is the extra 0.1 point bump in gpa worth it?

Thanks!

If you need the money, you need to work. I'm supporting myself and need to work, but like you my GPA was really low. I bumped it up to a 3.2 DO/3.14 MD from a 2.65 in the last year (30 credits) while working full-time and doing a few other things to improve my application.

I personally am going to continue working while taking classes to bump up my GPA as much as possible even if it's only 0.1.