GPA repairment

[realtalk15]

I am an aspiring physician who you can possibly call a late bloomer.

My Freshman year grades are as follows:
AMCAS: 1.83
BCPM: 1.77
28 credits total (25 credits sciences)
Sophomore year:
AMCAS: 2.12
BCPM: 1.9
30 credits total (24 credits sciences)
Junior year:
AMCAS: 2.48
BCPM: 1.89
37 credits total (19 credits sciences)
Senior Year:
AMCAS: 3.72
BCPM: 3.59
37 credits total (25 credits sciences)

As it stands, my overall GPA is a 2.61 whereas my BCPM GPA is a 2.32. Many of you might discourage me from pursuing medicine since getting into Med school will be a mountain of a task for me but I still want advice on how to make myself more competitive. I haven't taken the MCATS yet but I am studying now. I have gotten around a C grade for all my pre-med classes so I am took upper level Biology courses to show I have improved during my senior year.

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[FindMeOnTheLinks]

Retake all the classes you got a C in and apply to DO schools. It might take a lot of time and money, but you can eventually get your GPA to >3.0 for DO schools with their grade replacement policy. Do well on the mcat and have solid EC's and you have a shot.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Lol, I call it GPA reconstruction. Anyway, if you demonstrate >30 credits of straight As, you might have a shot at an MD program if the rest of your app is competitive.

 

[Catalystik]

At the end of my Junior year, I had a 2.35 GPA. I received a 3.9 this last semester (fall semester of my Senior year) and I'm looking to repeat that for the following semester. Many of you might discourage me from pursuing medicine since getting into Med school will be a mountain of a task for me but I still want advice on how to make myself more competitive. I haven't taken the MCATS yet but I am studying now. I have gotten around a C grade for all my pre-med classes so I am taking upper level Biology courses to show I have improved.

Stay in undergrad an extra year at least and keep earning a high GPA. Get your cGPA (at a minimum) and BCPM GPA (if possible) over 3.0 and either get a very-high MCAT score or consider doing an 3.7+ GPA SMP (Special Masters Program affiliated with a med school).

 

[moop]

Lol, I call it GPA reconstruction. Anyway, if you demonstrate >30 credits of straight As, you might have a shot at an MD program if the rest of your app is competitive.

Incorrect. OP needs GPA construction.

 

[realtalk15]

From the replies it seems that in order to get into an MD school in the states, it is in my best interest to:
1) stay an extra year in school
2) rock the MCAT

For staying an extra year in school, should I retake all the pre med requirements I received a C in?

 

[NeuResurgens]

You're going to need straight A's for the rest of your undergrad. If you manage to get above a 3 and then you get 32+ on your MCAT, you could make it. It's going to require work and dedication, but if you can pull A's in all the retakes you got C's in and get A's on the rest, it is possible.

In fact, accomplishing this would likely show just how passionate you are about medicine and would be very impressive/convincing.

 

[realtalk15]

You're going to need straight A's for the rest of your undergrad. If you manage to get above a 3 and then you get 32+ on your MCAT, you could make it. It's going to require work and dedication, but if you can pull A's in all the retakes you got C's in and get A's on the rest, it is possible.

In fact, accomplishing this would likely show just how passionate you are about medicine and would be very impressive/convincing.

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I will stay an extra two semesters and load up on credits (mostly consisting of pre-med req classes I received a C in). Is it worthwhile for me to apply to med school for Fall 2016 cycle or should I wait another year?

 

[blueharbor]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I will stay an extra two semesters and load up on credits (mostly consisting of pre-med req classes I received a C in). Is it worthwhile for me to apply to med school for Fall 2016 cycle or should I wait another year?

It would be better to take more time for the retakes and extra science courses. Don't overload yourself and potentially compromise your grades when you need straight A's more than anything else.

I'd say to apply only when you have completed all the extra courses you're planning to take.

 

[NeuResurgens]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I will stay an extra two semesters and load up on credits (mostly consisting of pre-med req classes I received a C in). Is it worthwhile for me to apply to med school for Fall 2016 cycle or should I wait another year?

You'd need to apply this Junr if you wanted to go in 2016. I'd say wait at least a year.

 

[realtalk15]

To make myself more competitive for MD schools, should I come back to school for a year and retake all my science courses or should I apply to a SPM such as the ones offered by RWJ or NJMS?

 

[ZedsDed]

To make myself more competitive for MD schools, should I come back to school for a year and retake all my science courses or should I apply to a SPM such as the ones offered by RWJ or NJMS?

You need to do both. Spend the next year or so crushing your classes (3.8+). If you can do that, then you can apply to SMPs (as long as your GPA is over 3.0). Scoring a high MCAT is a given, naturally. I think your best bet is to go DO, you can raise your grade significantly using grade replacement, and possibly avoid 50K on an SMP.

 

[realtalk15]

Guys, If you can please reread my original post; I have edited it and calculated my AMCAS/BCPM GPA.

So from what I gather, I should stay an extra year in school to raise my GPA, and then enroll in an SPM? As far as my EC's are concerned, I have three hospital internships, I'm part of the First Aid Squad, founder and president of a club at school, and I've shadowed a pediatrician. I speak 3 different languages and I've also taught English in a foreign country.

 

[GrapesofRath]

DO is a far far better bet for you than any MD. Forget about 1 year of near perfect grades, you'll need Multiple years of near perfection to start a conversation about trying to get into an MD school. Yes you improved dramatically last year but this type of thing is just a huge huge thing to try to aim for and financially its a gamble

DOs as others have said with grade replacement on retakes are a whole different ball game. It's a much faster and easier way to raise your gpa and its a much safer investment. Even if you retake these classes and do well I'd still recommend doing a post-bac(1 good year 3 bad years and getting good grades on classes you've already taken will still probably leave questions to ADCOMs whether you can hack med school) to show proof that you can consistently do well and have what it takes to hack med school. A 3.0 that's largely based on class retakes probably won't cut it for DO; you'll need to retake those pre reqs then continue to do well in upper level science classes.

As for an MD discussion it'll take a lot more to repair your gpa but honestly its probably just better to focus on short term and see if you can continue your trend and if you do then come back and start thinking more ambitiously.

I don't have your transcript but let's say hypothetically you retake your pre reqs and get a 3.8 average on that. If that's about 30 credits including lab you can roughly increase your gpa say to about 2.9/2.8 for DO purposes and say 2.6/2.5 for MD purposes(very rough estimates someone can correct if they want). From there another year of strong work of around 3.8 would probably put you in the DO range but having re taken most of your pre reqs to inflate your gpa( a lot of people would help their gpa If they got to retake all their pre reqs) I still think I would recommend a post bacc. Now as you can see for MD it would take a lot more to get you in a semi realistic MD range. This also has nothing to do with your ECs and MCAT where the MD standards are much higher averages.

All in all this conversation is based largely on hypotheticals but for now focus on your gpa take as many classes as possible and then you can try and figure out where to go from there and what's realistic. Good luck mate