I am currently a junior at a top ranked state school. I transferred from another top ranked private school that was a bit far from home because of financial and personal issues going on at home. My GPA at my former school was at a 2.9 both cGPA and sGPA and currently I have started at a 3.02 at my new school (I am a biology major with a concentration in neuroscience). I have found it difficult to focus on my classes at times due to the issues going on at home but I am now trying to take more control of it. I have taken an EMT last summer hoping to volunteer at my present school but I am unsure what I should do after college? Is it realistic to aim for a three semesters of 4.0s to apply and be a strong applicant in medical school? Or should I consider a SMP or post bac? (I have gotten relative decent science grades A- in biochem, biology honors, B+ in physiology as well as okay, a lot Bs and B-s) I also haven't had much volunteer experience because I am often spending free times at home babysitting and trying to help the family out. Please help give me some guidance.
In Need of Help Please!
- Thread starter EPowdar
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You definitely need to take a gap year or two at least.
Focus first on getting both your cGPA and sGPA above 3.0 and maintaining it above 3.0 through graduation, because you will be screened out at a lot of places if either are below 3.0.
If you were to get all A's and B's from here on out you would have a 3.1-3.2 at best and you will need to do an SMP/post bac to show adcoms that you can handle science curriculum.
You need to have a lot of clinical/volunteer experience before you apply. Working as an EMT is good, also if you could get an ER scribe position or try to volunteer in an underserved clinic focusing on patient contact then that would be good also. Also make sure that you gain shadowing experience if you haven't already. Research is good too, but not as important as your grades and clinical volunteer experience.
After you bring up your grades/graduate, focus on studying for the MCAT. You ideally should study for it after you graduate (I'm assuming in May), and study for it the whole summer with minimal distractions and take it in August. Then you should matriculate into an SMP/post bac that you would have applied to earlier in the year.
I think that what I said is good but anyone feel free to add on or correct me if needed.
I wish you the best of luck, let me know if you have any other questions!
Focus first on getting both your cGPA and sGPA above 3.0 and maintaining it above 3.0 through graduation, because you will be screened out at a lot of places if either are below 3.0.
If you were to get all A's and B's from here on out you would have a 3.1-3.2 at best and you will need to do an SMP/post bac to show adcoms that you can handle science curriculum.
You need to have a lot of clinical/volunteer experience before you apply. Working as an EMT is good, also if you could get an ER scribe position or try to volunteer in an underserved clinic focusing on patient contact then that would be good also. Also make sure that you gain shadowing experience if you haven't already. Research is good too, but not as important as your grades and clinical volunteer experience.
After you bring up your grades/graduate, focus on studying for the MCAT. You ideally should study for it after you graduate (I'm assuming in May), and study for it the whole summer with minimal distractions and take it in August. Then you should matriculate into an SMP/post bac that you would have applied to earlier in the year.
I think that what I said is good but anyone feel free to add on or correct me if needed.
I wish you the best of luck, let me know if you have any other questions!
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I concur with this answer, to make it shot, you need to do these things from now on:
1) Do your best with your classes at your current institution (4.0 with all 3 semesters seems like a stretch, but doable)
2) Do very well on your MCAT (this will be the deciding factor for many SMP or post bac programs)
3) Use your gap year to volunteer (get more clinical exposure, find out what might want do, Primary vs. Specialized, shadowing is good)
4) Do very well during your first year with SMP (to show that you can handle medical school curriculum) and then apply during your second year.
It seems like a long journey, but it's worth it if medicine is something you really want to pursue. Good luck.
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It looks like you may need a post bac in order to show the admissions committee that you can handle the rigors of med school. It's only an extra year (I actually did a post bac) and it will prepare you for med school.
Antonio Webb, M.D.
Orthopedic Surgery Resident
