MD & DO Low GPA, Avg. MCAT

[fordprefect1995]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if you could give me a realistic understanding of my chances at medical school. I think I chose a very hard top 20 college to go to (Cornell) and am feeling way over my head still (i'm a junior). Any input would be great!

• Year in school: Junior
• Country/state of residence: PA
• Schools to which you are applying: Currently thinking about Morehouse, Howard, Meharry, Cooper, UNM for MD and LECOM, ACOM, ATSU, DMU, Marian, NSU and Campbell for DO.
• Cumulative GPA: 3.138
• Science GPA: 3.0
• MCAT Scores: 507 (on practice AAMC MCAT, scheduled to take it in January)
• Research: 2 years in an entomology lab with the Director of Undergraduate Biology
• Volunteering (clinical) – 200 hours at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania (from HS to college)
• Physician shadowing – 20 hours with general physician, 8 hours with neonatal intesivist, 8 hours with dentist, 8 hours with rural general physician
• Non-clinical volunteering: I work as a peer counselor at a student support hotline (2 hrs/week + monthly training + 1 semester training others in short-term positive psychology methods (4 hrs/week) + manage social media for the service)
  
• Extracurricular activities: Finance Director for Concert Commission (3 hrs/week), Treasurer for Health Occupations Student Association (1 hr/week), Social Media Director for radio station (2 hr/week), Treasurer for Bengali Student Association (1 hr/week)
• Employment history: Summer internship at local radio station in Philadelphia
• Immediate family members in medicine? Both parents are physicians.
• Specialty of interest: Psychiatry
• Shadowing experience: N/A
• Graduate degrees: N/A
• Interest in rural health: y

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[BluMist]

I'm assuming you are African American since you're applying to Morehouse, Howard, Meharry.
With that in mind. ~3.1 GPA + 507 (~28, 29 on the old scale), you have a ~60% (compare to ~40% of avg. applicant) chance of acceptance already (https://www.aamc.org/download/321514/data/factstablea24-2.pdf)
If you can bring your cGPA to >3.2 by doing well next semester, and/or score 510+ on the MCAT, your chances are getting closer to 70-80%

At this point, I would also recommend getting some shadowing hours and continue with your ECs. Your chances are already above average.

 

[fordprefect1995]

At this point the major thing obviously holding you down is the GPA. If it was a few classes that brought your grade down then I would definitely recommend taking advantage of DO grade replacement. This would mean that you would have to stay at school for a little while longer, but it would surely increase your chances. I would also be aware that MCAT practice tests can often be deceiving, you could end up doing better or worse.

I've seen people in worse shape than you make it in. But I do recommend addressing the GPA issue.
Good luck!

Thanks for your help! What if it's not a few classes, but that I overall tend to get around the average which is a B, B+, B- in most classes? How would you suggest going about trying to fix my GPA?

 

[fordprefect1995]

I'm assuming you are African American since you're applying to Morehouse, Howard, Meharry.
With that in mind. ~3.1 GPA + 507 (~28, 29 on the old scale), you have a ~60% (compare to ~40% of avg. applicant) chance of acceptance already (https://www.aamc.org/download/321514/data/factstablea24-2.pdf)
If you can bring your cGPA to >3.2 by doing well next semester, and/or score 510+ on the MCAT, your chances are getting closer to 70-80%

At this point, I would also recommend getting some shadowing hours and continue with your ECs. Your chances are already above average.

I wasn't aware that I had to African American to apply to those schools. What if I'm a South Asian female? Also, if I apply this cycle, I thought my grades from the spring semester will not count? I'm currently scheduled to shadow the head of cardiology at Drexel University's Hanheman Hospital, do you think that would help?

 

[Goro]

Your stats are lethal for MD schools and on life support for many DO schools, like CUSOM. Chances will be best with the newest schools. I can't recommend BCOM.

Hi guys,

I was wondering if you could give me a realistic understanding of my chances at medical school. I think I chose a very hard top 20 college to go to (Cornell) and am feeling way over my head still (i'm a junior). Any input would be great!

• Year in school: Junior
• Country/state of residence: PA
• Schools to which you are applying: Currently thinking about Morehouse, Howard, Meharry, Cooper, UNM for MD and LECOM, ACOM, ATSU, DMU, Marian, NSU and Campbell for DO.
• Cumulative GPA: 3.138
• Science GPA: 3.0
• MCAT Scores: 507 (on practice AAMC MCAT, scheduled to take it in January)
• Research: 2 years in an entomology lab with the Director of Undergraduate Biology
• Volunteering (clinical) – 200 hours at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania (from HS to college)
• Physician shadowing – 20 hours with general physician, 8 hours with neonatal intesivist, 8 hours with dentist, 8 hours with rural general physician
• Non-clinical volunteering: I work as a peer counselor at a student support hotline (2 hrs/week + monthly training + 1 semester training others in short-term positive psychology methods (4 hrs/week) + manage social media for the service)
  
• Extracurricular activities: Finance Director for Concert Commission (3 hrs/week), Treasurer for Health Occupations Student Association (1 hr/week), Social Media Director for radio station (2 hr/week), Treasurer for Bengali Student Association (1 hr/week)
• Employment history: Summer internship at local radio station in Philadelphia
• Immediate family members in medicine? Both parents are physicians.
• Specialty of interest: Psychiatry
• Shadowing experience: N/A
• Graduate degrees: N/A
• Interest in rural health: y

 

[fordprefect1995]

Your stats are lethal for MD schools and on life support for many DO schools, like CUSOM. Chances will be best with the newest schools. I can't recommend BCOM.

Some DO schools, like Ohio State, offer combined post-bacc and DO programs. Do you think I'd be competitive for those?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Some DO schools, like Ohio State, offer combined post-bacc and DO programs. Do you think I'd be competitive for those?

First your lack of knowledge about applying is showing, Ohio State is not a DO program... Also all of the MD schools you mentioned are mostly historically black colleges that you have no chance at and UNM is so strongly biased in state that you have no chance there either. You need to retake any CDF courses and do grade replacement. Come back to us when you have a real MCAT score (also FYI your real score is usually lower than your practice scores so giving us a practice score is worthless)

Before you do anything take the MCAT and come back and ask for more advice. After that you need to really focus on doing some grade replacement

 

[BluMist]

I rescind my previous comment then. You do not have to be African American to apply, but it does not seem you would fit the mission since you had no context about HBCU.
While others have mentioned about your lack of knowledge, it is something you can easily fix (compared to other areas of your application). You need to do some research and figure out a concrete plan before blindly entering the process.

I wasn't aware that I had to African American to apply to those schools. What if I'm a South Asian female? Also, if I apply this cycle, I thought my grades from the spring semester will not count? I'm currently scheduled to shadow the head of cardiology at Drexel University's Hanheman Hospital, do you think that would help?

 

[fordprefect1995]

First your lack of knowledge about applying is showing, Ohio State is not a DO program... Also all of the MD schools you mentioned are mostly historically black colleges that you have no chance at and UNM is so strongly biased in state that you have no chance there either. You need to retake any CDF courses and do grade replacement. Come back to us when you have a real MCAT score (also FYI your real score is usually lower than your practice scores so giving us a practice score is worthless)

Before you do anything take the MCAT and come back and ask for more advice. After that you need to really focus on doing some grade replacement

Thank you for correcting me, I meant Ohio University Heritage COM which stated that they had a guaranteed post-bacc program. I don't have any CDF scores, just a string of B and B-'s which I'm not sure can be fixed by doing grade replacement. Could you clarify more about what you meant about grade replacement?

 

[fordprefect1995]

I rescind my previous comment then. You do not have to be African American to apply, but it does not seem you would fit the mission since you had no context about HBCU.
While others have mentioned about your lack of knowledge, it is something you can easily fix (compared to other areas of your application). You need to do some research and figure out a concrete plan before blindly entering the process.

Thank you for your help! I definitely agree that I need to do more research. What do you recommend doing to come up with a concrete plan? So far, I have a spreadsheet with 30 or so DO and MD schools with their instate/out of state acceptance rates, GPA ranges and MCAT scores (taken from MSAR and the AACOM website). After going through these, I chose the ones with the lowest GPA ranges. I thought an HBCU would be good because since coming to college, I've learnt a lot more about race issues and have become more interested in exploring my role as a South Asian in society as well as discrimination faced by South Asians historically. Thanks again for your help!

 

[fordprefect1995]

Thank you for your help! I definitely agree that I need to do more research. What do you recommend doing to come up with a concrete plan? So far, I have a spreadsheet with 30 or so DO and MD schools with their instate/out of state acceptance rates, GPA ranges and MCAT scores (taken from MSAR and the AACOM website). After going through these, I chose the ones with the lowest GPA ranges. I thought an HBCU would be good because since coming to college, I've learnt a lot more about race issues and have become more interested in exploring my role as a South Asian in society as well as discrimination faced by South Asians historically. Thanks again for your help!

I also looked at schools where people with my stats from my University previously applied to and were accepted to.
The list thus far is:
MD:
Drexel University
Ponce Health Sciences University
Morehouse School of Medicine
Howard University College of Medicine
Meharry Medical College
Penn State Hershey Medical College
Temple University Medical College
Pittsburg School of Medicine
Commonwealth Medical College
Creighton University
Rush Medical
Emory Medial
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Tech
Netter School @ Quinnipiac University
Georgetown
Tulane ( w/ Melbourne University Program)
Cooper

DO
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine- Bradenton Campus
Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine
Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine- Nevada
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine
ATSU of Health Sciences- College of Osteopathic Medicine
Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine
DMU College of Osteopathic Medicine
Marian University College of Medicine
Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine
NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine
Ohio University Heritage COM
Touro University NY

 

[gyngyn]

If you are fluent in Spanish, the 3 Puerto Rican schools that accept mainlanders are reasonable choices.
The HBCU's are probably not a good choice as previously mentioned. They are looking for a lifetime commitment to this community.

You need to buy the MSAR . If you are referring to the U of Pittsburgh, their 10th% gpa is 3.6 and would not be a good choice with the information you have provided.

 

[fordprefect1995]

If you are fluent in Spanish, the 3 Puerto Rican schools that accept mainlanders are reasonable choices.
The HBCU's are probably not a good choice as previously mentioned. They are looking for a lifetime commitment to this community.

You need to buy the MSAR . If you are referring to the U of Pittsburgh, their 10th% gpa is 3.6 and would not be a good choice with the information you have provided.

Do you have feedback about the other schools? I just put U of Pitt there because they also have a combined post-bacc and MD program and it is a state school. However, given your feedback, I will take it off the list. Thank you for your help!

 

[BluMist]

keep separate lists for post-bacc and medical school; it is not necessary to go through a formal post-bacc program. SDN has its own post-bacc forum if you want more information.
condensed version: you can do a post-bacc at formal post-bacc program, your current school, (maybe cheaper) state schools, community colleges, or even online, each with its own pros and cons.

Do you have feedback about the other schools? I just put U of Pitt there because they also have a combined post-bacc and MD program and it is a state school. However, given your feedback, I will take it off the list. Thank you for your help!

 

[gyngyn]

Do you have feedback about the other schools? I just put U of Pitt there because they also have a combined post-bacc and MD program and it is a state school. However, given your feedback, I will take it off the list. Thank you for your help!

I'll wait for the real MCAT (and the real list!).
I try not to speculate on speculations...

 

[Goro]

FYI, Pitt is NOT a state school.

Do you have feedback about the other schools? I just put U of Pitt there because they also have a combined post-bacc and MD program and it is a state school. However, given your feedback, I will take it off the list. Thank you for your help!

 

[Goro]

Reject bait for these. Your stats are below the 10th %ile for every one, and the only way to overcome that is with killer ECs and/or a massive rising GPA trend. One good semester doesn't count.

MD:
Drexel University
Ponce Health Sciences University
Morehouse School of Medicine
Howard University College of Medicine
Meharry Medical College
Penn State Hershey Medical College
Temple University Medical College
Pittsburg School of Medicine
Commonwealth Medical College
Creighton University
Rush Medical
Emory Medial
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Tech
Netter School @ Quinnipiac University
Georgetown
Tulane ( w/ Melbourne University Program)
Cooper


Maybe these
DO
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine- Bradenton Campus
Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine (only if you're a NJ resident)
Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
ATSU of Health Sciences- College of Osteopathic Medicine
NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine

 

[LuluLovesMe]

Your stats are lethal for MD schools and on life support for many DO schools, like CUSOM. Chances will be best with the newest schools. I can't recommend BCOM.

Oh? This is the first time I've seen a school you don't recommend outside of LUCOM (And sometimes Penn State).

What do you dislike about BCOM?

 

[Goro]

Several SDNers wrote to me about disturbing things about one of their Deans. He seemed vindictive.

Oh? This is the first time I've seen a school you don't recommend outside of LUCOM (And sometimes Penn State).

What do you dislike about BCOM?

 

[fordprefect1995]

Reject bait for these. Your stats are below the 10th %ile for every one, and the only way to overcome that is with killer ECs and/or a massive rising GPA trend. One good semester doesn't count.

What would count as a killer EC? For example, I'm a peer counselor who works for 2 and a half hours each week at a crisis line, trains other students (about 70 in large groups and 10-12 in small groups) for 2 and a half hours/week. In addition to this, I was the Finance Director for the Concert Commission which involved managing about $200,000 budget, meeting with various school offices and presenting weekly budget breakdowns as well as Treasurer for a prehealth club which involved handling $1500. On the side, I started my own radio show and manage the social media for the radio station which involves setting up interviews with local artists, visiting artists as well as local businesses, editing and publishing student writing. Lastly, I've gotten two of my stories published in various school magazines... do you think these are enough to pique interest?

 

[piii]

Even if you get a 507, 8% of applicants with your GPA get into MD school every year. If you raised to the next GPA bracket, then it's 14%.

https://www.aamc.org/download/321516/data/factstablea24-3.pdf