low gpa, how can I get into DO school?

[FutureDO15]

Hi guys,
I am 22 years old and I have a bachelors degree in biology (2.6 gpa) I got into a car accident during my sophomore year of college and ended up missing exams and getting some Ds and Cs in science courses that I could have gotten at least Bs in. This slowed me down and ended up ruining my gpa. I have just recently took the Mcats last week and I was getting a score equivalent to a 30 on my practice exams so hopefully I get around a 30 on the actual one.

What I want to ask is how are my chances right now if I apply to a DO school with a 2.6 gpa, 30 mcat and 1 year of shadowing a family practitioner, 3 months volunteering at a hospital, 6 months of research in biostatistics, 3 years of volunteering on the weekends to give free haircuts to autistic/ disabled individuals. And I am also getting my certification in personal training and helped many overcome obesity and cholesterol in my free time. I also have a security license and worked as a security for 1 year.

What should I do to get my gpa up if this is the main thing that's holding me back because I really want to be a doctor and continue to help people because it is what I dreamt of my whole life. I hate the fact that this 2.6 gpa is defining my capabilities as a promising med student because I am very bright and if I can do it over again I know I could have done it better. I graduated in the top 10% of my high school class and got a scholarship for the first year of college.

Please no rude comments I just need your help and guidance on what I should do in order to be enrolled by next fall 2016.

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[FutureDO15]

Hi guys,
I am 22 years old and I have a bachelors degree in biology (2.6 gpa) I got into a car accident during my sophomore year of college and ended up missing exams and getting some Ds and Cs in science courses that I could have gotten at least Bs in. This slowed me down and ended up ruining my gpa. I have just recently took the Mcats last week and I was getting a score equivalent to a 30 on my practice exams so hopefully I get around a 30 on the actual one.

What I want to ask is how are my chances right now if I apply to a DO school with a 2.6 gpa, 30 mcat and 1 year of shadowing a family practitioner, 3 months volunteering at a hospital, 6 months of research in biostatistics, 3 years of volunteering on the weekends to give free haircuts to autistic/ disabled individuals. And I am also getting my certification in personal training and helped many overcome obesity and cholesterol in my free time. I also have a security license and worked as a security for 1 year.

What should I do to get my gpa up if this is the main thing that's holding me back because I really want to be a doctor and continue to help people because it is what I dreamt of my whole life. I hate the fact that this 2.6 gpa is defining my capabilities as a promising med student because I am very bright and if I can do it over again I know I could have done it better. I graduated in the top 10% of my high school class and got a scholarship for the first year of college.

Please no rude comments I just need your help and guidance on what I should do in order to be enrolled by next fall 2016.

What DO schools do you guys think would even consider me or I might have a chance of getting into. Or is there any post bacc programs in the state of New Jersey that I can do that would promise me a spot in a DO school. Thank you.

 

[IslandStyle808]

You cannot dodge the 2.6 GPA issue. You have to face this head-on and retake all courses with a C or below. This would mean waiting another year at least (IMO two years would be good). The bare minimum average you should apply with is a 3.00, otherwise you will be rejected pre-secondary or pre-interview. I would tell you to aim for a 3.25 if possible before you apply.

 

[wxman393]

What DO schools do you guys think would even consider me or I might have a chance of getting into. Or is there any post bacc programs in the state of New Jersey that I can do that would promise me a spot in a DO school. Thank you.

Agree with IslandStyle. I would not submit any applications this cycle as you will probably just be giving away free money to the schools.

I'm sorry to hear about your car accident. Did you ever approach the school about withdrawing and/or auditing those classes?

The second reason I would not apply this cycle is because you haven't taken the MCAT yet. You mentioned you've gotten a 30 on a practice exam. Was this old style or new style MCAT? I've never taken the new style but I've heard it's a beast.

You could possibly do a DIY post-bacc. I believe @Goro will tell you to retake all Fs, Ds, and Cs and try to shoot for As/Bs. Based on the self-analysis of your intelligence, you should really be able to use grade replacement to your advantage.

Good luck!

 

[Mad Jack]

Retake any courses you had poor performance in, use grade replacement, profit. Must SMPs have minimum GPAs that would leave you ineligible (lowest linked program I know of is Touro-NY, which has a 2.8 minimum). You will get screened at every school with your current numbers. Boost your GPA over 3.0 and you're golden.

 

[spenguin]

If your car accident was documented then I don't understand why the school wasn't willing to at least give you Ws. If you still have the hospital paperwork, go talk to your school.

If you can get a couple of the bad grades dropped, it would help you alot

Right now you will probably not get in. Gpa is way too low and the MCAT for DO schools has been trending up, so your 30 is not even close to making up for your gpa

That being said, if you get a 30, your MCAT is set and you just need to retake classes

 

[samac]

Are you a troll?
I'm going to bite anyway. If you're scoring 30's on your practice tests I have some bad news for you: You're taking the wrong practice tests. That's not the right scale and the new MCAT is completely different so you're screwed.
You're also not going to get in with a 2.6 GPA, you must get above a 3.0. Absolutely bare minimum, and your ECs must be stellar. Shadow a DO
Free hair cuts for autistic kids? That's a real thing? Are you licensed by your state beauty school thing (I have no idea what its called, cosmotology maybe)? That sounds made up

Also mods wanna make a move to WAMC?

 

[costales]

If your car accident was documented then I don't understand why the school wasn't willing to at least give you Ws.

Or Incompletes. Sounds fishy to me.

 

[DocWinter]

You should search SDN for a "low mcats" thread and go from there.

 

[Goro]

As of right now, your GPA is lethal for any DO school, even LUCOM.

Retake all F/D/C science coursework.

Hi guys,
I am 22 years old and I have a bachelors degree in biology (2.6 gpa) I got into a car accident during my sophomore year of college and ended up missing exams and getting some Ds and Cs in science courses that I could have gotten at least Bs in. This slowed me down and ended up ruining my gpa. I have just recently took the Mcats last week and I was getting a score equivalent to a 30 on my practice exams so hopefully I get around a 30 on the actual one.

What I want to ask is how are my chances right now if I apply to a DO school with a 2.6 gpa, 30 mcat and 1 year of shadowing a family practitioner, 3 months volunteering at a hospital, 6 months of research in biostatistics, 3 years of volunteering on the weekends to give free haircuts to autistic/ disabled individuals. And I am also getting my certification in personal training and helped many overcome obesity and cholesterol in my free time. I also have a security license and worked as a security for 1 year.

What should I do to get my gpa up if this is the main thing that's holding me back because I really want to be a doctor and continue to help people because it is what I dreamt of my whole life. I hate the fact that this 2.6 gpa is defining my capabilities as a promising med student because I am very bright and if I can do it over again I know I could have done it better. I graduated in the top 10% of my high school class and got a scholarship for the first year of college.

Please no rude comments I just need your help and guidance on what I should do in order to be enrolled by next fall 2016.

 

[yanks26dmb]

This is an incredibly simple (and dare I say easy) problem to fix. Retake all of your bad grades (comm. college retakes are generally fine) and study for the MCAT.

You're 22. you should not feel rushed into starting school right now.