MCAT 34 (12P/11V/11B), cGPA 3.45, sGPA 3.0, 4 years of research experience with first-authorship

[Pre-Jedi]

I was a Neuroscience/Psychology double major at the University of Pittsburgh, graduated 2 years ago. Only recently (in the past year) have I switched my focus from grad school to med school.

cGPA 3.45
sGPA 3.0

I just took the MCAT last month and got my score today, 34 (12P/11V/11B).

Strong leadership and student organization involvement through all undergrad years, including being President of a successful political science / philosophy / societal issues discussion group my senior year.

I currently work in a neuroscience research lab at the University of Pittsburgh where I have a lead role in the development and direction of the lab, have been doing research for over 4 years, honors thesis, multiple publications, and will have a first authorship soon. My research is clinically-focused and I work first-hand with doctors and nurses. I've guest-lectured at a graduate-level neuroscience course as well as organized and lectured at a seminar/workshop at Baylor College of Medicine.

Soon I will be moving to San Diego as a special research consultant as part of UCSD/Navy Medical Center joint clinical research project.

My cGPA is low, and my sGPA is even worse, I realize that. Here's how I'd explain it:
-I entered with a lot of AP credit (Chem, Phys, Bio, Calc, Stats) which didn't allow me to take those classes in college, which I very likely would have gotten A's in (I got A's in all of them in high school and 5's on all the AP tests).
-Because I entered with AP credit I was thrown right away into upper-level classes, in which I struggled without having taken the prerequisites recently or even in college at all.
-Chemistry was my major struggling point. My first O-Chem class heavily stressed rote memorization, which is not my best learning style. I learn better with understanding the "why" and "how" of things and how they fit into a system as a whole.
-As O-Chem was a major pre-requisite for a lot of the upper-level science courses, I struggled in them for a while.

I understand chemistry much better now, via independent study, and I believe my MCAT scores reflect that.

What are my chances? I recognize I might not be the most traditional applicant.

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[ProudMD]

The sGPA is going to be a major hurdle. A 3.0 sGPA is barely acceptable at DO schools, let alone MD schools. Your cGPA is also on the lower side, but it's perfectly acceptable. And of course, your MCAT is excellent.

Your research background is fantastic, but research focused medical schools all have 3.7+ GPA averages.

Also, I am not seeing any clinical experiences (shadowing, hospital volunteering, EMT, etc.). Clinical ECs are more important than research, so you want to have a substantial amount of clinical exposure. In addition, medical schools like to see altruism in their applicants, and this is best demonstrated through meaningful and sustained community service experiences. Your research and leadership activities are stellar, but these cannot make up for a lack of clinical and community service experiences.

The best course of action for you is to improve your sGPA as much as you can. This may mean taking undergraduate-level science classes at local universities.

There are significant strengths on your application, but unfortunately, you need to raise your sGPA in order for these strengths to help you with medical school admissions. Fortunately, if you can get your sGPA to the 3.3 range, you'll probably have a lot of good options.

 

[Pre-Jedi]

The sGPA is going to be a major hurdle. A 3.0 sGPA is barely acceptable at DO schools, let alone MD schools. Your cGPA is also on the lower side, but it's perfectly acceptable. And of course, your MCAT is excellent.

Your research background is fantastic, but research focused medical schools all have 3.7+ GPA averages.

Also, I am not seeing any clinical experiences (shadowing, hospital volunteering, EMT, etc.). Clinical ECs are more important than research, so you want to have a substantial amount of clinical exposure. In addition, medical schools like to see altruism in their applicants, and this is best demonstrated through meaningful and sustained community service experiences. Your research and leadership activities are stellar, but these cannot make up for a lack of clinical and community service experiences.

The best course of action for you is to improve your sGPA as much as you can. This may mean taking undergraduate-level science classes at local universities.

There are significant strengths on your application, but unfortunately, you need to raise your sGPA in order for these strengths to help you with medical school admissions. Fortunately, if you can get your sGPA to the 3.3 range, you'll probably have a lot of good options.

Thank you for your honest opinion.

Do you think I should look into a post-bacc or SMP with my situation? Would either of those options not accept me because of my low sGPA or isn't a GPA boost kind of the point of some of them?

 

[ProudMD]

Thank you for your honest opinion.

Do you think I should look into a post-bacc or SMP with my situation? Would either of those options not accept me because of my low sGPA or isn't a GPA boost kind of the point of some of them?

I would not recommend a SMP unless you have no other choice.

How many science credits do you have? How long will it take to get your sGPA to the 3.3 range? If you can take 4-8 science courses and raise your sGPA above a 3.3, then I don't think it'll be worth the expense and risk to pursue a SMP.

And with your credentials, you'll have no problem getting into any of the SMP programs. It's just that I can't recommend such programs unless you have no other options.

 

[Goro]

The sGPA is lethal for MD schools, but you still have chances at many DO schools
Words are easy, doing is hard. You won't get much traction with this line of reasoning.

-I entered with a lot of AP credit (Chem, Phys, Bio, Calc, Stats) which didn't allow me to take those classes in college, which I very likely would have gotten A's in (I got A's in all of them in high school and 5's on all the AP tests).

 

[ProudMD]

Wait OP, are you saying that you've never taken general chem, physics, bio, etc at a 4-year university? These are prerequisite courses, and most medical schools do NOT accept AP credit for their biology, chemistry, and physics prerequisites!

It looks like things just got a lot easier for you. Simply take these prerequisite courses, get A's on them (it seems you are confident), and that'll boost your sGPA.

 

[ProudMD]

Your excellent MCAT should be good for 2-3 years. For the next 1.5 years or so, go to an affordable 4-year school, take all your prerequisite courses (which should be easy for you since you did well on the AP exams), raise your sGPA, acquire clinical ECs, and you'll have an excellent application. It'll take you a while, but you are in a really good spot right now.

 

[Pre-Jedi]

Your excellent MCAT should be good for 2-3 years. For the next 1.5 years or so, go to an affordable 4-year school, take all your prerequisite courses (which should be easy for you since you did well on the AP exams), raise your sGPA, acquire clinical ECs, and you'll have an excellent application. It'll take you a while, but you are in a really good spot right now.

Thank you for the advice. I'll start looking into that now. So perhaps applying in June of 2016 would be better than applying in June next year (2015)? Given that I take this spring, next fall, and next spring to take those pre-reqs?

 

[DaMedDude]

yeah man, you got a 34 mcat so you obviously know the material. The premed courses that you have to take anyways should be a breeze. How many science classes go into that 3.0 you have? You should be able to get all As in all those premed courses that you haven't taken which could make MD feasible if you can get that up to a 3.5 at least.