Non-traditional CA resident with a 3.3; is a 36 enough to help??

[BeachBlondie]

I'm 35 days out from taking the MCAT. And, I've been studying with a particular goal in mind:

36 or bust (AKA retake)

I'm curious if this goal is too low to make me competitive for California schools, considering my GPA is a bit of a weakness, at first glance. And, before you say, "Well, why don't you just apply out-of-state?", I must preface all of this with the fact that my husband will be starting his residency in California, and all of my family is in California. So, it's my home state or nothing.

I'm a non-traditional student; went to Harvard and completed all of my pre-reqs therein.

GPA
C - 3.35
Sc - 3.0

Research/Publications
- 4 years (and counting) as a researcher in clinical orthopaedics (40+ hours/week)
- Authored: 4 book chapters, 2 first-author journal publications, several 2nd-author + publications
- Presented my research in Europe and the US

Clinical Experience
- Over 150 hours in the OR for total joint replacement procedures
- Over 100 hours of shooting patient films in radiology for joint replacement studies (some, immediately post-op.... owie )
- I've assisted in/performed total knee replacement procedures in cadavers (yes, cadavers!) for kinematics studies and surgical labs

Volunteer Work
-Contributing member of the Surfrider Foundation since 2007
-3 months of ER volunteer work

Miscellaneous
-I was a collegiate athlete as a undergrad (lacrosse)
-I was an executive member of pre-medical student societies at my undergraduate university, as well as at Harvard.

I was just curious about the opinions of the masses regarding what a 36+ MCAT score would do to help bolster my pedigree. Should I set the bar higher and push the exam date back?

(Sidenote: I'm applying next cycle, and fully intend to be ready to roll on June 1st)

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[aspiring20]

IF you manage to get a 36 on the MCAT, you are sitting on a 3.3/3.0 and 36 MCAT.

Unfortunately, that still may not be enough to have a good shot at an MD. If you can raise your stats to a 3.5/3.3 and 35+ MCAT, then you'll have a much better cycle.

A 3.3 cGPA isn't terrible, but a 3.0 sGPA is pretty bad.

EDIT: you do have solid ECs and spectacular research. However, the top tier schools that will love your research will find a 3.3/3.0 prohibitively low. Then again, your experience as an athlete will surely buy you some leeway.

Bottomline: if you apply with a 3.3/3.0 and 36, you should have a shot at the MDs. However, I wouldn't necessarily say that you have a great shot.

 

[BigBear123]

I can't answer for sure, but my friend, a CA resident, with a similar GPA and a really high MCAT score and a publication did not get into any allopathic schools in the US at all. Are you a CA resident? If not, getting into any CA school will be very difficult regardless of GPA.

Now, your clinical experiences seem amazing, however your GPA may screen you out of many schools regardless of your MCAT score. Have you considered doing an SMP program? Maybe you can apply to some programs in CA close to where your husband is headed, establish your CA residency if you haven't yet, rock the MCAT, and I think you would have a good shot of getting into a CA school.

 

[BeachBlondie]

I can't answer for sure, but my friend, a CA resident, with a similar GPA and a really high MCAT score and a publication did not get into any allopathic schools in the US at all. Are you a CA resident? If not, getting into any CA school will be very difficult regardless of GPA.

Now, your clinical experiences seem amazing, however your GPA may screen you out of many schools regardless of your MCAT score. Have you considered doing an SMP program? Maybe you can apply to some programs in CA close to where your husband is headed, establish your CA residency if you haven't yet, rock the MCAT, and I think you would have a good shot of getting into a CA school.

I am a resident, yes. Otherwise, I would count myself out of California completely.

I've already completed a post-bacc program, so an SMP would be ill-advised at this point (straight from the mouth of UCSD admissions; advised me, "as if you were my daughter").

Thanks for the advise, though!

 

[aspiring20]

I am a resident, yes. Otherwise, I would count myself out of California completely.

I've already completed a post-bacc program, so an SMP would be ill-advised at this point (straight from the mouth of UCSD admissions; advised me, "as if you were my daughter").

Thanks for the advise, though!

is your 3.0 sGPA INCLUDING your post bacc grades?

if not, what is your cGPA/sGPA including your post bacc grades? fyi, your postbacc grades count as your undergraduate cGPA/sGPA, the two GPAs ADCOMS look at the most.

if your sGPA even with your post bacc courses is still a 3.0, then MDs are very unlikely. if your sGPA BEFORE your post bacc is a 3.0, and you did really well in your post-bacc (a 3.6+ in all science courses), then your chances will be good given a solid showing on the MCAT.

 

[BeachBlondie]

IF you manage to get a 36 on the MCAT, you are sitting on a 3.3/3.0 and 36 MCAT.

Unfortunately, that still may not be enough to have a good shot at an MD. If you can raise your stats to a 3.5/3.3 and 35+ MCAT, then you'll have a much better cycle.

A 3.3 cGPA isn't terrible, but a 3.0 sGPA is pretty bad.

EDIT: you do have solid ECs and spectacular research. However, the top tier schools that will love your research will find a 3.3/3.0 prohibitively low. Then again, your experience as an athlete will surely buy you some leeway.

Bottomline: if you apply with a 3.3/3.0 and 36, you should have a shot at the MDs. However, I wouldn't necessarily say that you have a great shot.

If I'm nothing else, I am a realist. Unfortunately, because I'm a non-traditional student, there's no way to raise my GPA by that much (owing to the fact that I have an abundance of UG credits), short of going back and completing another Bachelor's degree.

Guess all I can do is give it a shot and cross my fingers. Thank you for your input!

 

[aspiring20]

I can't answer for sure, but my friend, a CA resident, with a similar GPA and a really high MCAT score and a publication did not get into any allopathic schools in the US at all. Are you a CA resident? If not, getting into any CA school will be very difficult regardless of GPA.

Now, your clinical experiences seem amazing, however your GPA may screen you out of many schools regardless of your MCAT score. Have you considered doing an SMP program? Maybe you can apply to some programs in CA close to where your husband is headed, establish your CA residency if you haven't yet, rock the MCAT, and I think you would have a good shot of getting into a CA school.

do you know how many schools he/she applied to? did she submit early and apply broadly?

 

[Captain Sisko]

good luck friend

 

[BeachBlondie]

That is including the program.

I had to work full-time+ (research) in order to eat, live, and pay for the program. So, I settled for B's. Not bad considering the content was essentially self-taught with what little time I had, but I'm well aware that this does not bode well for me.

The MCAT is, really, my only hope. Which is why I had set the bar so damn high in the first place. I figured, standardized test has to count for something. We shall see...

 

[BeachBlondie]

good luck friend

Thanks, man I'll keep you updated

 

[BigBear123]

do you know how many schools he/she applied to? did she submit early and apply broadly?

I think he submitted on time (like late June) and applied to 20+. In my opinion, he would have been fine if he had done an SMP, but alas he decided to go the Caribbean route.

 

[aspiring20]

I think he submitted on time (like late June) and applied to 20+. In my opinion, he would have been fine if he had done an SMP, but alas he decided to go the Caribbean route.

he didn't even consider DO schools?

but if he's well disciplined and capable, he can still get a US residency after graduating from a caribbean school

 

[BigBear123]

he didn't even consider DO schools?

but if he's well disciplined and capable, he can still get a US residency after graduating from a caribbean school

No, his parents had an "MD or bust" attitude for him. It's always a shame when uninformed parents try to make decisions for their children. They wouldn't let him apply to SMP programs either.

 

[aspiring20]

No, his parents had an "MD or bust" attitude for him. It's always a shame when uninformed parents try to make decisions for their children. They wouldn't let him apply to SMP programs either.

oh wow. that's unfortunate.

 

[Turkishking]

She has blonde hair too! There ya go!

 

[linebacker57]

I'll share my experience. I'm a CA resident who applied with a 3.12c/3.3s gpa and 35 mcat, traditional applicant. It's worth noting that I did go to a top tier national university with a reputation for grade deflation. Unfortunately, you will be fighting Harvard's well know reputation of inflation. I am currently a USMD student and a high ranking private school OOS. I did not get a single interview from a Ca school and I applied to all of them. IMHO you have 3 realistic outcomes, that for profit school that just opened, northstate or whatever, CA DO schools, which are actually quite good, thinking of touro, or go OOS. You could probably make a pretty strong case to UNR. You could definitely get in to several US MD schools, they just won't be in Cali.

 

[gyngyn]

Many hundreds of excellent applicants have to leave CA every year to attend medical school, 1436 last year alone. There were 870 lucky enough to stay.

 

[Goro]

Western or Touro-CA

I'm 35 days out from taking the MCAT. And, I've been studying with a particular goal in mind:

36 or bust (AKA retake)

I'm curious if this goal is too low to make me competitive for California schools, considering my GPA is a bit of a weakness, at first glance. And, before you say, "Well, why don't you just apply out-of-state?", I must preface all of this with the fact that my husband will be starting his residency in California, and all of my family is in California. So, it's my home state or nothing.

I'm a non-traditional student; went to Harvard and completed all of my pre-reqs therein.

GPA
C - 3.35
Sc - 3.0

Research/Publications
- 4 years (and counting) as a researcher in clinical orthopaedics (40+ hours/week)
- Authored: 4 book chapters, 2 first-author journal publications, several 2nd-author + publications
- Presented my research in Europe and the US

Clinical Experience
- Over 150 hours in the OR for total joint replacement procedures
- Over 100 hours of shooting patient films in radiology for joint replacement studies (some, immediately post-op.... owie )
- I've assisted in/performed total knee replacement procedures in cadavers (yes, cadavers!) for kinematics studies and surgical labs

Volunteer Work
-Contributing member of the Surfrider Foundation since 2007
-3 months of ER volunteer work

Miscellaneous
-I was a collegiate athlete as a undergrad (lacrosse)
-I was an executive member of pre-medical student societies at my undergraduate university, as well as at Harvard.

I was just curious about the opinions of the masses regarding what a 36+ MCAT score would do to help bolster my pedigree. Should I set the bar higher and push the exam date back?

(Sidenote: I'm applying next cycle, and fully intend to be ready to roll on June 1st)

 

[BeachBlondie]

Because a few people have found themselves here, as of late, just wanted to give a quick update (two years later):

I'm currently in a Master's (for career bench science work, the curriculum of which mirrors the core sciences of an MS-1 beautifully), and am scooping up A's in my classes. I had an awesome interview for an allo school (in Florida) and should hear a decision this week (*fingers and toes crossed*). Still researching and publishing (it's now been 6 years), and am hoping for good news this cycle!

So, if anyone's story echoes my own, feel free to contact me with any questions!

 

[BeachBlondie]

Many hundreds of excellent applicants have to leave CA every year to attend medical school, 1436 last year alone. There were 870 lucky enough to stay.

Western or Touro-CA

Thank you, both, for your continued dedication to advising. My husband did end up pursuing residency out-of-state, and thus I now represent one more misplaced California resident in the stack!