rising junior. 2.8 sGPA, 3.16 cGPA

[younggotti]

Hey y'all. Desperate for some advice

International, black premed at a top 5 undergrad school with a 2.9 sGPA and 3.16 cGPA. Everything was salvageable up until the last quarter of sophomore year where I had a 2.4 GPA (took too many science classes and had way way too many other non-academic commitments that I spent too much time on). Grade trend is as follows

Freshman: 2.9/3.8(!a bunch of humanities classes!)/3.02

Sophomore: 2.4(summer. dipped on a few classes but clerical errors gave me a D in one I wanted to withdraw)/3.4/3.4/2.4(ouchhh)

Academic problem areas: C+ in Engineering calculus (hurts sGPA)
C+ then B- in Bioengineering class (not an engineering major anymore)
B- in third quarter of Bio (B and A- in first two quarters of Bio)
B- in Chem Lab 1
C- in Chem Lecture 2

Extracurriculars:
>500 hrs social activism (not formally organised)
320 hrs research (by the end of this summer + probable second/third/fourth.. authorship )
96 hrs Patient Navigator at Free Clinic
Other varied service things. Generally not long-term commitments (~100 hrs).

Basically trying to decide if I should still push premed or switch to something else (CS masters). Shadowed an endocrinologist every weekend for three years in high school, but now at this point and not sure if trad route is still possible, and not willing to be a nontrad for personal/family reasons.

What do you all think? I need a bit of guidance. I'm fine applying anywhere, but idek if St. George's would take me at this point.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[mnasir94]

Grade replacement --> DO.
Oh and you need an MCAT score.

For MD; idk if St. George's would take you at this point.

 

[Goro]

Carib diploma mills are fine if you like the idea of being unemployed and deeply in debt. They prey upon applicants like you.

Ace everything from now on, retake all F/D/C science courses. Do that and you might be able to avoid having to do a post-bac or SMP.

 

[Doug Underhill]

If you can get your cGPA up to 3.3 and your sGPA up to 3.0, you have an excellent chance of acceptance somewhere with a solid MCAT.

 

[619959]

Engineering classes do not ALWAYS count towards your sGPA (refer to AMCAS course classification guide)

 

[JibsGuy52]

Re-take all C's and lower. Score high on MCAT. Go DO. (Granted easier said than done).

I was in the same boat as you a while back. Managed to raise my GPA. Doing a fifth year at my university undergrad to raise my GPA even higher. Should end with a 3.4sGPA and even higher cGPA. Do not feel down and never consider the Caribbean (IMO). I was once considering it as well and did extensive research on it. WAY too many horror stories for my liking. Their websites have stats with those who didn't drop out (~50% drops out from what I have been told), thus they are very skewed.

Best of luck!

 

[younggotti]

Thanks for the info!

What do you guys think about my EC's? What things need working on/improving? I'll have 288 hours of volunteering at my free clinic by the end of junior year (w/ a coordinator role). That's ~300 clinical and ~800 non-clinical volunteering. Anything else I should be doing to strengthen my app? And is there still even a chance at US MD?

Also open to a gap year now. Had a heart-to-heart with the 'rents.

Can't lie about the fact that I'm a little scared. I have to retake two classes - engineering maths (counts towards sGPA in fact) & second quarter of oChem. How do DO schools consider applicants with a string of RPs through their transcripts?

I'm also toying with the idea of retaking my two Bio B-'s (one rec one not). Retaking these and the C's bring me up to a 3.6 on their own. Any advice on that front?

 

[GrapesofRath]

Thanks for the info!

What do you guys think about my EC's? What things need working on/improving? I'll have 288 hours of volunteering at my free clinic by the end of junior year (w/ a coordinator role). That's ~300 clinical and ~800 non-clinical volunteering. Anything else I should be doing to strengthen my app? And is there still even a chance at US MD?

Also open to a gap year now. Had a heart-to-heart with the 'rents.

Can't lie about the fact that I'm a little scared. I have to retake two classes - engineering maths (counts towards sGPA in fact) & second quarter of oChem. How do DO schools consider applicants with a string of RPs through their transcripts?

I'm also toying with the idea of retaking my two Bio B-'s (one rec one not). Retaking these and the C's bring me up to a 3.6 on their own. Any advice on that front?

Edit: Didn't realize you weren't a US citizen that changes things significantly.

Don't retake B's no matter what. Retaking C's really only helps for DO's. Re-take anything C- or lower MD or DO. You gotta realize the purpose of the GPA is to show you can handle the rigor of medical school. Getting A's in classes you re-take doesn't show that. So yes, retake some classes that are C and lower it can help but you need to prove your worth these next two years taking new upper level classes and acing them.

For internationals its often said for them to be competitive candidates they have to have the type of stats that MD/PhD acceptances do. Realistically, even with a solid MCAT score and URM Status, you will need to shift things significantly and try and find a way to graduate with a 3.4/3.3, even if that includes post-bacc work. And like gyngyn says, find a major that you can have success in. If you are serious about medicine and engineering classes you cited are causing problems, that means dropping engineering.

 

[gyngyn]

As an international student with these grades, you would need a dramatic turnaround for medicine in the US.
Is your major an impediment to success?

 

[ChrisMack390]

If you take upper level coursework and knock them out of the park for the next 2 years, you will be fine. That is a tall order though given that your fundamentals are presumably on the weak side.

 

[GrapesofRath]

As an international student with these grades, you would need a dramatic turnaround for medicine in the US.
Is your major and impediment to success?

This is important. International. Don't know how I somehow missed this despite it being the first word in the post!

 

[younggotti]

Yikes. So am I at that much of a disadvantage? If I work my ass off w/ retakes I can have a 3.6 at the end of this year (quarter system advantages). Where would that leave me with DO schools? Since MD seems significantly more difficult now.

I'm also only going to try my luck at the private schools. Thankfully funding isn't a real issue because I'm being backed but the biggest q for me is can-i-get-in

 

[younggotti]

As an international student with these grades, you would need a dramatic turnaround for medicine in the US.
Is your major and impediment to success?

Not anymore. When I was an engineering major it was for a large part. But since the switch to normal human bio it's been a lot lot lot easier. Biology is a strong suit of mine. I only did poorly on the last set of courses because I had way way too much going on.

 

[ChrisMack390]

Not anymore. When I was an engineering major it was for a large part. But since the switch to normal human bio it's been a lot lot lot easier. Biology is a strong suit of mine. I only did poorly on the last set of courses because I had way way too much going on.

Prove it, and you can get into med school.

 

[gyngyn]

Yikes. So am I at that much of a disadvantage? If I work my ass off w/ retakes I can have a 3.6 at the end of this year (quarter system advantages). Where would that leave me with DO schools? Since MD seems significantly more difficult now.

I'm also only going to try my luck at the private schools. Thankfully funding isn't a real issue because I'm being backed but the biggest q for me is can-i-get-in

Only two of the HBCU's accept internationals (these are your best bets).
Meharry matriculated 6/270 internationals.
Howard matriculated only 7/501.

 

[younggotti]

Only two of the HBCU's accept internationals (these are your best bets).
Meharry matriculated 6/270 internationals.
Howard matriculated only 7/501.

What about DO schools?

 

[GrapesofRath]

What about DO schools?

I believe only 15 take internationals. Of those that do, you will need a real boost in your GPA. If you can do that you can be competitive for those.

 

[gyngyn]

What about DO schools?

These have considered internationals:
AZCOM
Campbell
Ccom
Kcumb
Lecom
Lmu
Mucom
Msucom
Pcom
Pcom ga
Nova
VCOM (all)
Rowan
Touro
Unecom
Tycom
Kycom
Western u
Wcu

 

[younggotti]

And I guess one last question. If I pull my GPA up to a 3.6 by the end of this year, with retakes, will I be competitive?

Also going to join an EMT class and start shadowing a DO in my area.

 

[stantheman08]

I wouldn't do EMT just to boost the resume
you said you can't really do non-trad, EMT helps with that as it gives you another role in healthcare and can lead to it's own career as a medic
for me, EMT gave me an opportunity to get my feet wet in healthcare, career options, and a pay raise

in the process of doing EMT, i decided to try for medical school as a career in EMS simply wasn't for me (various reasons)
i had someone in my EMT class who only did it to boost their med-school app and i'll just say i wouldn't want to run a code with that person

 

[younggotti]

just a lil update, 3 years later
got into a US MD
anything is possible

 

[Shotapp]

just a lil update, 3 years later
got into a US MD
anything is possible

Congrats!
How did you improve your app?
Did you do a masters program, kill the mcat, or a combination of both?

 

[younggotti]

Congrats!
How did you improve your app?
Did you do a masters program, kill the mcat, or a combination of both?

Both. Did a masters (not an SMP), maintained an upward trajectory (3.7+from junior year onwards) and got a 95%+ MCAT. The transformation had to happen, so it did.