To all the Mercer School of Medicine students -- another "what are my chances"

[Dr. 96985]

So here are my stats: I am a junior in college
cGPA: 2.83
sGPA: 3.12
MCAT: have not taken yet.
Extracurriculars:
I shadowed a primary care physician for a summer (86 hrs.) and really enjoyed what he did. during that summer with the physician we both went to the nursing home every Tuesday to take care of patients
I am the community service leader in my literary society,
I lead a gen bio tutor class we call "peer mentoring,"
Every Saturday I and a group of about 7 others go to this particular apartment complex in the suburbs of the city (rather "ghetto") and gather the kids to do a bunch of games and story telling.

My GPA is low due to a number of issues. My freshman year along with figuring out how to do college (which, up until my senior year of high school, I did not want to go to college. I hated school, but I had a desire to become a doctor -- a whole other story) my father also developed cancer and it wasn't looking good. He is fine now, but my grades took a blow.

What are my chances of getting into Mercer University School of Medicine?
I am a Georgia resident and have lived in the same small community my whole life.

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[Doug Underhill]

I am not a Mercer student and I have not applied there, but I have applied to and been accepted to another med school in that region.

Right now, your cGPA and sGPA are below the lowest 10% of matriculants at Mercer. I feel like you need to do a post-bac program and take some more undergrad classes to boost your GPA up. DO programs allow you to do grade repair- this is a special feature where if you retake a class and get a higher grade, only the higher grade is factored into your GPA.

My advice for you would be to do that until you have a 3.6 or so, and then apply to schools like PCOM-Georgia, as well as a number of others. This would give you your best chance to become a physician. You can't go into this process expecting to get accepted at a given school.

 

[claduva94]

Chances at any individual school will never really be great. Especially due to your GPA. I concur with Doug.

Also if that is you in your profile picture I suggest changing it to maintain anonymity.

 

[ugagrad1116]

I am not a student either (applying this year), but I have talked to the associate deans of both campuses several times and know many of the M1s. It seems to me that your volunteering is decent for them so continue doing what you love and you should be okay there. I would probably shadow a few more specialties as well. They want to see that you know what medicine is all about, and each specialty is different. It's great that you shadowed primary care, but consider shadowing more physicians.

I will throw out that you need to increase your GPA. And I will say that Mercer has a Master's program through the school of medicine, and a lot of people use it to boost their GPAs. I am actually in the program, and, while I didn't use it for the GPA boost, you are more than welcome to message me if you have questions about it. There's no guaranteed acceptance into the medical program, but I know 2 people from my program got in ED, and 3 (including myself) got IIs for RD. So it could be something for you to think about.

I would say that you could call the admissions office as well. They are very welcoming and are usually more than happy to talk with you about your chances.

Last thing is I would say to do very well on the MCAT. It won't completely negate the GPA, but it could help.

 

[studentdocftw]

You need to raise your cGPA to at least 3.3. Once you've done that, consider taking the MCAT and scoring 508+. Then one could realistically evaluate your chances. With your current stats, you won't even receive a secondary (a 3.0+ is required for consideration, but keep in mind that's the basic requirements, and medicine continues to get more and more competitive each year).

 

[Goro]

Your stats are lethal.

So here are my stats: I am a junior in college
cGPA: 2.83
sGPA: 3.12
MCAT: have not taken yet.
Extracurriculars:
I shadowed a primary care physician for a summer (86 hrs.) and really enjoyed what he did. during that summer with the physician we both went to the nursing home every Tuesday to take care of patients
I am the community service leader in my literary society,
I lead a gen bio tutor class we call "peer mentoring,"
Every Saturday I and a group of about 7 others go to this particular apartment complex in the suburbs of the city (rather "ghetto") and gather the kids to do a bunch of games and story telling.

My GPA is low due to a number of issues. My freshman year along with figuring out how to do college (which, up until my senior year of high school, I did not want to go to college. I hated school, but I had a desire to become a doctor -- a whole other story) my father also developed cancer and it wasn't looking good. He is fine now, but my grades took a blow.

What are my chances of getting into Mercer University School of Medicine?
I am a Georgia resident and have lived in the same small community my whole life.

 

[Dr. 96985]

Thanks for the replies guys! The reason I asked about Mercer specifically is that I heard it was easier to get into. Of coarse that's all hearsay. But would you guys recommend applying abroad as opposed to ED at Mercer?

 

[Doug Underhill]

I would recommend raising your GPA. You don't want to apply to international schools, it will be very hard to match for residency.

 

[studentdocftw]

No MD school is "easy to get into". Mercer is very mission oriented, but still has decent stats (3.6 GPA, 29 MCAT). You are still significantly below the average GPA, so you need to raise that in order to have a reasonable chance.

 

[Dr. 96985]

Thank you all for the feedback! College has just been discouraging altogether. But I'm gonna make it through

 

[SyllabusOrBust]

Thank you all for the feedback! College has just been discouraging altogether. But I'm gonna make it through

I believe in you! Reach for the stars!