Upward Trend?

[rosiespot]

How strongly are upward trends considered? I wasn't focused my freshman year (wasn't even considering medicine) and royally screwed up my GPA. I also hit a snag when taking organic chem, and received a B- for both semesters. (I'm planning on retaking both orgo I and II.)

Anyway, besides orgo, I'm a straight A student. I just finished my sophomore year, and brought my GPA up from 3.00 to 3.35. I also do a lot of volunteer work, was recently elected president of a service club, work as a chem and bio TA, and have strong ECs. I'm also planning on working part time as an EMT, starting in the fall.

All that being said, I don't think I'll be able to graduate with anything higher than a 3.5 or 3.6. :/ Is there anything else I can do to strengthen my application? Should I consider taking a gap year?

I truly feel called to medicine, and particularly want to serve low income areas/do missions work... But I'm not sure how to overcome my low GPA.

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[aldol16]

There's really nothing you can do from here except look forward and work on yourself. Only you can decide if you should take a gap year. In terms of GPA, of course everyone on here will say a lower GPA is worse than a higher GPA. That's to be expected. But if you must have a lower GPA, one with a strong upward trend is looked upon more favorably than the opposite.

I also don't think you have to retake Orgo with a B-. Try upper level chemistry classes to show that you can do chemistry. Or even an advanced organic chemistry class if you think the B-'s were more due to circumstance than your ability.

In terms of your application, it would be essential to have a high MCAT score because that is the one thing that can level the playing field and show med schools that you can, in fact, do science.