What should he do?

[Iamnumber24]

I have a friend who is 22 years old, african-american, College Junior, MCAT of 24 has a 2.7 BCPM gpa, a 3.21 overall gpa. He has 3 F's averaged into his BCPM because he was lazy freshman year. But since then has consistently been over 3.5 gpa except for one semester. So does he have a chance to get into ANY United States medical school? If so which ones? Does a good gpa after freshman year help alot? and does his race help him a little bit? (not to be racist but I've heard rumors that minorities get a lil bit more benefit of the doubt). Any thoughts would be appreciated


Thanks

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[Cegar]

From everything I've seen on this board and on mdapps, race (or rather, URM status) place a much bigger factor in admissions than it tends to in undergrad.

Check out some URM and non-URM mdapps and the general statistics.


As far as improving his application, retaking the failed classes will help. A lot.

As will, if he thinks he can get a better score, retaking the MCAT and getting above a 30.

 

[TheRealMD]

I have a friend who is 22 years old, african-american, College Junior, MCAT of 24 has a 2.7 BCPM gpa, a 3.21 overall gpa. He has 3 F's averaged into his BCPM because he was lazy freshman year. But since then has consistently been over 3.5 gpa except for one semester. So does he have a chance to get into ANY United States medical school? If so which ones? Does a good gpa after freshman year help alot? and does his race help him a little bit? (not to be racist but I've heard rumors that minorities get a lil bit more benefit of the doubt). Any thoughts would be appreciated


Thanks

His chances aren't too hot. Even being African-American, 2/3 of them don't get in anywhere in the US. I recommend a post-bacc and retaking the MCAT. It's likely that adcoms taking a look at this person's application won't be 100% sure that they can handle med school level work.

 

[scarletgirl777]

I have a friend who is 22 years old, african-american, College Junior, MCAT of 24 has a 2.7 BCPM gpa, a 3.21 overall gpa. He has 3 F's averaged into his BCPM because he was lazy freshman year. But since then has consistently been over 3.5 gpa except for one semester. So does he have a chance to get into ANY United States medical school? If so which ones? Does a good gpa after freshman year help alot? and does his race help him a little bit? (not to be racist but I've heard rumors that minorities get a lil bit more benefit of the doubt). Any thoughts would be appreciated


Thanks

His MCAT is near average for Howard and Meharry, but his GPA is a bit on the low side and his BCPM is really low. If there was a way for him to raise his GPA through a postbac that would be ideal. If he thought he could do better on the MCAT, that would increase his options to other schools, but the GPA is more pressing.

 

[metalgearHMN]

I have a friend who is 22 years old, african-american, College Junior, MCAT of 24 has a 2.7 BCPM gpa, a 3.21 overall gpa. He has 3 F's averaged into his BCPM because he was lazy freshman year. But since then has consistently been over 3.5 gpa except for one semester. So does he have a chance to get into ANY United States medical school? If so which ones? Does a good gpa after freshman year help alot? and does his race help him a little bit? (not to be racist but I've heard rumors that minorities get a lil bit more benefit of the doubt). Any thoughts would be appreciated


Thanks

He might want to go the DO route, but have him just retake his MCAT. Race definitely helps

 

[WDeagle]

Actually his stats are probably too low for a DO school right now. I think he should retake the MCAT. I recently read somewhere that DO schools are still struggling to attract URM's. This might help your buddy out alot. however many DO schools have a 3.0 science gpa cutoff.

 

[Raryn]

Actually his stats are probably too low for a DO school right now. I think he should retake the MCAT. I recently read somewhere that DO schools are still struggling to attract URM's. This might help your buddy out alot. however many DO schools have a 3.0 science gpa cutoff.

If he retook the classes his science GPA for DO schools is probably higher than 3.0 actually. Unlike the AMCAS, the AACOMAS does grade forgiveness and only counts the second time you took the class. Assuming he did retake the classes and pass them the second time, his chances of getting into a DO school are very good.

All-in-all, even though your friend shows a distinct upward trend, his stats are pretty low for a US MD school. He could try, but even being an URM probably wont help as much as taking another year or two to bring the GPA up or retaking the MCAT and getting closer to 30. Or, as others have said, just go the DO route.

 

[HumidBeing]

Even though this is a What are HIS Chances thread, it's a blood relative to the What Are My Chances. I'll escort him to his new home. You'll find the link at the top of the page.

Moving to WAMC sub-forum.