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I am trying to boost my GPA with a one year SMP. Should I bother applying this June or wait untill next June when I will have all of my nice (hopefully) new grades to show off?
THANKS
THANKS
When to reapply while currently redoing coursework?
- Thread starter Carlsbad1919
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I was in your exact same position. I am in an SMP right now...coming to an end this summer... and I decided to wait and re-apply to med school this summer, instead of applying while I was in the SMP. It was an easy decision for me. I applied in summer 06 (for Fall 07) with my undergrad stats and did not even get an interview. The SMP started in August 2007...had I applied that summer to med school again also, I would've had to put the exact same unsuccessful undergrad credentials on AMCAS. They would've known I was doing an SMP, but at the time I applied, they would not know how well I would do (nor did they have good reason to assume I'd do well when looking at my undergrad stats).
So I decided to apply this summer, since now I have several medical and graduate courses under my belt and the med schools can see I've been doing very well. Also, it would've been tough for me to do well in those courses with the added stress of applying at the same time...getting rejections are depressing and I didn't need to be getting those in the middle of exam times, etc. So waiting would be my advice...gives you another year while you're applying, but in that time you can work (start paying back that first loan you took for the SMP) and even boost up your clinical experience/volunteering/research credentials.
To be fair, in my current SMP class, about half of us applied during the program, and the other half are waiting til this summer. Of the ones who applied during the program, about half of those have gotten acceptances or waitlisted...so success is certainly possible either way.
So I decided to apply this summer, since now I have several medical and graduate courses under my belt and the med schools can see I've been doing very well. Also, it would've been tough for me to do well in those courses with the added stress of applying at the same time...getting rejections are depressing and I didn't need to be getting those in the middle of exam times, etc. So waiting would be my advice...gives you another year while you're applying, but in that time you can work (start paying back that first loan you took for the SMP) and even boost up your clinical experience/volunteering/research credentials.
To be fair, in my current SMP class, about half of us applied during the program, and the other half are waiting til this summer. Of the ones who applied during the program, about half of those have gotten acceptances or waitlisted...so success is certainly possible either way.
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In my SMP program, the same was true: about half of us applied during the SMP, and half applied after. I would say there was a minor advantage to waiting the year, taking a year off, and applying then, with regards to getting an acceptance. However, in the event you haven't had a year off school yet, I would definitely encourage you to take a year off. In addition, it seems that those who waited the year got interviews and acceptances at more respected programs, in general, than those that applied during the SMP year.
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
