Yet Again, Another 'What are my Chances' Thread

[Thrasymachus]

Hello, I am a little embarrassed to post all of this, but if any of you could give me some advice, I would sincerely appreciate it.

I have been interested in medicine and research for quite some time, and I have decided to pursue an M.D., Ph.D. The only qualm I have is that my gpa is far below the average for most schools, and I am afraid that if I apply, I will be wasting my time and money. I took the MCAT this past April and I scored a 37R, but I have recently decided that I would be a more competitive applicant if I took time-off. I have one secondary authorship, and I will have a second secondary authorship later this year. I have a lot of depth in my volunteer experiences, I studied abroad, and I also have been very active in several activities. I am concerned because my overall gpa is a 3.33, and my BCPM is a 3.35 (for what its worth, I attend a top 15 LAC--personally, I don’t understand how people can earn such high gpas: at my school, anything above a 3.5 is rather uncommon, but individuals who score 30+ on the MCAT are a dime a dozen).

So what should I do? I have decided that I want to take 1-2 years off, but I’m not sure what would be best. Would it be a good idea for me to enroll in a postbac? Or should I just do research fulltime? Or, would it be a good idea for me to do a masters so that I can do research and broaden my coursework, albeit at the graduate level?

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[meowkat444]

definitely do research if you're doing MSTP. You can take some evening classes if you want to raise your gpa.

 

[jlamacc1]

I too think doing full-time research and taking graduate classes in the evening is a great way to go. Also, try to land a cool clinical gig. By padding your research experience (maybe getting a few more pubs...first author, perhaps?) and raising your GPA a little, you will make yourself an excellent candidate.

 

[vector07]

Indeed. Having a high GPA is important, but proving that you're a scientist--or well on your way, at least--is even more important. So to echo previous posters, more pubs (1st author if possible), more time in the lab, and clinical exposure will make you a solid applicant next cycle.