how much did your GPA suck when you decided you wanted to be a doc?

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TexasTriathlete

TexasTriathlete

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I graduated with a kinesiology degree, about 150 semester-hours, and a 2.2 GPA.

I had to take 80+ hours at a 3.4 clip to raise to a 2.7.

Two things saved me: only a few actual "science" classes in my kinesiology degree, and they were a little later in the game, when I had started to grow up, and my MCAT, which is a rock-solid 33. I also think the difficulty level of my post-bac courseload may have helped. I went well above and beyond what was required. I took every upper-division biology and chemistry course I could afford, and performed well.

I plan on entering med school next year with the lowest GPA of any matriculant in the country. I have my acceptance in-hand.
 
TexasTriathlete said:
I graduated with a kinesiology degree, about 150 semester-hours, and a 2.2 GPA.

I had to take 80+ hours at a 3.4 clip to raise to a 2.7.

Two things saved me: only a few actual "science" classes in my kinesiology degree, and they were a little later in the game, when I had started to grow up, and my MCAT, which is a rock-solid 33. I also think the difficulty level of my post-bac courseload may have helped. I went well above and beyond what was required. I took every upper-division biology and chemistry course I could afford, and performed well.

I plan on entering med school next year with the lowest GPA of any matriculant in the country. I have my acceptance in-hand.
Click to expand...
Hah. You beat me. My GPA was a 3.0ish suck when I decided that I wanted to do medicine.
 
TexasTriathlete said:
I graduated with a kinesiology degree, about 150 semester-hours, and a 2.2 GPA.

I had to take 80+ hours at a 3.4 clip to raise to a 2.7.

Two things saved me: only a few actual "science" classes in my kinesiology degree, and they were a little later in the game, when I had started to grow up, and my MCAT, which is a rock-solid 33. I also think the difficulty level of my post-bac courseload may have helped. I went well above and beyond what was required. I took every upper-division biology and chemistry course I could afford, and performed well.

I plan on entering med school next year with the lowest GPA of any matriculant in the country. I have my acceptance in-hand.
Click to expand...

Congrats!!! My gpa was a 2.6 before I decided. Bad thing is I was a science major. Animal Biology. Now, after retaking some courses (~35 hours) my overall and science will be around 3.16 (I'm only applying DO so the retakes will cancel out the old grades. It helps the gpa but also doesn't look so impressive since it's a retake. I retook general chemistry from 6 years ago and general biology. 4.0 for all new coursework). At least my mcat is good.
 
TexasTriathlete said:
I graduated with a kinesiology degree, about 150 semester-hours, and a 2.2 GPA.

I had to take 80+ hours at a 3.4 clip to raise to a 2.7.

Two things saved me: only a few actual "science" classes in my kinesiology degree, and they were a little later in the game, when I had started to grow up, and my MCAT, which is a rock-solid 33. I also think the difficulty level of my post-bac courseload may have helped. I went well above and beyond what was required. I took every upper-division biology and chemistry course I could afford, and performed well.

I plan on entering med school next year with the lowest GPA of any matriculant in the country. I have my acceptance in-hand.
Click to expand...

I actually know somebody who got into a kick as allopathic school with a 2.6! Sorry to ruin your title! They had some "connections" though.
 
TT your numbers are better than mine. But I'm not accepted. Yet.

I could do more spreadsheeting to figure out my pre-postbac numbers, but suffice it to say my GPA went down.

Here's what I applied with:

AMCAS GPAs: BCPM 2.67, AO 3.62, Total 3.09
TMDSAS GPAs: Science 3.00, Non-science 3.13, Overall 3.12
AACOMAS GPAs: Science: 2.984 Non-Science 3.276 Total 3.197

Gotta love that science differential. I had a ton of computer science at a 3.9. That's not math, so not science for AMCAS. That's math, thus science for TMDSAS. That's math, but not science for AACOMAS. Wheeee!!!
 
Congrats!

Wow, looked at your profile and you might have one of the lowest GPA but you definately have one of the strongest ECs I've seen.
 
What does 'EC' mean, please?

Also- how does one go about bringing up their GPA? Just pile on classes and maintain B+ or better in them?

GPA formulas confuse me. I'd like to know how many more classes at what lowest grade I could get would give me a tasty GPA, and when I'm explaining that to my advisor she looks at me like I'm speaking Klingon.


Congrats to you though- I LOVE seeing people get ahead of the system 🙂


Shan:luck:
 
for DocBrowncoat- EC= extra-curricular activities

pre-post-bacc I started with a 3.27 cumulative GPA, 2.47 BCPM

applied to AMCAS with a 3.42 cumulative, 3.47 BCPM after a 3.94 post-bacc over 36 credit hours, all BCP

only applied allo, so far 3 interviews scheduled, 1 acceptance
 
Doc Browncoat said:
What does 'EC' mean, please?
Click to expand...
As stated before, EC is 'extra curricular'. These are things like clinical volunteering, shadowing, community volunteering, student socities, leadership positions, etc...

Also- how does one go about bringing up their GPA? Just pile on classes and maintain B+ or better in them?
Click to expand...
B+!? No! If you are trying to raise your GPA from anything below a 3.5, you should be shooting for a 4.0. You want to really show that you have improved.

GPA formulas confuse me. I'd like to know how many more classes at what lowest grade I could get would give me a tasty GPA, and when I'm explaining that to my advisor she looks at me like I'm speaking Klingon.
Click to expand...
At this point, you shouldn't be thinking like this, i.e. 'What lowest grade could I get'? You should be thinking about excelling. Try for a near 4.0. That should be your goal no matter what your GPA.

Congrats to you though- I LOVE seeing people get ahead of the system 🙂
Shan:luck:
Click to expand...
Yeah! Me too!
 
Vihsadas said:
As stated before, EC is 'extra curricular'. These are things like clinical volunteering, shadowing, community volunteering, student socities, leadership positions, etc...
Click to expand...

How on earth is that graded, then?

Vihsadas said:
B+!? No! If you are trying to raise your GPA from anything below a 3.5, you should be shooting for a 4.0. You want to really show that you have improved.
Click to expand...

Nonononono... sorry, I wasn't clear. I am shooting for 4.0's for the rest of my undergrad, and that's what I've gotten except for the semester I screwed up. I'd just like to know what my parameters are for worst-case scenario survivability 🙂


Shan:luck:
 
Doc Browncoat said:
How on earth is that graded, then?
Click to expand...

EC's aren't graded, they're used by adcoms to evaluate whether a candidate has been legitimately exposed to clinical medicine, to research, and to community service. It gives adcoms something to question you about during interviews to find out about your sincerity, motivation, passion, etc.

In my view, a given candidate's set of EC's either puts them above the bar or below the bar, and you can't really rank it beyond that. For example, Peace Corps would be above the bar, less than 100 hours of total volunteering without any position of responsibility might be below the bar.
 
Doc Browncoat said:
Nonononono... sorry, I wasn't clear. I am shooting for 4.0's for the rest of my undergrad, and that's what I've gotten except for the semester I screwed up. I'd just like to know what my parameters are for worst-case scenario survivability 🙂
Shan:luck:
Click to expand...

Oh that's my fault actually. I got this thread confused with that thread about whether a 3.0 is imperative. Good luck!
 
TexasTriathlete said:
I graduated with a kinesiology degree, about 150 semester-hours, and a 2.2 GPA.

I had to take 80+ hours at a 3.4 clip to raise to a 2.7.

Two things saved me: only a few actual "science" classes in my kinesiology degree, and they were a little later in the game, when I had started to grow up, and my MCAT, which is a rock-solid 33. I also think the difficulty level of my post-bac courseload may have helped. I went well above and beyond what was required. I took every upper-division biology and chemistry course I could afford, and performed well.

I plan on entering med school next year with the lowest GPA of any matriculant in the country. I have my acceptance in-hand.
Click to expand...

Well CONGRads...b/c...my GPA sucks too...so i guess i will be in the same situation also...so i guess i will be getting into somewhere as well !!!!!!!!
PMG😀
 
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