Low GPA what kind of mcat do i need to even have a chance?

Started by phant0m0o0o
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phant0m0o0o

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So yea if I have a 3.03, BCMP 3.17. Straight A's last 100 hours, around 26 credit hours per semester all hard sciences about what mcat do I need to even have an MD school look at me. Had straight F's a LONG time ago which is why this GPA is so low. Just took july 28 mcat. Nervous about it and dont feel I did as well as practices but heard everyone feels this way? is a 34 enough or do I need even higher? Aiming for low tier md. Thanks!
 
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phant0m0o0o said:
So yea if I have a 3.03, BCMP 3.17. Straight A's last 100 hours, around 26 credit hours per semester all hard sciences about what mcat do I need to even have an MD school look at me.
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That just sounds phenomenal - how were you able to do that? 26cr per semester?! 4.0?!?!

Mind = blown.

I can't judge what your overall chance is, but pulling off a crazy stunt like that has got to shift things somewhat in your favor. You should probably request to have this thread moved to the What Are My Chances board for actual help though.
 
phant0m0o0o said:
So yea if I have a 3.03, BCMP 3.17. Straight A's last 100 hours, around 26 credit hours per semester all hard sciences about what mcat do I need to even have an MD school look at me. Had straight F's a LONG time ago which is why this GPA is so low. Just took july 28 mcat. Nervous about it and dont feel I did as well as practices but heard everyone feels this way? is a 34 enough or do I need even higher? Aiming for low tier md. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, with those stats you are dead in the water for MD. Unless you score ridiculously high on the MCAT. Even then, 3.0 for MD is pretty low. Getting into an MD school is not impossible, but without sugar-coating it, highly unlikely.

You're on the low tier of D.O. as well, but D.O. schools allow grade replacement, so your best bet is to retake the courses you got F's in, in-turn raising your GPA.
 
Yea I put a lot of work into getting my GPA above 3.0 the borderline cutoff. It's a wonder what being in a major you like vs. one you were forced into plus growing up will do. If you could please move this into what are my chances that would be great. I was hoping maybe if I got a high enough mcat a few particular schools might give me a look? Only reason I am prefering MD right now is because I really want to get into VCU or EVMS. Definately nothing against DO as during the two years I retook everything to fix my DO gpa which is a 3.8 just wanted to make one attempt for a few MD schools as I wasn't even sure I was going to apply this year. Thanks 😀
 
So they won't take into consideration the recent trend + the fact the grades bring down my gpa are 10 years old? Well that sucks.
 
I am with LendaryPunk that OP is amazing for what he did. 26 units per semester and he pulled straight As for them is a beast. I am not a pre-med, so I cannot give you a good advice. However, I definitely think you are very competitive for SMP program. You Ace SMP you will mostly like get in MD. That is just my thinking.
 
phant0m0o0o said:
So they won't take into consideration the recent trend + the fact the grades bring down my gpa are 10 years old? Well that sucks.
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I'm not going to say it's totally impossible given your situation, but I'd hate to spend the time/money on the MD route, when the chances are slim.

Do you have a ton of extracurricular, volunteering, research and shadowing experience? If you decide to pursue the MD path, you're going to need a heavy load of "extras" to offset the grades.
 
LegendaryPunk said:
That just sounds phenomenal - how were you able to do that? 26cr per semester?! 4.0?!?!

Mind = blown.

I can't judge what your overall chance is, but pulling off a crazy stunt like that has got to shift things somewhat in your favor. You should probably request to have this thread moved to the What Are My Chances board for actual help though.
Click to expand...

+1

Besides, the prevailing theory around here (backed up by non-trad admissions) is that the farther the bad grades are in the past, and the higher the current/very recent grades are, the better your chances.

Best of luck to you.


to FutureDrB- don't mistake average acceptance figures for actual figures.
 
The problem is that most schools have a range set in mind and if you are near the bottom, they will probably look at trends. Unfortunately the schools may not look at your grade trends. They will look at the gpa and instantly say, "too low, reject." It isn't a promise by any means, just the way the system works.
 
kraskadva said:
+1

Besides, the prevailing theory around here (backed up by non-trad admissions) is that the farther the bad grades are in the past, and the higher the current/very recent grades are, the better your chances.

Best of luck to you.


to FutureDrB- don't mistake average acceptance figures for actual figures.
Click to expand...

I understand that people get accepted with extremely low GPAs, that's why I'm not saying it's impossible, but don't sugar-coat it. The OP needs real advice. If you are more than 2 deviations from the average you are likely SOL, and the OP is far from 2 deviations of the average MD, as well as D.O.

Again, not impossible, just not likely.

FrkyBgStok is exactly right, even with his impressive upward trend, the OP is going to get auto-rejected from many MD schools.
 
I've already applied to the few schools that I was hoping to get a look from so not much more money will be wasted then already is going in. I have been talking to the assistant dean of admissions at VCU and she told me to apply. I really wanted to wow them so I just wanted to know what kind of mcat would make them look? She knows my situation which is a plus. I basically killed myself with the 26 credit hours to try and prove myself to admissions. I was already thinking of an SMP but I just don't know if I can afford it 🙁 My EC's are ok i guess. AMSA, Bio honor society, relay for life, big event. Over 500 hours at the free clinic. All this stuff is in the last 2 years. At the free clinic I run tues night clinics, during the day I do labs triage paperwork, help with procedures, ECG's etc. Extremely good letters of rec from chem teacher, bio/cell and molec teacher/dean, doctor that I work with at the clinic and my boss at the clinic. They all know my situation and comment about it. Let me know if you think any mcat # would at least get me looked at or if there is ANYTHING I can do to improve my chances. I am desperate lol.
 
Oh yea I didn't know if you noticed but my D.O. gpa is a 3.8. I was only going to try MD this one round just for kicks since its so late. I understand the reality of how grim it is but I want any opportunity I can get and make the best of it. Hopefully a school will at least take a look 🙁
 
FutureDrB said:
I understand that people get accepted with extremely low GPAs, that's why I'm not saying it's impossible, but don't sugar-coat it. The OP needs real advice. If you are more than 2 deviations from the average you are likely SOL, and the OP is far from 2 deviations of the average MD, as well as D.O.

Again, not impossible, just not likely.

FrkyBgStok is exactly right, even with his impressive upward trend, the OP is going to get auto-rejected from many MD schools.
Click to expand...

Sure, some schools will auto-reject. But it's my understanding that most do look at grade trends.
And the OP's are impressive.
Which says to me that he's neither "dead in the water" nor "SOL"
It may be difficult, s/he may need to have lots of ECs and a good MCAT to pull it off, but it is certainly possible.

I'm not trying to sugar-coat anything, and the OP is obviously aware of the difficulties ahead. I don't feel the need to be so pessimistic though.

As to "real advice," since neither you nor I are adcoms, I don't think either of us can really offer specifics.

OP- the "What are my chances?" forum (which does have some adcoms) would be a good idea, as well as calling specific schools you are interested in and asking their admissions offices directly. They can give you much more concrete specifics on your chances and improving your application than any online forum.
 
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No one can say for sure. I mean you have a straight and narrow and almost fascist recent history of performance.

Depends how the school looks at that. Or if they look that far to look at it.

You should be grateful for an opportunity to go to med school without an SMP. This means you apply widely to DO schools. Take the education they're gonna give if they do give you with both hands.

And throw out as many applications to MD schools as you can afford after that.

Everyone I've heard of with your stats that went MD. In the last nearly 10 years of reading and looking was either a special case of climbing out of gang violence and poverty and no college educated parentals. Or did what you did and then did and SMP.

Maybe a small minority of those in DO school have your current stats with a really good MCAT.

Place your own bets though man. It will always be on you.
 
It's hard but not impossible. The school's that don't autoscreen, will look at other aspects of your application as well.

I posted a thread on whether MD schools were all about #'s.
 
phant0m0o0o said:
So yea if I have a 3.03, BCMP 3.17. Straight A's last 100 hours, around 26 credit hours per semester all hard sciences about what mcat do I need to even have an MD school look at me. Had straight F's a LONG time ago which is why this GPA is so low. Just took july 28 mcat. Nervous about it and dont feel I did as well as practices but heard everyone feels this way? is a 34 enough or do I need even higher? Aiming for low tier md. Thanks!
Click to expand...
hmmmm...Need more info. How "long time ago" are we talking?

I mean, 2 years, 5 years, 10+, 15+?

Also...what is your story in-between. You have piqued my interest in this "turn-about". I am wanting to know more. Typically, looking interesting is a very good indicator of success, as Nas pointed out. I would want to follow this up and hear the rest of your story?

The floor is yours.
 
There are a lot of schools that look at non-traditional students as a whole picture, where new achievements, including MCAT score, tend to be weighed more heavily than much older grades. With that being said, those new achievements need to at least be on par with what they'd expect from the rest of their students, if not better. The average matriculating med student MCAT score is 30. Aim for higher and make connections at the schools with averages around your MCAT score.
 
Wow looking at this thread makes me so nostalgic. The grades were from 10 years ago and my plan for next year was going to be to use Texas fresh start, but it looks like I won't have to! I have just been accepted to Texas A&M for the class of 2017! Thank you all for your awesome advice over the years!
 
phant0m0o0o said:
Wow looking at this thread makes me so nostalgic. The grades were from 10 years ago and my plan for next year was going to be to use Texas fresh start, but it looks like I won't have to! I have just been accepted to Texas A&M for the class of 2017! Thank you all for your awesome advice over the years!
Click to expand...

Congratulations!!!👍

So what have you been doing since the old post? 😉
 
phant0m0o0o said:
Wow looking at this thread makes me so nostalgic. The grades were from 10 years ago and my plan for next year was going to be to use Texas fresh start, but it looks like I won't have to! I have just been accepted to Texas A&M for the class of 2017! Thank you all for your awesome advice over the years!
Click to expand...

Congratulations! Your story is a great encouragement.
 
Since that post I found that my 07/28/2011 MCAT was a 27(11 ps/10 bs/6 verbal) and i withdrew all applications. I moved to Texas, established residency and began a full time scribing job. I retook the MCAT 05/24/2012 with a score of 31. 10 ps/ 10 bs/ 11 verbal. I did no studying of verbal so either it is random or my job as a scribe drastically increased my comprehension. No SMP was taken and I applied to Texas schools with my 3.03 gpa and 31 mcat. I feel very lucky to have gotten in on my first full application cycle.
 
Thank you so much for sharing that. Perhaps I should spend a semester studying for MCAT vs scrambling to apply to UNT's SMP program : ). Did you have crazy extra-curricular? Did they bring up the fact that you took such a heavy course-load? Did you work during those times? I know I'm not the only one curious!
 
Definitely did not think I'd be one of those low GPA success threads so no need to thank me for sharing, I am ecstatic! No one really brought up anything regarding the course load but I was able to redirect a question towards it in which they were impressed at the interview. I had to work during that time because I was very broke with no help and a non-trad at the time. Luckily I had a skill-set that allowed me to work a minimal amount of odd hours and still make a decent amount of money but it was incredibly difficult. My only extra-curricular's were the standard clubs/activities like relay for life, BIG event, AMSA, chemistry club and two very very meaningful long term positions as a leader at a free clinic(rural) and medical scribe(trainer/leadership) at an ED.

popopopop, it looks like you are from Texas which is a huge advantage due to the large amount of state schools that require 90% in-state students to matriculate. I moved here specifically for the Texas advantage and for the back up plan of using Texas Fresh Start. A lot of the schools here look at the applicant holistically which allowed my super low GPA to squeak by. If you have any more questions let me know! I will try to help in whatever way I can!
 
phant0m0o0o said:
So yea if I have a 3.03, BCMP 3.17. Straight A's last 100 hours, around 26 credit hours per semester all hard sciences about what mcat do I need to even have an MD school look at me. Had straight F's a LONG time ago which is why this GPA is so low. Just took july 28 mcat. Nervous about it and dont feel I did as well as practices but heard everyone feels this way? is a 34 enough or do I need even higher? Aiming for low tier md. Thanks!
Click to expand...

3.00 BCPM and 3.14osh AO. I got a 33 and am doing ok. I'm a URM though.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile
 
Great job MOTIVATOR!! I too had to overcome a semester of F's (17hours) because I didn't follow up with the registrar when I had a family crisis. Doing post-bacc now and will apply to FL. & TX. schools.
 
I'm was in a similar situation... Non-urm, SGPA 2.97, cGPA 3.1..... Postbac gpa 3.9... Scored a 28 first mcat (with the flu) retook got a 34..... Applied early, got accepted to my top md school oct 15 and have been offered several other interviews. Stay positive, make a 32+ and apply early!
 
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