4 MD interviews, continue post-bacc? undergrad 3.2 cGPA, 3.05 sGPA , 29 N

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flodhi1

flodhi1

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First of all I am fully aware that tons of you will post something like, "Chief you don't have a chance at MD, apply to DO etc...."
Now with that being said I applied to MD schools in July and have already received 4 Interview invites from 4 MD schools. I am reluctant to right out disclose the name of the schools for my own personal reasons and mostly to stay anonymous.
After verification I am a 3.19ish cGPA and 3.05 sGPA. Regardless I am a little worried because my MCAT is definitely not the best score out there it's average if even that. On the AAMC my VR average was an 8-9 and on the real deal I scored a 7, my PS average was 10-11 and I scored a 12, my BS average was 12 and I scored a 10. So my AAMC practice exam average was a 30-31 and I scored a 29 N (7 VR, 12 PS, 10 BS). Therefore due to such close proximity I chose to stick with it.
My GPA according to AMCAS goes as following

Year BCPM AO Total
Freshman 1.50 (10 credits) 2.80 (15 credits) 2.28 (*25 credits*)
Sophomore 1.93 (14 credits) 3.38 (16 credits) 2.70 (*30 credits*)
Junior 3.15 (25 credits) 3.00 (3 credits) 3.14 (*28 credits*)
Senior 3.60 (52 credits!) 3,77 (9 credits) 3.62 (**61 credits**)

So as you can see I had a rough start in the beginning. It was mostly because I was active duty in the Infantry of the Marine Corp working (6 AM- 6 PM) shifts every weekday. I would take classes in the evenings and literally had no time to do homework but tried to stay devoted to school as much as I could (clearly did a ****ty job). According to the community college I had a 3.2 but it's showing up so low according to AMCAS because I failed Calc 1&2 simply because I was unable to do homework most of the time. Retook the classes and got A's in some of them. When I got into a 4 year school I really got my stuff together, I was out of the military and I was getting straight A's in most of my core, upper division and pre-reqs
A's in (Infectious Disease, Organic chem 1&2, Human Physiology, Physics 1 &2, Biochemistry, General Genetics, Ecology etc....). My last 30 credits have pretty much been a 3.9 GPA.
I have 2000 hours worth of volunteering and shadowing (probably half each as in 1000 hours of volunteering in different disadvantaged community events and the clinic and 1000 hours of shadowing 2 primary care physicians). I've been in the clinic working with patients, I have a pretty descent personal statement and LORs (according to some people they started crying after reading my personal statement and some of my professors volunteered to write the letters and some blatantly told me to my face that I am probably one of the most hard working students they have ever met- now I must say that was an exaggeration but I thank them for their kind words). I've applied very broadly close to 35 medical schools and completed about 30 secondaries by the end of July!
The SMP program that I signed up for was the Advanced Biomedical sciences certificate program which is a joint program between Georgetown medical school and George Mason University. It's the 21 credit SMP program and supposedly I take 1 last semester at Georgetown to get a Masters. This is my first semester and it just started 1 week ago and I have NO grades for it so far. The material is no doubt tough because it's pretty much the same exact stuff as first year Georgetown med students. I chose this program to A) Prove to others that I do have the discipline to work hard B) To do something fun like studying during this one year break (yes studying to me is a lot of fun!) C) God forbid I don't get in this year yeah hopefully this program will enhance my stats for next year.

So far here is my update on the 30ish secondaries I submitted:- I have 5 rejections, 4 interview from MD schools, 2 possible interviews but no guarantees on those yet. So I have two questions
1) What are my chances from these 4 interviews ?
2) The questions is that is it risky to continue taking the post-bacc program should I drop it? or should I continue with the post-bacc program?
and if I do continue with the post-bacc program when exactly do I tell or update the schools about this? I enrolled into the post bacc after submitting 90 % of my secondaries.
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flodhi1 said:
When I got into a 4 year school I really got my stuff together, I was out of the military and I was getting straight A's in most of my core, upper division and pre-reqs
A's in (Infectious Disease, Organic chem 1&2, Human Physiology, Physics 1 &2, Biochemistry, General Genetics, Ecology etc....). My last 30 credits have pretty much been a 3.9 GPA.

-I have 2000 hours worth of volunteering and shadowing
-I've applied very broadly close to 35 medical schools and completed about 30 secondaries by the end of July!
-The SMP program that I signed up for was the Advanced Biomedical sciences certificate program which is a joint program between Georgetown medical school and George Mason University. It's the 21 credit SMP program and supposedly I take 1 last semester at Georgetown to get a Masters.
-This is my first semester and it just started 1 week ago and I have NO grades for it so far.

So far here is my update on the 30ish secondaries I submitted:- I have 5 rejections, 4 interview from MD schools, 2 possible interviews but no guarantees on those yet. So I have two questions
1) What are my chances from these 4 interviews ?
2) The questions is that is it risky to continue taking the post-bacc program should I drop it? or should I continue with the post-bacc program?
and if I do continue with the post-bacc program when exactly do I tell or update the schools about this? I enrolled into the post bacc after submitting 90 % of my secondaries.
Click to expand...
1) Not telling us the names of the schools prevents a knowledgeable response, but in general, "Interviews three, a doc you'll be." This is a quote that went around last season. Add a +/- 2 factor (depending on interview skills) and you'll likely be closer to the truth. Ex-military with two-year steep upward grade trend, and excellent ECs, with a decent MCAT score makes me feel optimistic on your behalf despite the low GPAs.

2) a) It's risky if you don't do well, a possiblity I find hard to imagine from seeing your past two years of academic performance. b) It's risky if schools don't know you're enrolled, and they rejected you due to not knowing you are engaging in a GPA enhancing program. c) Schools that do know about it may wait to see how you perform before extending an interview or making some decision on your file.

I don't think dropping it is a good option. It could be perceived as a choice made because the material was too difficult. Schools knowing about it will expect a fall transcript. Or for those schools that don't know about it: if you end up reapplying, you are obliged to submit a transcript from every institution at which coursework was attempted, even if no grade was given. What will schools think? And if you are reapplying, it means you needed the program after all. How would you feel then?

You decided to do this for fun, and as a backup plan, not because you needed it for sure, so why the second thoughts now?

At the latest, tell schools about the program after fall grades come out and you send them a transcript. I think telling them sooner (now) would be a better idea to avoid any further rejections that need not have happened. JMO.
 
Catalystik said:
1) Not telling us the names of the schools prevents a knowledgeable response, but in general, "Interviews three, a doc you'll be." This is a quote that went around last season. Add a +/- 2 factor (depending on interview skills) and you'll likely be closer to the truth. Ex-military with two-year steep upward grade trend, and excellent ECs, with a decent MCAT score makes me feel optimistic on your behalf despite the low GPAs.

2) a) It's risky if you don't do well, a possiblity I find hard to imagine from seeing your past two years of academic performance. b) It's risky if schools don't know you're enrolled, and they rejected you due to not knowing you are engaging in a GPA enhancing program. c) Schools that do know about it may wait to see how you perform before extending an interview or making some decision on your file.

I don't think dropping it is a good option. It could be perceived as a choice made because the material was too difficult. Schools knowing about it will expect a fall transcript. Or for those schools that don't know about it: if you end up reapplying, you are obliged to submit a transcript from every institution at which coursework was attempted, even if no grade was given. What will schools think? And if you are reapplying, it means you needed the program after all. How would you feel then?

You decided to do this for fun, and as a backup plan, not because you needed it for sure, so why the second thoughts now?

At the latest, tell schools about the program after fall grades come out and you send them a transcript. I think telling them sooner (now) would be a better idea to avoid any further rejections that need not have happened. JMO.
Click to expand...

With that being said I honestly did not expect these many interviews. I thought I would get 2 at most in the whole cycle and ridiculously late if even that. I'm not second doubting myself at all I honestly want to finish this program. There's a lot of material that is being put on top of my old foundation that I had built in upper division undergrad and MCAT studies. However, I think it's very manageable but will require at least 30+ hours / week of studying. I guess I was being a little lazy now a days and trying to get a short cut but ehhh I like the program a lot. In the first week we have covered close to 2 months worth of undergrad material so I guess I was a little shocked lol but that's med school courses for you. What GPA do you think I would need to look good at front of medical schools? my friends & family are pressurizing me to get a 4.0 which seems over whelming especially since I haven't even set up my study schedule yet.
 
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A 3.7 looks good. A 3.5 is theoretically adequate.

Another plus for sticking with the program is that your MS-1 year will be significantly de-stressed due to mastering this material now. You'll actually have some time to be a human and engage in leisuretime activities.

I'll go out on a limb and predict that at least two of the four will accept you, if you interview well (go to Interview Feedback and see what questions were tossed at last year's applicants-link at top of this page). I think that at least two more of your state schools will offer interviews.
 
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Catalystik said:
A 3.7 looks good. A 3.5 is theoretically adequate.

Another plus for sticking with the program is that your MS-1 year will be significantly de-stressed due to mastering this material now. You'll actually have some time to be a human and engage in leisuretime activities.

I'll go out on a limb and predict that at least two of the four will accept you, if you interview well (go to Interview Feedback and see what questions were tossed at last year's applicants-link at top of this page). I think that at least two more of your state schools will offer interviews. (You can edit the names out if you wish now).
Click to expand...

I actually have 2 more state schools and 1 of them has already rejected me. The other is pretty well known (UVA) and I highly highly doubt I will get an interview there. It will definitely take a miracle but thank you for your kind words. I might as well start prepping for medical school right now by finishing this program. Thanks again for your amazing advice!! :thumbup:
 
Catalystik said:
I was thinking EVMS and Virginia Tech.
Click to expand...

Virginia tech rejected me pre-secondary, I never received a secondary from them and no message at all. VA tech is supposedly into research and my interest/personal statement/ECs are focused towards primary care. EVMS rejected me post-secondary and when I asked them they said it was the GPA. That rejection is what triggered my enrollment into the post-bacc program and I was pretty disheartened. However, some schools were extremely kind enough to offer interviews! :xf:
 
Catalystik said:
Honestly, that surprises me considering they have an affiliated SMP.
Click to expand...

Yeah usually EVMS is on the kinder side about low GPAs haha but w/e I didn't sweat it. I'm just really excited about VCU it's an absolutely wonderful school in my eyes and hopefully I will get accepted there :)
 
Wow! Great job!


Good luck with your interviews.
 
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Not gonna lie, didn't think you had a shot. Good job and congratulations.
 
I know this thread is a couple of months old, but I found your story inspiring. Congratulations! :)
 
Just read this. Congrats and this goes to show you that hard work does pay off.
 
flodhi1 said:
First of all I am fully aware that tons of you will post something like, "Chief you don't have a chance at MD, apply to DO etc...."
Now with that being said I applied to MD schools in July and have already received 4 Interview invites from 4 MD schools. I am reluctant to right out disclose the name of the schools for my own personal reasons and mostly to stay anonymous.
After verification I am a 3.19ish cGPA and 3.05 sGPA. Regardless I am a little worried because my MCAT is definitely not the best score out there it's average if even that. On the AAMC my VR average was an 8-9 and on the real deal I scored a 7, my PS average was 10-11 and I scored a 12, my BS average was 12 and I scored a 10. So my AAMC practice exam average was a 30-31 and I scored a 29 N (7 VR, 12 PS, 10 BS). Therefore due to such close proximity I chose to stick with it.
My GPA according to AMCAS goes as following

Year BCPM AO Total
Freshman 1.50 (10 credits) 2.80 (15 credits) 2.28 (*25 credits*)
Sophomore 1.93 (14 credits) 3.38 (16 credits) 2.70 (*30 credits*)
Junior 3.15 (25 credits) 3.00 (3 credits) 3.14 (*28 credits*)
Senior 3.60 (52 credits!) 3,77 (9 credits) 3.62 (**61 credits**)

So as you can see I had a rough start in the beginning. It was mostly because I was active duty in the Infantry of the Marine Corp working (6 AM- 6 PM) shifts every weekday. I would take classes in the evenings and literally had no time to do homework but tried to stay devoted to school as much as I could (clearly did a ****ty job). According to the community college I had a 3.2 but it's showing up so low according to AMCAS because I failed Calc 1&2 simply because I was unable to do homework most of the time. Retook the classes and got A's in some of them. When I got into a 4 year school I really got my stuff together, I was out of the military and I was getting straight A's in most of my core, upper division and pre-reqs
A's in (Infectious Disease, Organic chem 1&2, Human Physiology, Physics 1 &2, Biochemistry, General Genetics, Ecology etc....). My last 30 credits have pretty much been a 3.9 GPA.
I have 2000 hours worth of volunteering and shadowing (probably half each as in 1000 hours of volunteering in different disadvantaged community events and the clinic and 1000 hours of shadowing 2 primary care physicians). I've been in the clinic working with patients, I have a pretty descent personal statement and LORs (according to some people they started crying after reading my personal statement and some of my professors volunteered to write the letters and some blatantly told me to my face that I am probably one of the most hard working students they have ever met- now I must say that was an exaggeration but I thank them for their kind words). I've applied very broadly close to 35 medical schools and completed about 30 secondaries by the end of July!
The SMP program that I signed up for was the Advanced Biomedical sciences certificate program which is a joint program between Georgetown medical school and George Mason University. It's the 21 credit SMP program and supposedly I take 1 last semester at Georgetown to get a Masters. This is my first semester and it just started 1 week ago and I have NO grades for it so far. The material is no doubt tough because it's pretty much the same exact stuff as first year Georgetown med students. I chose this program to A) Prove to others that I do have the discipline to work hard B) To do something fun like studying during this one year break (yes studying to me is a lot of fun!) C) God forbid I don't get in this year yeah hopefully this program will enhance my stats for next year.

So far here is my update on the 30ish secondaries I submitted:- I have 5 rejections, 4 interview from MD schools, 2 possible interviews but no guarantees on those yet. So I have two questions
1) What are my chances from these 4 interviews ?
2) The questions is that is it risky to continue taking the post-bacc program should I drop it? or should I continue with the post-bacc program?
and if I do continue with the post-bacc program when exactly do I tell or update the schools about this? I enrolled into the post bacc after submitting 90 % of my secondaries.
Click to expand...

I know this late but this is an awe-inspiring post. Right now I have a 3.3cgpa 3.1 sgpa for MD and a 3.3cgpa 3.4sgpa for DO after my first two years. My ECs are not nearly as good as yours though (only about 320 hours of clinical volunteering, about 20 from nonclinical, part of a few clubs, researching and will be published sometime soon). I did the math and I do not see myself have a problem getting a 3.5/3.5 for a DO. But realistically I'm looking at a 3.5-3.6/3.2-3.3 for MD. Haven't taken the MCAT yet but I hope to score a 32+. Congrats on your acceptance man. Hard work does pay off. I do know of someone who was so worried she couldn't get into any medical school with a 3.4/29. Applied to about 30 schools like you did, got about 6 interviews and ended up getting 4 acceptance (4 MDs and the school she currently goes to boasts an average of a 3.8/33 on matriculating students). I hope to graduate with the ECs of about 400-500 clinical volunteering, 30 hours or so of non clinical, hopefully 3-4 publications in my lab (everyone gets published at some point in my lab.... its crazy lol), get more involved in three clubs I'm interested in, volunteer abroad senior year.
 
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