- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
- Messages
- 1,129
- Reaction score
- 118
I've got a bit of an odd-duck case. Oftentimes, when someone posts with their abysmal uGPA, it's accompanied by, "well, what if I go to get an SMP? What if I do well on the MCAT?" Well, I'm two months away from 4.0'ing my SMP-type M.S., just received a great MCAT, and am saddled with a catastrophically low uGPA. What are my chances for redemption? I'm mostly interested in a list of schools that will not screen me out.
Here's a summary of my stats:
uGPA: 2.65
sGPA: 2.49
aoGPA: 2.94
gGPA: 4.0 (M.S. in Pharmacology; 1 med school class with 2nd year students, balance of courseload is graduate school work)
WA state resident, strongly considering changing domicile to LA (current state).
In terms of relevant ECs:
- 4 year rower in undergrad
- 6 mo. research, no publications
- 50 hr. ER Volunteering + 40 hr. shadowing (primary care)
- 100+ hr. 'other' volunteering, of various types, mostly in a school focused on low-income kids. Will be 200+ hr by application time.
- (future activity) 1 year Americorps term, starting in August
I also have some odds-and-ends work experience (lab intern at biotech company, window washer, seedhouse tech...) that isn't super relevant.
Here's the story, if anyone's interested: I graduated in 2012, after 5 years of undergrad at a state school, with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a B.S. in Genetics/Cell Biology. My grades? For the first 4 years, awful. My 5th year (entirely upper-division or graduate courses) I brought up my grades to ~3.6. Most of my early pre-reqs were very poor, I had to retake several classes, and I generally did not achieve at all. A few things led to my awful performance: firstly, I have relatively severe ADHD that was undiagnosed until my 5th year in school, and treatment (chemical and otherwise) has helped me tremendously. You can see that in the turnaround in my 5th year and graduate school. Secondly, I had a very poor work ethic. I was lazy, unmotivated, and didn't apply myself to my studies. This was partially due to the ADHD and partially due to immaturity: I turned it around by gritting my teeth and putting my nose to the grindstone. Finally, as a rower, I didn't manage my time well. I was more concerned with being fast than being a good student.
I am an ORM, but am a first generation American who lived in South Africa as a child. I've passionate about social justice issues and see a lot of parallels between where I live now, in terms of the gentrification and systemic prejudice and inequality, and what I saw as a youth in South Africa, and the main reason I'm doing Americorps is so I can begin to fix some of these root issues, particularly in the educational gap.
If anyone has any questions, let me know. I'm hopeful that I can get some good pointers and a solid school list. I having nothing against DO, but would rather do MD (my dad is an MD/PhD and parents are not as well versed with what a DO is, being South African), but if I end up at DO I won't be disappointed, and have to be realistic given my stats.
Here's a summary of my stats:
uGPA: 2.65
sGPA: 2.49
aoGPA: 2.94
gGPA: 4.0 (M.S. in Pharmacology; 1 med school class with 2nd year students, balance of courseload is graduate school work)
WA state resident, strongly considering changing domicile to LA (current state).
In terms of relevant ECs:
- 4 year rower in undergrad
- 6 mo. research, no publications
- 50 hr. ER Volunteering + 40 hr. shadowing (primary care)
- 100+ hr. 'other' volunteering, of various types, mostly in a school focused on low-income kids. Will be 200+ hr by application time.
- (future activity) 1 year Americorps term, starting in August
I also have some odds-and-ends work experience (lab intern at biotech company, window washer, seedhouse tech...) that isn't super relevant.
Here's the story, if anyone's interested: I graduated in 2012, after 5 years of undergrad at a state school, with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a B.S. in Genetics/Cell Biology. My grades? For the first 4 years, awful. My 5th year (entirely upper-division or graduate courses) I brought up my grades to ~3.6. Most of my early pre-reqs were very poor, I had to retake several classes, and I generally did not achieve at all. A few things led to my awful performance: firstly, I have relatively severe ADHD that was undiagnosed until my 5th year in school, and treatment (chemical and otherwise) has helped me tremendously. You can see that in the turnaround in my 5th year and graduate school. Secondly, I had a very poor work ethic. I was lazy, unmotivated, and didn't apply myself to my studies. This was partially due to the ADHD and partially due to immaturity: I turned it around by gritting my teeth and putting my nose to the grindstone. Finally, as a rower, I didn't manage my time well. I was more concerned with being fast than being a good student.
I am an ORM, but am a first generation American who lived in South Africa as a child. I've passionate about social justice issues and see a lot of parallels between where I live now, in terms of the gentrification and systemic prejudice and inequality, and what I saw as a youth in South Africa, and the main reason I'm doing Americorps is so I can begin to fix some of these root issues, particularly in the educational gap.
If anyone has any questions, let me know. I'm hopeful that I can get some good pointers and a solid school list. I having nothing against DO, but would rather do MD (my dad is an MD/PhD and parents are not as well versed with what a DO is, being South African), but if I end up at DO I won't be disappointed, and have to be realistic given my stats.
