I am a 2013 graduate from Colgate University. I am a chemistry-biochemistry major and have a very low GPA with 138 credits. My cumulative GPA is a 2.99 and my science GPA is a 2.68. I did fairly well on the MCAT scoring a 36. However I have a major concern with my GPA and I don't want my mcat score/hard work to be all for nothing. In addition, I have a downward GPA trend. After my freshman year, my GPA was at a 3.59. However, I started not doing well in biochem, pchem, and analytical chemistry.i got c's and d,s my last three semesters of college which completely wrecked my GPA. I lost motivation and confidence but my mcat score has given me some confidence that I can do it. I have a job lined up as a research technician at mass general hospital for two years. However, I am not sure whether or not I should work because I need to somehow improve my GPA. I have considered smp programs but they are expensive and I don't want to spend a ton of money after attending a 50k per year liberal arts college. Does anyone have advice? I was thinking about retaking some classes as I work in boston and bring my overall GPA over 3.0 and apply to DO schools? Please give me some advice or any thoughts you have on my current situation.
2013 graduate, need advice on what I should do to improve my candidacy!
- Thread starter Spurs19
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Probably your best (only?) bet. You have a great MCAT but that GPA is going to get you automatically screened out at most programs. Get the GPA up and you will get in somewhere.
Survivor DO
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deleted307836
It sounds like you know about grade replacement for DO schools (if not, DO schools will consider your most recent grade for a course while MD schools will average all attempts). I think taking advantage of that is definitely a good idea (at least to get both GPA's above 3.0). If you can work while doing that, that could certainly help your application, but I think you may risk over-extending yourself by doing that so you may want to focus solely on coursework. Being a research tech at MGH sounds like a really good opportunity though... so maybe start with the job and try slowly re-taking courses? Or take the job to work for a while and to get it on your app, but then go back to only taking courses while not working? That's a judgment call best made by you.
I don't know anything about SMP's, but I think I've heard they can be a good option for people with a high MCAT score but low GPA. I'll let others give you advice about that, but even for SMP's I think you would want >3.0 GPA's (not positive on that, though).
I don't know anything about SMP's, but I think I've heard they can be a good option for people with a high MCAT score but low GPA. I'll let others give you advice about that, but even for SMP's I think you would want >3.0 GPA's (not positive on that, though).
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If you can retake enough classes and get your GPA to a 3.0 or above, you're basically golden for all DO schools (assuming you have all the necessary requirements, like the DO letter).
I think I will be going the DO route and raise my GPA to over 3.0. I can easily increase my overall GPA to 3.00 because it is at a 2.99. When you guys say increase ga to over 3.0, are you guys referring to my science GPA
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deleted307836
You'd want both the science GPA and overall GPA above 3.0. With grade replacement for DO, getting your science GPA above 3.0 should be doable by retaking the classes you didn't do as well in.
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We are talking about both GPAs. However, if you take science courses it will raise both GPAs at the same time.
