2nd year science GPA tanked--post bac or keep going?

[flyingstrawberry]

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Hi everyone,

At the end of my sophomore year of undergrad, I'm in a bit of a crisis:
-C+/D in Ochems, C+ in bio, A-/B+ in gen chems
-cGPA 3.249, science GPA 3.3
-pretty solid ECs
-pursuing BS in neuro + spanish minor (willing to drop if needed)

Currently debating a few options:
1. Take biochem + physics next semester, attempt to patch up science GPA, graduate in ~4yrs, seek admission to med school
2. Take premed classes in undergrad over the course of 5yrs w/ spanish minor, seek admission to med school
3.Drop all pre-med classes, graduate early w/ just BS in neuro at the end of junior year, apply to postbac programs, go from there

Any thoughts/advice would be so greatly appreciated!

 

[Redpancreas]

OK. It's pretty bad, but what's done is done and your GPA is indeed reparable even for MD programs. You're looking at an extra year though.


Option 1: No way...A quick google calculation shows that your maximum potential GPA is a 3.499 assuming 66% of your courseload was FR/SO and 33% is junior....That's assuming you 4.0 everything which after your current performance, forgive me, I highly doubt. Oh...and then where's the time for the MCAT amid making sure your GPA is perfect?!?! Going into a year with a difficult course load, asking for perfect grades and a solid MCAT would have been impossible for me. That's why I took lighter classes junior year and was lucky to have loaded up freshman and sophomore year to achieve a decent MCAT.

Option 2: If you want to do this, absolutely drop the Spanish minor. Minors are very close to pointless for medical school admission. If you're passionate about Spanish and see yourself ACTUALLY USING IT, take 101/201/301 to achieve competence and call it a day. Then, you'll be able to bring it up in interviews/essays if necessary to redeem your "I'm special" points. That minor on paper is worth virtually nothing and it will take time away from your GPA repair project. Then, take that extra year to ensure that your MCAT score is decent. (Oh also, your max GPA would be 3.62 and I'd say a 0.1 GPA buffer is ok).

Option 3: Not a bad idea, might save some money too. It also provides you with a nice gradual pace to up your performance. Option two will as well. Option one was kind of like, ok...I'm having problems, let's up my course difficulty, set unreal expectations (4.0 to achieve borderline cGPA) and hope everything turns out well.


Seek more advice, I'm not entirely sure how one extra year vs. a post-bacc. is considered. Definitely stray away from your first option though. Best of luck!

 

[GrapesofRath]

Your gpa is poor but this is not some situation that can't be repaired with a strong turnaround. The first thing I always say is first take an easy semester with a lighter load and easier science classes(still try to keep it at least at 13-14 credits though which isn't a lot to ask). See yourself do well have some success see what it takes on your part to have success in classes and then move on to filling up your schedule with more science classes where you can really boost your gpa. You have to do this and your focus now can't be "oh what's the highest possible gpa I can end up with if I get a 4.0 from here on out". That's not reality or realistic at this point and won't do anything for you. Its a process you can't skip steps in your case. So my recommendation would be to definitely not graduate early at the very least

Now it's possible adcoms prefer students raising their gpa through formal post baccs at other schools than staying a fifth year, I honestly don't know I've never found a great answer for this researching on sdn, but if there's no preference I would definitely stay a 5th year at your place. You know the department of your major you know professors and you know people. Every department has easier upper level science classes, not because of material but because of the professor. Find those upper levels and that can help your gpa. Going to a post bacc you don't know what the school is like ita a different environment you don't have as many people to study with and you don't know much about who are the most difficult professors( and yes this matters as much as someone might object to the principle of searching out easier professors)

 

[2015istheYear]

 

[deleted388502]

Definitely do not give up. Your ability to do gen Chem is quite promising and shows that you have it in you to do this! 🙂

Re-evaluate your study habits & take a break from pre-med. although I would be curious to hear what other posters think about taking more time in undergrad vs a post-bacc to potentially do GPA repair on courses other than ochem.

 

[Redpancreas]

Your gpa is poor but this is not some situation that can't be repaired with a strong turnaround. The first thing I always say is first take an easy semester with a lighter load and easier science classes(still try to keep it at least at 13-14 credits though which isn't a lot to ask). See yourself do well have some success see what it takes on your part to have success in classes and then move on to filling up your schedule with more science classes where you can really boost your gpa. You have to do this and your focus now can't be "oh what's the highest possible gpa I can end up with if I get a 4.0 from here on out". That's not reality or realistic at this point and won't do anything for you. Its a process you can't skip steps in your case. So my recommendation would be to definitely not graduate early at the very least

Now it's possible adcoms prefer students raising their gpa through formal post baccs at other schools than staying a fifth year, I honestly don't know I've never found a great answer for this researching on sdn, but if there's no preference I would definitely stay a 5th year at your place. You know the department of your major you know professors and you know people. Every department has easier upper level science classes, not because of material but because of the professor. Find those upper levels and that can help your gpa. Going to a post bacc you don't know what the school is like ita a different environment you don't have as many people to study with and you don't know much about who are the most difficult professors( and yes this matters as much as someone might object to the principle of searching out easier professors)

This OP.
I suggest:

1. Do SDN research to figure out whether a post-bacc or 5th year will help more.

-I would guess a post bacc would more because it clearly draws a line between the zone you struggled in vs. the post bacc you excelled in. (That being said, Grapes advice is a factor to conside r too). Maybe they do this with 5th years too and they look at "rising trends". I just have a hunch that adcoms may just not have time to dissect everyone's grade histories in depth so a 5th year doesn't draw as much attention as a post-bacc.

Also, I'm kind of confused now. If you stay a 5th year, they're only seeing your grades for the 4th year (and if you graduate early only for the third year).

If this is so, why not take four years of undergrad, then do a post bacc in your year off so that they see your grades for four years plus the post bacc?

2. If SDN doesn't have an answer, literally pick up the phone and start calling adcoms at every one of your schools of interest. Some say it's oberkill, but you honestly don't have anything to lose. One time, as an overzealous seniornout of high school, I called the office of admissions and Duke and a serious sounding man picked up and at the end of my questions he was like, "you're doing the right thing by calling places and asking early" so it's not like it's annoying to them.

 

[GrapesofRath]

This OP.
I suggest:

1. Do SDN research to figure out whether a post-bacc or 5th year will help more.

-I would guess a post bacc would more because it clearly draws a line between the zone you struggled in vs. the post bacc you excelled in. (That being said, Grapes advice is a factor to conside r too). Maybe they do this with 5th years too and they look at "rising trends". I just have a hunch that adcoms may just not have time to dissect everyone's grade histories in depth so a 5th year doesn't draw as much attention as a post-bacc.

Also, I'm kind of confused now. If you stay a 5th year, they're only seeing your grades for the 4th year (and if you graduate early only for the third year).

If this is so, why not take four years of undergrad, then do a post bacc in your year off so that they see your grades for four years plus the post bacc?

2. If SDN doesn't have an answer, literally pick up the phone and start calling adcoms at every one of your schools of interest. Some say it's oberkill, but you honestly don't have anything to lose. One time, as an overzealous seniornout of high school, I called the office of admissions and Duke and a serious sounding man picked up and at the end of my questions he was like, "you're doing the right thing by calling places and asking early" so it's not like it's annoying to them.

In the spirit of guessing I'll make my best guess as well(place emphasis on guess here)

1). I could absolutely see a scenario where a med school would prefer a Post-bacc to just staying a 5th year which @Backtothebasics8 described the reasons for. I would guess there aren't nearly as many scenarios where the 5th year is preferred to a post-bacc. Take that as you will.
2) By all means call but I would be a bit skeptical that a med school would openly tell you "we recommend doing a formal post-bacc over a 5th year" or something like that. I could be wrong, maybe I would be, but I just can't imagine a med school saying that. Instead, I'd imagine the generic rhetoric "we consider everything you send" and "we look at your entire transcript and academic record". In the past you'll see people get specific input from med schools that interviewed and rejected them on where they can improve their app but that's different than just some generic pre-med calling them. Perhaps you could tag the people who've been involved in admission on this site on this post and see what they say.
3) Something to consider: post-baccs exist for a reason and it's not always about linkage to med school with them. Anybody can choose to stay extra in undergrad. But these post-baccs still exist and are popular and often recommended by people who have experience in med school admission on this site. There's a reason for that. I've come across many people involved in admission on this site recommending post-baccs. In my limited time here, I haven't seen any of them recommend staying a fifth year in their school(not saying that hasn't happened rather I've seen more post-bacc recommendations than 5th year recommendations by those in the know) Again, limited conclusions to be drawn but take them as you will.

Now, if it is indeed true that say a post-bacc is slightly favored than staying a fifth year that doesn't mean I would resort to the post-bacc automatically. Like I listed above you are much more familiar with teachers at your school and can find out through others the easier upper level classes. That's not going to be nearly as easy at a school such as post-bacc, especially one which is all gunners only their to raise their GPA for med school. Just more food for fodder but we are all mostly in speculation right now with this topic.

 

[Redpancreas]

I second the emphasis that this is all speculative. Call the schools!