Hi all,
I attended university straight out of high school and dropped out after 3 semesters with
cGPA 0.36, sGPA 0.67 (yes, you read that right) due to depression, adjustment and personal issues. Pretty much skipped and failed most of the classes. ~30 credits
Following that debacle I worked part-time for less than a year before enlisting in the military. I trained and deployed as a special operations combat medic. I did everything from tube thoracostomies to STI counseling, on both civilian hospital rotations (various departments) and in military settings. Civilian certifications included NREMT-P, ACLS, etc. (though most are expired by now). I also took courses at a local university while still on active duty,
cGPA 3.7, sGPA 4.0 at this institution only. ~20 credits
After more than 4 years of active duty I separated IOT complete undergrad at a top U.S. university, where I'm currently pursuing a STEM major. Grades at this institution:
cGPA 3.9, sGPA 3.8. ~90 credits
- cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS cGPA 3.05, sGPA 2.98. Based on AMCASyears there is a very strong upward trend (Freshman--Sophomore--Junior--Senior): cGPA 1.35--2.61--3.00--3.05; sGPA 1.30--2.69--2.85--2.98. But I still end up barely attaining a 3.0, which is the number that keeps getting thrown around for auto-rejection cutoffs as I'm researching.
- MCAT summer 2018 test date
- State of residence or country of citizenship USA
- Ethnicity and/or race Asian, male
- Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer) see above
- Research experience and productivity volunteer clinical research and basic science research, chance with latter to be published within remaining undergrad time.
- Shadowing experience and specialties represented family, emergency, pediatrics, OBGYN, internal medicine, surgery (trauma/ortho/general) + anesthesiology, infectious disease, GE, ENT, cardiology, urology, radiology.
Assuming strong performance on remaining undergrad academics and the MCAT, how likely is a "diamond in the rough" situation where my app gets pulled from the auto-rejection pile? I assume it depends a lot on where I choose to apply (?). Or do mistakes made 8 years ago mean I should consider redirecting my time and money into preparing other career possibilities.
Thanks