3.05 cGPA, 26R, 4.0 gpa for master's program

[meganmiller4185]

Hi,

My situation is really strange..I messed up a lot in undergrad by not turning in papers and getting Fs..I didn't turn in work for organic chem lab and ended up not passing it 3 times. But I am retaking it at a community college and doing really well. After graduation this past year, I went to a MPH program where I'm getting a 4.00 and will get an excellent recommendation from my science grad school professor. To prove I know my Organic lab stuff, I got a successful position as a TA for Organic Chem lab at a different school and I'm going to recommendation letter for that as well. I've also done science research and am about to start public health research as well. I have tons of EC and lots of experience working with doctors and in clinical settings. I also retook my MCATs, and am expecting a 30+ score.

What do you guys think are my chances?

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[Mobius1985]

In order for a masters program to redeem you, it needs to be heavy in the sciences.Your current excellent GPA in an MPH program will not reassure adcomms that you have what it takes to succeed in the science-heavy curriculum of their med school. Another giant red flag for them will be multiple failed attempts at Organic Chem, which you are following up with a course taken at a community college, generally perceived as an easy-out.

Your undergrad GPA can only be resuscitated by undergrad classes, not by graduate-level classes. It is unfortunate, but true, that most allopathic (MD) medical schools will judge only two factors before even looking at the rest of your application (and thereby appreciating your excellent extracurriculars), namely undergrad GPA and MCAT score.

If your goal is an acceptance at an MD med school, in my opinion this is what you'd need to do to succeed:
1)Finish your masters program with a very high GPA,
2)Take three semesters of unofficial post-bac (undergrad) upper-level science and math classes and get no lower than an A- on any class,
3)Get an MCAT score of 35 or better.

Even so, I'd strongly recommend you apply broadly, ferret out which few schools look at the whole application and not just the numbers, and include DO (osteopathic) med schools among those schools you apply to, and have a very, very good explanation for your failures as a beginning student.

DO schools, BTW, have a reputation for looking at the whole application, and not just the numbers. Their average acceptee has an MCAT of 24 and a GPA of 3.4. Some have GPA cut-offs of 2.75. If you retake a class and get a higher grade, their application service will substitute the retaken grade, rather than average it as the MD application service does.

 

[Tensyle]

For sure try to apply to your state school, and a hand full of schools that have a reputation for considering all other factors other than undergraduate GPA. I have a friend in my class now who messed up during undergraduate, but did a masters program at a reputable university, and got in after one year.

DO programs, like the above poster said, are also a very fair bet for you. If you dont know much about the DO profession, click the link in my signature, or go to aacom.org and read up more there. You will also find some good information in the Pre-DO section of SDN, but you may have to filter through it to get concrete info.

Never give up if your dream is medicine. Another classmate of mine had to apply three times to get in, and finally did. There's another guy who is like 37 years old, and decided to do medicine after quitting his job as a financial analyst.