3.19 was my undergrad GPA, and it is now up to 3.41 with 3 semesters of post bacc courses. Am I ready to apply?

[BlueScar]

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EDIT WITH NEW MCAT:

So here is my deal: I had a strong GPA of 4.0 my freshman year, but it all went to hell when I started working later in my sophomore year. I received a bunch of B's and C's following, and ended up graduating with a 3.19 GPA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I also got an MCAT of 497, which I stupidly took without even studying for it.

I decided to wake up and take school more seriously, since I didn't want to end up with a dead end job going no where. I took a bunch of post bacc courses at a 4 year university for the next 3 semesters: I have gotten A's in each of them.

I retook :
biochemistry (honors),
physics 2,
organic chemistry 2
I got A's in all of them (I had originally gotten C's in them in my undergrad).

I also took the following science courses: (all upper level except A&P)
biochemistry 2,
clinical biochemistry,
cell biology,
virology,
anatomy and physiology (100 level) + lab

My non science courses included:
health and prevention of disease
abnormal psychology,
physiological pyschology,
medical terminology
intro to nutrition

I am set to take a fourth semester of courses which will include:
Neuroscience
Nucleic Acids
4000 level KINE class
Pysch Stats
a 4000 level "future of energy" course I wanted to take for fun
These would conclude my journey of about 54 post bacc credits with A's in ALLof them.

MCAT:
I got a 497 about 3 years ago, but I just got my scores from this January.
The new score is 506 (126 Chem/phys, 124 CARS, 127 bio, 129 pysch)

I have about 200 hours of clinical volunteering experience at a clinic for the homeless, 80 hours of shadowing, easily 600 plus hours of research (from both my failed undergrad and postbacc).

I am also almost a certified scribe, and will be working as a research intern with my PI this following year.

So I want to apply to all the MD and DO medical schools in Texas (my state of residence), and possibly 5+ DO schools nationally. What do y'all think? Do I have a chance?
Also, should I retake the MCAT for a higher score? I know my chem/phys will go higher. I had a month to study for this last one.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

So here is my deal: I had a strong GPA of 4.0 my freshman year, but it all went to hell when I started working later in my sophomore year. I received a bunch of B's and C's following, and ended up graduating with a 3.19 GPA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I also got an MCAT of 497, which I stupidly took without even studying for it.

I decided to wake up and take school more seriously, since my I didn't want to end up with a dead end job going no where. I took a bunch of post bacc courses at a 4 year university for the next 3 semesters: I have gotten A's in each of them.

I retook :
biochemistry (honors),
physics 2,
organic chemistry 2
I got A's in all of them (I had originally gotten C's in them in my undergrad).

I also took the following science courses: (all upper level except A&P)
biochemistry 2,
clinical biochemistry,
cell biology,
virology,
anatomy and physiology (100 level) + lab

My non science courses included:
health and prevention of disease
abnormal psychology,
physiological pyschology,
medical terminology
intro to nutrition

I am set to take a fourth semester of courses which will include 2 upper science courses, along with a 4000 level KINE class, which would conclude my journey of about 50 post bacc credits with A's in all of them. I will take the MCAT this January, hopefully something much better next time.
I have about 200 hours of clinical volunteering experience at a clinic for the homeless, 80 hours of shadowing, easily 600 plus hours of research (from both my failed undergrad and postbacc).

So I want to apply to all the MD and DO medical schools in Texas (my state of residence), and possibly 20+ DO schools nationally. What do y'all think? Do I have a chance?

Get yourself a 505+ MCAT, then you'll get a good chance at most DO schools. Get a 515+, and do a SMP with MD linkage, then maybe you might get a chance at MD. Otherwise you're DOA for most MD schools with that GPA.

Sent from my SM-G973U using SDN mobile

 

[Goro]

So here is my deal: I had a strong GPA of 4.0 my freshman year, but it all went to hell when I started working later in my sophomore year. I received a bunch of B's and C's following, and ended up graduating with a 3.19 GPA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I also got an MCAT of 497, which I stupidly took without even studying for it.

I decided to wake up and take school more seriously, since my I didn't want to end up with a dead end job going no where. I took a bunch of post bacc courses at a 4 year university for the next 3 semesters: I have gotten A's in each of them.

I retook :
biochemistry (honors),
physics 2,
organic chemistry 2
I got A's in all of them (I had originally gotten C's in them in my undergrad).

I also took the following science courses: (all upper level except A&P)
biochemistry 2,
clinical biochemistry,
cell biology,
virology,
anatomy and physiology (100 level) + lab

My non science courses included:
health and prevention of disease
abnormal psychology,
physiological pyschology,
medical terminology
intro to nutrition

I am set to take a fourth semester of courses which will include 2 upper science courses, along with a 4000 level KINE class, which would conclude my journey of about 50 post bacc credits with A's in all of them. I will take the MCAT this January, hopefully something much better next time.
I have about 200 hours of clinical volunteering experience at a clinic for the homeless, 80 hours of shadowing, easily 600 plus hours of research (from both my failed undergrad and postbacc).

So I want to apply to all the MD and DO medical schools in Texas (my state of residence), and possibly 20+ DO schools nationally. What do y'all think? Do I have a chance?

I can't sugar coat this: With that MCAT score, you're not ready to apply, In fact, you're in a risk zone for failing out of med school and/or Boards. Taking a career-deciding, high stakes exam without prepping for it also brings your judgement into question.

Retake the MCAT and shoot for 510+.

 

[BlueScar]

Rule One: Take a Breath
Is your goal to apply to medical school or to actually become a doctor? Presumably its the latter so

1) applying with 497 is beyond stupid; go restudy and retake
2) need to see your AMCAS and ACCOMAS GPA grid to even give you a ghost of chance
3) TMDSAS is a waste of $$$ as they will not take you
3) when you have a new MCAT and when we have an idea of what your grade trends are like ONLY then can you think about applying

Thank you for your reply. I should've expanded a bit more. My undergrad was a 3.19, but after getting all those A's in post bacc, it is up at 3.4ish, and with this last semester it should be 3.44. My MCAT was about 3 years ago,, so I am very positive on getting above 505 at the least!

 

[BlueScar]

Get yourself a 505+ MCAT, then you'll get a good chance at most DO schools. Get a 515+, and do a SMP with MD linkage, then maybe you might get a chance at MD. Otherwise you're DOA for most MD schools with that GPA.

Sent from my SM-G973U using SDN mobile

Thank you for the reply! Should I still consider an SMP if my GPA shot up to about 3.41 doing post bacc courses?

 

[Damson]

Remembering advice from possibly @Goro, he mentioned that SMP's should only be done as a last resort. It won't help your undergrad GPA, and high-risk high-reward. If you do well, it boosts your app, if you don't do well, it hurts your app. Also best to do SMP's with linkages to medical school. I'm going to dm you a few secret ones

you have a decent chance with cGPA and sGPA 3.4+ w/ 500+ mcat anyway at some DO schools, paired with good lors and ecs. keep your head high, you got this

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

You need to retake MCAT, and any further advice will depend on MCAT. Applying with current stats would make you DOA at every school. If you can do well on MCAT in January (DO NOT TAKE IF YOUR OFFICIAL SCORES ARE BELOW 510), you should be good to apply this August with the schools you listed, but that's a very big if.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Moving to WAMC.

I think the OP knows that everything is dependent on doing much better on the MCAT. But at a certain point, continuing to retake classes will have diminishing returns. Hopefully you've been studying for the MCAT--take some practice tests, see about what you can expect, and if you're hitting a target that will make you competitive for DO give it a go.

 

[insaiyan-premed]

I can't sugar coat this: With that MCAT score, you're not ready to apply, In fact, you're in a risk zone for failing out of med school and/or Boards. Taking a career-deciding, high stakes exam without prepping for it also brings your judgement into question.

Retake the MCAT and shoot for 510+.

Why wouldn't a 505+ be enough for DO?

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Why wouldn't a 505+ be enough for DO?

Because in this day and age you have to aim MD and not just settle for DO.

 

[Goro]

Why wouldn't a 505+ be enough for DO?

505+ for DO
510+ for MD

 

[salemglobetrotters]

So here is my deal: I had a strong GPA of 4.0 my freshman year, but it all went to hell when I started working later in my sophomore year. I received a bunch of B's and C's following, and ended up graduating with a 3.19 GPA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I also got an MCAT of 497, which I stupidly took without even studying for it.

I decided to wake up and take school more seriously, since my I didn't want to end up with a dead end job going no where. I took a bunch of post bacc courses at a 4 year university for the next 3 semesters: I have gotten A's in each of them.

I retook :
biochemistry (honors),
physics 2,
organic chemistry 2
I got A's in all of them (I had originally gotten C's in them in my undergrad).

I also took the following science courses: (all upper level except A&P)
biochemistry 2,
clinical biochemistry,
cell biology,
virology,
anatomy and physiology (100 level) + lab

My non science courses included:
health and prevention of disease
abnormal psychology,
physiological pyschology,
medical terminology
intro to nutrition

I am set to take a fourth semester of courses which will include 2 upper science courses, along with a 4000 level KINE class, and Pysch Stats which would conclude my journey of about 50 post bacc credits with A's in all of them. I will take the MCAT this January, hopefully something much better next time.
I have about 200 hours of clinical volunteering experience at a clinic for the homeless, 80 hours of shadowing, easily 600 plus hours of research (from both my failed undergrad and postbacc).

So I want to apply to all the MD and DO medical schools in Texas (my state of residence), and possibly 20+ DO schools nationally. What do y'all think? Do I have a chance?

EDIT: My undergrad was a 3.19, but after getting all those A's in post bacc, it is up at 3.4ish, and with this last semester it should be 3.44. My MCAT was about 3 years ago,, so I am very positive on getting above 505 at the least!

Hi, I feel like I am in a similar position to you. I graduated undergrad with a 3.15 GPA. I did a post bacc program (5 semesters) and retook almost all my prerequisites (I had 5 out of 10 already taken before I gave up on premed) and completed the rest. I ended up getting a 3.97 GPA in the program and have a 3.47 overall GPA now. I took the MCAT and got a 513. My advisor told me she thinks there should be no worry about me getting into an MD program. I made sure to do a lot with ECs too. I was an idiot and applied to all my schools kind of late, but have had no rejections yet and one II from the schools where I've sent in my secondaries (no news is good news?).

So what I say is you definitely do have a chance if you have good EC and get a good MCAT score. Also make sure to get good LOR and put your heart into your application. And if nothing else, take comfort in knowing you're not the only one in this situation!

 

[BlueScar]

Hi, I feel like I am in a similar position to you. I graduated undergrad with a 3.15 GPA. I did a post bacc program (5 semesters) and retook almost all my prerequisites (I had 5 out of 10 already taken before I gave up on premed) and completed the rest. I ended up getting a 3.97 GPA in the program and have a 3.47 overall GPA now. I took the MCAT and got a 513. My advisor told me she thinks there should be no worry about me getting into an MD program. I made sure to do a lot with ECs too. I was an idiot and applied to all my schools kind of late, but have had no rejections yet and one II from the schools where I've sent in my secondaries (no news is good news?).

So what I say is you definitely do have a chance if you have good EC and get a good MCAT score. Also make sure to get good LOR and put your heart into your application. And if nothing else, take comfort in knowing you're not the only one in this situation!

That gives me some relief, and that's awesome to hear that you have no rejections yet! Have you applied to any DO schools at all?

 

[salemglobetrotters]

That gives me some relief, and that's awesome to hear that you have no rejections yet! Have you applied to any DO schools at all?

No, I only applied to MD schools. It probably would have been a good idea to apply to DO schools too, but I guess I've just been overly hopeful. I didn't put in enough time to allow myself to fill out applications for both MD and DO (and I had no DO shadowing either). Update: I got one rejection, but also got another interview invite, and I think both my interviews are at fairly competitive schools.

 

[Damson]

No, I only applied to MD schools. It probably would have been a good idea to apply to DO schools too, but I guess I've just been overly hopeful. I didn't put in enough time to allow myself to fill out applications for both MD and DO (and I had no DO shadowing either). Update: I got one rejection, but also got another interview invite, and I think both my interviews are at fairly competitive schools.

dude! congrats on your MD interview! you deserve it with that MCAT!

 

[salemglobetrotters]

dude! congrats on your MD interview! you deserve it with that MCAT!

Thanks, I appreciate it! My first interview is on Tuesday, wish me luck!

 

[BlueScar]

1) again, your single overall GPA number is nearly useless. Your grade trends, particularly the AMCAS and AACOMAS GPA Grids (which are calculated differently), need to be posted as this how the adcoms will see your application and grades
2) being hopeful of the MCAT score is not reality. Until you actually have a score, it is all hopeful speculation
3) You are got a 497 and have crappy GPA, you damn well need an solid MCAT for a reasonable chance at at any school (497 is average for some Carrib schools)
4) As far as I can see, Texas isnt the most receptive of reinvented students unless you use the Texas Fresh Start

I went ahead an edited my thread a bit, alongside a 506 MCAT score from January. What is the GPA grid you mentioned?

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

With your GPA and new MCAT (congratulations btw!) you should a solid shot at DO schools.

 

[Faha]

You may receive interviews at some of your Texas MD schools. You should apply broadly to DO schools and I suggest these:
TCOM
UIWSOM
SAM HOUSTON STATE
AZCOM
ATSU-KCOM
DMU-COM
CCOM
MU-COM
CUSOM
VCOM (all 4 schools)