3.3 GPA, 36R MCAT, URM. Advice?

[Argonautical]

I have a 3.2 GPA, both science and cumulative. I should be able to bring it up to a 3.3 by the time I apply in June 2011. I studied like crazy and pulled a 36R (12/12/12) on the MCAT! My degree will be in Bioinformatics (Basically a Biology/Computer Science hybrid).

Here's my credentials:

Pros:
1. URM (Native American)
2. HUGE upward trend in GPA
3. Tons of physician shadowing with quality clinical exposure
4. Tons of volunteering at hospitals and hospice facilities
5. Excellent Letters of Recommendation
6. 36R MCAT!!

Cons:

1. 3.3 GPA
2. Will have one incomplete prerequisite course at time of application, unless I wait until August 2011 to apply. But I'm told by EVERYONE to apply EARLY. Advice?
3. BIG ISSUE: I have a whole semester of W's on my transcript due to a very tragic death in my family. Advice on dealing with this?

I'm open to DO and Caribbean but would really rather not.

Chances? Advice?

Thanks!

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[cliffhuxtableDO]

You'll be fine for a US MD/DO school, so don't even consider the Caribbean. You're right about applying early, schools will see that you have one pre-req to complete and they'll be fine with that because you have to submit all of your final transcripts anyway.

Go ahead and apply as early as possible and either use secondaries to explain the semester of W's and/or it'll come up in interviews anyway.

Apply broadly to both MD and DO schools and something will pan out. Good luck!

 

[Catalystik]

Congrats on the nice MCAT score!

Native Americans applying with ~3.3/36 in the past three years had a 70ish% chance of an acceptance to a US MD school: https://www.aamc.org/download/157590/data/table25-hbn-mcatgpa-grid-0810.pdf

 

[TriagePreMed]

With some research under your belt, I think US MD is more than attainable. Don't even consider Caribbean. You are nowhere near needing to waste your time there.

 

[Ignatius M.D.]

Did you say where you went to undergrad? A 3.3 at Chicago or Hopkins is different from a 3.3 at most schools. People over-emphasize numbers anyway. Yes, they are important, but you made up for it with a really good MCAT. Good luck!

 

[Hania]

"I have a 3.2 GPA, both science and cumulative. I should be able to bring it up to a 3.3 by the time I apply in June 2011. I studied like crazy and pulled a 36R (12/12/12) on the MCAT! My degree will be in Bioinformatics (Basically a Biology/Computer Science hybrid).

Here's my credentials:

Pros:
1. URM (Native American)
2. HUGE upward trend in GPA
3. Tons of physician shadowing with quality clinical exposure
4. Tons of volunteering at hospitals and hospice facilities
5. Excellent Letters of Recommendation
6. 36R MCAT!!

Cons:

1. 3.3 GPA
2. Will have one incomplete prerequisite course at time of application, unless I wait until August 2011 to apply. But I'm told by EVERYONE to apply EARLY. Advice?
3. BIG ISSUE: I have a whole semester of W's on my transcript due to a very tragic death in my family. Advice on dealing with this?

I'm open to DO and Caribbean but would really rather not.




I think you will be able to get into US MD school. Make sure you apply early that makes a big difference. Don't worry about the incomplete course, they don't care as long as you have all of the pre-reqs before marticulation. Also, explain the tragic death in one of the essays. It is better for the admission committee to view the reason with your application that way the semester of W's is not held against you.If you do not give them an explanation with the application, they might think that you do not have an explanation.

If you can fit in research sometime between now and application season it would be a plus.

Upward trend gpa you shouldn't worry about it at all. Ad com know that life is full of ups and downs. The important thing is that you recovered from it.

You have a great application, you WILL be in class of 2016 ( US MD).

 

[MegaProjectile]

You have a good chance of getting in somewhere. Apply early and broadly. By broadly, I mean top-tier(yes!! Columbia, Duke, JH etc) and low-tiers like Albany, NYMC, Jefferson etc.

 

[Doctor246853]

I have a 3.2 GPA, both science and cumulative. I should be able to bring it up to a 3.3 by the time I apply in June 2011. I studied like crazy and pulled a 36R (12/12/12) on the MCAT! My degree will be in Bioinformatics (Basically a Biology/Computer Science hybrid).

Here's my credentials:

Pros:
1. URM (Native American)
2. HUGE upward trend in GPA
3. Tons of physician shadowing with quality clinical exposure
4. Tons of volunteering at hospitals and hospice facilities
5. Excellent Letters of Recommendation
6. 36R MCAT!!

Cons:

1. 3.3 GPA
2. Will have one incomplete prerequisite course at time of application, unless I wait until August 2011 to apply. But I'm told by EVERYONE to apply EARLY. Advice?
3. BIG ISSUE: I have a whole semester of W's on my transcript due to a very tragic death in my family. Advice on dealing with this?

I'm open to DO and Caribbean but would really rather not.

Chances? Advice?

Thanks!

dude you are so a MS1 its not funny.

 

[Argonautical]

Thank you so much everyone, you have been very encouraging!

My plan is to start a research project this Spring 2011 semester, continue shadowing and volunteering, and do everything I can to get my GPA as high as possible by June 2011! I'll be applying the moment the application opens, and I'll apply very broadly!

Thanks again, I really appreciate the advice and encouragement!

 

[DonnyDutch]

Congrats Argonautical! With your great MCAT score im pretty sure you will be accepted to a good school. So you took the MCAT without taking all of the pre-reqs and still killed the exam? Thats impressive and you deserve to get into a great place! Good luck!

 

[Argonautical]

Congrats Argonautical! With your great MCAT score im pretty sure you will be accepted to a good school. So you took the MCAT without taking all of the pre-reqs and still killed the exam? Thats impressive and you deserve to get into a great place! Good luck!

Yes! I had not taken Organic II or Physics II when I took the MCAT, but I studied many hours a day for 4 months! I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but apparently it can be done! Thank you!!