3.38 cGPA/3.33 bcpm/MCAT in January. Need advice?

[ModernAlchemist]

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Thank you for your help, Catalystik.

 

[armybound]

so you're from California?

 

[SamuelTesla]

Looks like you have a pretty solid chance - even if you get low 30s on the MCAT you will still get accepted...

 

[Catalystik]

A 3.38/35 gave a 51.3% chance of AMCAS applicant acceptance over the last three years. A recent steep upward grade trend (especially in the sciences), balanced subscores on the MCAT, and your fairly terrific ECs should all help make it more likely you'd be successful, but if your risk tolerance is like mine, you'd want better odds than that. I think doing an SMP is a fine idea, unless you're willing to spend another year in college doing GPA repair (getting straight As in upper-level science) or you get an MCAT of 39+ (66% chance of acceptance).

SMPs are high risk, high reward. They say a 3.5 GPA in one gives you great odds, but I'd say a 3.7+ is a better goal.

BTW, establishing residency in Illinois requires a year of residency for nonacademic purposes before you apply to med school, marrying a current Illinois native, or having a parent in the state who claims you as a dependent, plus the usual paper trail of voters registration, drivers, license, auto plates, and tax documents.

With your current cGPA and BCPM, and an MCAT of 28+, you'd have a very good chance at DO schools, BTW.

 

[ModernAlchemist]

A 3.38/35 gave a 51.3% chance of AMCAS applicant acceptance over the last three years. A recent steep upward grade trend (especially in the sciences), balanced subscores on the MCAT, and your fairly terrific ECs should all help make it more likely you'd be successful, but if your risk tolerance is like mine, you'd want better odds than that. I think doing an SMP is a fine idea, unless you're willing to spend another year in college doing GPA repair (getting straight As in upper-level science) or you get an MCAT of 39+ (66% chance of acceptance).

SMPs are high risk, high reward. They say a 3.5 GPA in one gives you great odds, but I'd say a 3.7+ is a better goal.

BTW, establishing residency in Illinois requires a year of residency for nonacademic purposes before you apply to med school, marrying a current Illinois native, or having a parent in the state who claims you as a dependent, plus the usual paper trail of voters registration, drivers, license, auto plates, and tax documents.

With your current cGPA and BCPM, and an MCAT of 28+, you'd have a very good chance at DO schools, BTW.

Thank you so much for your response. My risk tolerance is like yours and I will definitely be doing that SMP and working very hard for 4 months to get as close as possible to that 39+. I do not want to go back to undergrad, especially since it would take about 50 units of A's to get my GPA to a 3.5 or higher for both cum and bcpm.

I was not aware that the nature of the stay had to be nonacademic. I completely overlooked that. Thank you for the information. I thought that because I had family that lived there, I could establish residency using their address, but I guess it's not that big of a deal. I was just hoping it would give me better chances than living in California.

Is there any advice you would have to improve my extra curriculars? Should I shadow more doctors in different specialties or get more clinical experience? I only want to apply once so I am trying to give myself the best shot. Again, thank you for your help.

 

[Catalystik]

I think just about any state would give you a better chance than California.

I think your ECs are better than fine, so I have no firm suggestions. A publication would be nice, but that's usually out of one's control. And if all your shadowing is with pediatricians, you might spend a day each with two other specialties.

 

[ModernAlchemist]

Thank you very much for your response. I will definitely take your advice to heart.