3.4 Undergrad GPA, PhD, 3 Publications

[Annaleise]

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I am currently 25 years old and am in the process of preparing for my dissertation seminar and would like to apply to medical schools next summer (for fall 2013 admission).
Unfortunately, my undergraduate GPA is very low (3.4 overall: 3.8 physics/math, 3.3 bio/chem) because I started out with a Physics major and then got too confident with my 3.9 GPA and decided to tack on a second major in Biochemistry during my junior year...taking 24 credits of science and math classes each semester for two years was NOT a good idea, especially at an engineering university with extremely laborious requirements.

Anyway, I took the MCAT this past summer and scored a 38 (14PS, 13BS, 11VR). I know that graduate GPA doesn't really influence admission, since most applicants have not attended grad school and therefore it is hard to compare UG to grad GPA, and also because most grad school students receive 4.0s (which I did).

I have two first-author publications: one is a Nature paper and the other is Cell. My third paper is currently in the works and will appear in Molecular Genetics in the spring.

My ECs and other supplemental criteria are in order, and should not raise any concerns by admins.

I guess my overall question is in regards to my undergraduate GPA...I know that low GPAs combined with high MCAT scores raise a red flag (indicating a lack of discipline and concentrated effort) but that was four years ago, and I was a double-major at MIT. For those of you who have survived the application process, do you think my graduate school endeavors have outweighed my poor undergraduate GPA? And what tier of schools would you recommend?

 

[Nymphicus]

I am currently 24 years old and am in the process of preparing for my dissertation seminar and would like to apply to medical schools next summer (for fall 2013 admission).
Unfortunately, my undergraduate GPA is very low (3.4 overall: 3.8 physics/math, 3.3 bio/chem) because I started out with a Physics major and then got too confident with my 3.9 GPA and decided to tack on a second major in Biochemistry during my junior year...taking 24 credits of science and math classes each semester for two years was NOT a good idea, especially at an engineering university with extremely laborious requirements.

Anyway, I took the MCAT this past summer and scored a 38 (14PS, 13BS, 11VR). I know that graduate GPA doesn't really influence admission, since most applicants have not attended grad school and therefore it is hard to compare UG to grad GPA, and also because most grad school students receive 4.0s (which I did).

I have two first-author publications: one is a Nature paper and the other is Cell. My third paper is currently in the works and will appear in Molecular Genetics in the spring.

My ECs and other supplemental criteria are in order, and should not raise any concerns by admins.

I guess my overall question is in regards to my undergraduate GPA...I know that low GPAs combined with high MCAT scores raise a red flag (indicating a lack of discipline and concentrated effort) but that was four years ago, and I was a double-major at a top engineering institute. For those of you who have survived the application process, do you think my graduate school endeavors have outweighed my poor undergraduate GPA? And what tier of schools would you recommend?

In my opinion, you're fine. You're more than fine.

Be prepared to explain your reason for low GPA, why PhD to MD, and how you plan to apply your research background to medicine.

If you are still worried, consider applying to a broad range of schools in case some "screen" you out for your GPA.

 

[Annaleise]

Thanks for the input 🙂
How do you think I would compare to applicants at schools such as UTMB, Tulane, UW Seattle...I was going to throw an application into Vanderbilt as a reach...can't hurt to try.
(Even though it's kinda out-dated, I was looking at http://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/downloads/gpamcat.pdf for ideas)

 

[Nymphicus]

Honestly I think you have a shot at any school. The "top 20" might take a special notice of your research background as well.

Take note, the Texas schools (ie UTMB) are all on their own application separate from AMCAS (all except Baylor), and UW has fairly strict residency requirements (WWAMI).

I, as you can see by my profile, was in a similar situation to you with high MCAT but low GPA, and didn't know how that would balance out. I knew I was strong on the extracurriculars, but didn't know how the whole application would be seen. Therefore my strategy to maximize an acceptance was 1.) Apply broadly to a wide range of schools, and 2.) Apply early, submitted primary in second week of June and turned secondaries very fast.


Edit: If you give me the state you're from, and if you'd like to stay there or go somewhere else in particular, that would help in figuring out which schools to apply to.