3.56 GPA, good extracurriculars, and summer research..?

[stl6145]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi all,

I have recently renewed my interest in attending med school after taking a brief hiatus and planning to go towards the direction of grad school. I am currently in my first semester of third year of undergrad at a competitive liberal arts college (top 20), and plan on taking a year between undergrad and med school to complete the necessary course requirements. I still need to take a full year of physics, and a second semester of Orgo. I am a bit interested in what you all think my chances are for med school and which tier of med schools you think I would fall into. I currently have a 3.56 GPA, but I think I can get it to a 3.65-3.7ish by the time of application. My extracurriculars are good - student government, TA for 200-level bio courses, I have volunteered at various hospitals for the past six years. I have also done research the past two summers at Washington University in St. Louis. I haven't taken the MCAT yet. My home state is Missouri so I have the option of a few in-state schools (UMKC and Univ. MO Columbia). I am just mostly concerned about the mediocrity of my GPA.

 

[katssunnyside]

The most important things for you right now are A) Getting killer grades for the next two years and B) Knocking the MCAT out of the park. Do those two things and the medical school world will be your oyster. Extracurriculars are important (and it's awesome that you've done research already!) but if at any point you feel that your extracurriculars are inhibiting your ability to do A and B as above, cut back as needed. Nothing is more important than your grades right now, and demonstrating a strong upward trend will carry you a LOONNGGG way in the admissions process. Don't worry about the numerical value of your GPA as much as generating a strong upward trend (i.e. getting a 3.8 or higher each semester from here on out). Do that and you'll be golden 🙂

Make sure you allow enough time to study for the MCAT so that you can ace it. And don't try to study for the MCAT during the school year if you think doing so will impact your grades.

For extracurriculars, I would focus on one or two things that you're really passionate about and have the time to throw your whole heart into- it doesn't matter if it's research or volunteering or running a club or your super cool job etc as long as you are passionate and it means something to you.

And don't be afraid to consider a gap year (or years!) if you need more time to get everything together!