3.58 gpa, 33l mcat

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hopki099

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Hey guys, what are my chances with the following?

Residency: Wisconsin
Undergrad: Finished Junior year at University of Minnesota

GPA

Freshman:
GPA: 3.58
BCPM: 3.40

Sophomore:
GPA: 3.14
BCPM: 2.74

Junior:
GPA: 3.94
BCPM: 3.94

Total:
3.58 cGPA
3.42 BCPM

Trends Worth Noting
Calc 1: B-
Calc 2: A

Orgo 1: C-
Orgo 2: B+
Biochem: A

Bio 1: B
Bio 2: B-
Microbio: A-
Genetics: A

MCAT

33L - (11PS, 10VR, 12BS)


Extra curriculars

Research:
~3 years, 1500 hours of lab research in four different labs. One presentation, one $1700 grant, no pubs
~6 months, 100 hours volunteering as a patient visitor and playroom supervisor in a hospital
-member of pre-medical club that includes various, minor volunteer activities. Elected to treasurer for next year
-Volunteer service trip to New Orleans
-16 years of soccer, captain/organizer of intramural team for 6 semesters and a summer. Intramural semifinals last fall, champs in the spring
~2.5 years, self-taught acoustic guitar
-Shadowed 4 different docs, ~25 hours
-Decent LoRs, personal statement

School List

Ohio State
Univ of Cincinnati
Univ of Toledo
Univ of Iowa
Univ of Minnesota
Univ of Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
Loyola
Rush
Rosalind Franklin
Univ of Illinois
Creighton

What are my chances at those schools?

Also what effect will the "L" on the writing sample have on my application?

Will getting a 12 in the BS section of MCAT help make up for my poor Bio and Orgo grades?

Thank you very much for any input!! :)
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Last edited:
Ohio State-is a reach (but a dream school is OK).

These are good target zone schools
Univ of Cincinnati
Univ of Iowa
Univ of Minnesota
Univ of Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
Loyola
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton

Rush, Toledo, UIllinois would be considered on the safe side.

Canadian schools are concerned about the writing score, but US schools are unlikely to regard it, provided your PS eand essays prove you are literate.

The higher MCAT in general makes up for your lowish GPA.
 
Last edited:
I would really appreciate others' input!
 
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Will the 12 in BS help make up for low Bio and Orgo grades?
 
You have a C- in Orgo 1? Sorry to say this, but I'm pretty sure you have to retake it (if you haven't already). Medical school pre-reqs must be taken with a C or higher.
 
I listed it as a "future course" on my AMCAS for next year.
 
hopki099 said:
I listed it as a "future course" on my AMCAS for next year.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. Just making sure. :)

And I don't think your grades are too bad, except for the one C- which you're going to retake anyways. I think your choice of schools has a nice mix of reaches and ones in your range. If you want to be more on the safe side, you could add a few more schools, but if cost is an issue then the ones you have already seem fine.
 
Also, is an average freshman GPA, crappy sophomore GPA, and good junior GPA considered an upward trend?
 
You don't look in bad shape to my mind. Can you break down your semesters more? An upward trend, like Cat said, requires more than one data point.

Consider applying to the Michigan schools. I know they're expensive, but they are friendly to Wisconsin students. As it is, your list is a little short.
 
My semesters are pretty throughout the year, hah.

Freshman Fall: 3.56
Freshman Spring: 3.58

Sophomore Fall: 3.07
Sophomore Spring: 3.19

Summer: 4.0

Junior Fall: 3.91
Junior Spring: 3.92

My upward trend would be more in my courses than the semester GPAs, i.e. doing poorly in Orgo, but good in Biochem
 
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I decided to take Ohio State off the list because they require anatomy now, which I was not planning on taking.
EDIT: Anatomy is "strongly recommended", not required.


Instead, I want to apply to Colorado, which I already have the required credits for english (9).

Obviously, they put a lot of emphasis on English, so I'm slightly concerned about my L in the writing sample for Colorado.

Is applying OOS to Colorado too much of a reach? Or is this a good addition?
 
Last edited:
hopki099 said:
Hey guys, what are my chances with the following?

Residency: Wisconsin
Undergrad: Finished Junior year at University of Minnesota

GPA

Freshman:
GPA: 3.58
BCPM: 3.40

Sophomore:
GPA: 3.14
BCPM: 2.74

Junior:
GPA: 3.94
BCPM: 3.94

Total:
3.58 cGPA
3.42 BCPM

Trends Worth Noting
Calc 1: B-
Calc 2: A

Orgo 1: C-
Orgo 2: B+
Biochem: A

Bio 1: B
Bio 2: B-
Microbio: A-
Genetics: A

MCAT

33L - (11PS, 10VR, 12BS)


Extra curriculars

Research:
~3 years, 1500 hours of lab research in four different labs. One presentation, one $1700 grant, no pubs
~6 months, 100 hours volunteering as a patient visitor and playroom supervisor in a hospital
-member of pre-medical club that includes various, minor volunteer activities. Elected to treasurer for next year
-Volunteer service trip to New Orleans
-16 years of soccer, captain/organizer of intramural team for 6 semesters and a summer. Intramural semifinals last fall, champs in the spring
~2.5 years, self-taught acoustic guitar
-Shadowed 4 different docs, ~25 hours
-Decent LoRs, personal statement

School List

Ohio State
Univ of Cincinnati
Univ of Toledo
Univ of Iowa
Univ of Minnesota
Univ of Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
Loyola
Rush
Rosalind Franklin
Univ of Illinois
Creighton

What are my chances at those schools?

Also what effect will the "L" on the writing sample have on my application?

Will getting a 12 in the BS section of MCAT help make up for my poor Bio and Orgo grades?

Thank you very much for any input!! :)
Click to expand...

The original post was at the end of my Junior year.
I am halfway through my senior year now.

UPDATE

GPA
Senior (Fall Semester):
GPA: 4.0
BCPM: 4.0

Total:
3.64 cGPA
3.52 BCPM

ECs
Another 6 months, 75 hours, in pediatric playroom
3 months, ~150 hours, volunteer clinical research in ER
Intramural soccer champions in the Fall (x2)
6 months, ~1000 additional research hours in two different labs
one semester treasurer of pre-med student group
one semester of volunteer tutoring of disadvantaged 6th graders
 
Last edited:
I would go ahead and add a few more if you have the money. 20 total schools should do it. The goal being >5 interviews to practically guarantee a spot.
 
bucks2010 said:
Just in case you were interested, your note about OSU requiring anatomy is a little inaccurate. It's not required, but is "strongly recommended". How much your lack of that class would affect an admissions decision, I'm not sure - but I wouldn't toss OSU off the list just for your lack of the class.

http://medicine.osu.edu/students/admissions/requirements/pages/prerequisites.aspx
Click to expand...

You're right. Thanks for pointing that out. I must've skimmed the website too quickly when I posted this back in June.

jenil said:
Nice post.
Great job keep it up.
Thanks for sharing a nice post.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. I wish more people on here would give updates on their progress/acceptances/etc. I always wonder what ends up happening to them.

future_dr_house said:
I would go ahead and add a few more if you have the money. 20 total schools should do it. The goal being >5 interviews to practically guarantee a spot.
Click to expand...

Good point. I applied to 12 or 13 schools this past summer, and have 1 interview at my state school so far. We'll see what happens this cycle, but I am in good shape to reapply if necessary. Next summer, I would take off a couple schools that I am not as interested in/showed no interest in me, add a few DO schools, and apply a bit more broadly.
 
hopki099 said:
UPDATE

GPA
Senior (Fall Semester):
GPA: 4.0
BCPM: 4.0

Total:
3.64 cGPA
3.52 BCPM

ECs
Another 6 months, 75 hours, in pediatric playroom
3 months, ~150 hours, volunteer clinical research in ER
Intramural soccer champions in the Fall (x2)
6 months, ~1000 additional research hours in two different labs
one semester treasurer of pre-med student group
one semester of volunteer tutoring of disadvantaged 6th graders
Click to expand...
Well done! Did you update schools for this cycle with this information? Any chance of getting in some more shadowing for a total of 50+ hours?
 
Catalystik said:
Well done! Did you update schools for this cycle with this information? Any chance of getting in some more shadowing for a total of 50+ hours?
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm sending out update letters this week and shadowing an EM doc a bit over winter break
 
hopki099 said:
The original post was at the end of my Junior year.
I am halfway through my senior year now.

UPDATE

GPA
Senior (Fall Semester):
GPA: 4.0
BCPM: 4.0

Total:
3.64 cGPA
3.52 BCPM

ECs
Another 6 months, 75 hours, in pediatric playroom
3 months, ~150 hours, volunteer clinical research in ER
Intramural soccer champions in the Fall (x2)
6 months, ~1000 additional research hours in two different labs
one semester treasurer of pre-med student group
one semester of volunteer tutoring of disadvantaged 6th graders
Click to expand...

UPDATE #2

I just finished my senior year and graduated. Ultimately, I did not get into the U of Wisconsin SMPH, but here is what I have to add to my application for next cycle.

GPA
Senior (Spring semester)
GPA: 4.0
BCPM: 4.0
*Retook that C- in Orgo I and got an A

Total:
3.69 cGPA
3.61 sGPA

ECs (including UPDATE #1)
1 year, 150 hours volunteer in pediatric playroom
3 months, ~150 hours, volunteer clinical research in ER
Intramural soccer champs x2, finalist x1
1 year, ~1300 hours research in two labs, one more poster
2 semesters treasurer of pre-med student group
2 semesters volunteer tutoring of disadvantaged 6th graders
 
I've been calling schools to find out where I was lacking in my application, and the consensus has been:
1.) Low GPA at time of application. A lot of schools wanted to make sure that my Junior year was not a fluke.
2.) Not enough clinical experience.

The GPA issues should be taken care of, and I'm looking into getting more substantial clinical experience. Since I will be reapplying in a couple of weeks, I was looking for a 1 year commitment paid position in the hospital with close physician contact. The options that I am aware of are: Phlebotomist, EMT, medical scribe. Correct me if I am wrong, but the first two seem to require some more extensive training, while I might be able to jump into a medical scribe position more quickly.

Any thoughts on becoming a medical scribe?
 
I've decided to take another year off to finish research and do something full-time in healthcare (rather than just volunteering a few hours per week) before reapplying. This will let me confirm that I want to be a physician, strengthen my application, and establish residency in MN.

Best of luck to all those in WAMC this cycle! See you in a year.
 
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