3.6 GPA, Worth Considering Retroactive Withdrawal?

[GeraldA]

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Hi SDN! I've been going back and forth over this decision for a while now, was hoping you could help. I'm currently a Senior in College in a Combined (4+1) MPH Program.

General
Florida Resident
GPA - 3.6 sGPA - 3.5
Biology, Political Science Majors
MCAT in May, 4 Practice Scores from 32-36

Some Random Other Info
-Over 400 hours Volunteering, 1 Service Award from University, Vast Ranging
-Been Main Organizer of large fundraising event for cancer research, raised >$100,000 last year
-Very involved with extracurriculars, lots of leadership relating to tackling disparities in healthcare, some international travel
-1 Publication, not high author, Did get Research Grant from college

My first two years of college I earned straight A's with a couple A-'s and completed all of my Pre-Med requirements, other than Physics Lab. My junior year I went through depression relating to the loss of a really close friend. I didn't get help, and it destroyed my grades - I failed one class my Fall Semester, 4 my Spring Semester (2 of which I luckily withdrew from at the time) and 1 more that Summer. Obviously, I shouldn't have been in school, but I didn't receive the best advice.

Long story short, I went from a student that had 3.9 GPA with all his pre-med requirements completed minus Physics Lab after his sophomore year to a 3.5 GPA (which might be surprising considering the 3 F's, but I took 17-18 credits/full load every semester). I don't know whether I should try to retroactively try to get the Spring and Summer semesters taken off my record, considering I would have to retake Physics Lab and a class for my Bio Major. It would bring my GPA back up to a 3.8. I expect to get straight A's again my senior year, and am confident that I will continue doing well in my Masters Program which I am just starting. I was hoping to apply for medical school this June, so I could start off directly after my MPH, but going threw the withdrawal process would likely mean I might need to wait one more year before applying to schools. I would really like to go out of state to a city like Atlanta, SF, NY, DC, etc. but ranking/tiers isn't important to me and I have no idea what I'd do with an extra year. Should I even apply this cycle? Help?

 

[Catalystik]

Hi SDN! I've been going back and forth over this decision for a while now, was hoping you could help. I'm currently a Senior in College in a Combined (4+1) MPH Program.

General
Florida Resident
GPA - 3.6 sGPA - 3.5
Biology, Political Science Majors
MCAT in May, 4 Practice Scores from 32-36

Some Random Other Info
-Over 400 hours Volunteering, 1 Service Award from University, Vast Ranging
-Been Main Organizer of large fundraising event for cancer research, raised >$100,000 last year
-Very involved with extracurriculars, lots of leadership relating to tackling disparities in healthcare, some international travel
-1 Publication, not high author, Did get Research Grant from college

My first two years of college I earned straight A's with a couple A-'s and completed all of my Pre-Med requirements, other than Physics Lab. My junior year I went through depression relating to the loss of a really close friend. I didn't get help, and it destroyed my grades - I failed one class my Fall Semester, 4 my Spring Semester (2 of which I luckily withdrew from at the time) and 1 more that Summer. Obviously, I shouldn't have been in school, but I didn't receive the best advice.

Long story short, I went from a student that had 3.9 GPA with all his pre-med requirements completed minus Physics Lab after his sophomore year to a 3.5 GPA (which might be surprising considering the 3 F's, but I took 17-18 credits/full load every semester). I don't know whether I should try to retroactively try to get the Spring and Summer semesters taken off my record, considering I would have to retake Physics Lab and a class for my Bio Major. It would bring my GPA back up to a 3.8. I expect to get straight A's again my senior year, and am confident that I will continue doing well in my Masters Program which I am just starting. I was hoping to apply for medical school this June, so I could start off directly after my MPH, but going threw the withdrawal process would likely mean I might need to wait one more year before applying to schools. I would really like to go out of state to a city like Atlanta, SF, NY, DC, etc. but ranking/tiers isn't important to me and I have no idea what I'd do with an extra year. Should I even apply this cycle? Help?

In my experience, retroactive withdrawal consideration will need (medical) documentation of your psychological issues from that time to support the petition. Do you have some? Or, is your school different?

Your undergrad cGPA isn't that bad. Will your masters classes be designated as such on your transcript? Can you take additional undergrad coursework not required for the masters during this time to raise your uBCPM GPA? I ask because masters level grades don't generally improve one's candidacy for med school, since it's the undergrad GPAs by which one is primarily judged. And raising your BCPM would be a good thing.

 

[GeraldA]

In my experience, retroactive withdrawal consideration will need (medical) documentation of your psychological issues from that time to support the petition. Do you have some? Or, is your school different?

Your undergrad cGPA isn't that bad. Will your masters classes be designated as such on your transcript? Can you take additional undergrad coursework not required for the masters during this time to raise your uBCPM GPA? I ask because masters level grades don't generally improve one's candidacy for med school, since it's the undergrad GPAs by which one is primarily judged. And raising your BCPM would be a good thing.

I do have some documentation, but I do not know specifically what they consider - the guidelines are very vague and it's a long process.

I'll receive a separate degree for the MPH and after this year the classes will be totally separate. I won't be able to take undergraduate classwork at the same time, though if I do not apply this cycle I could possibly consider a post-bacc afterwards. It's frustrating because I received A's in the pre-medical BCPM coursework; most of the GPA-booster type programs I saw through the AAMC list seem to be geared towards repeating these classes. Thanks so much for the quick reply.

 

[Catalystik]

I doubt you'd need a formal (expensive) postbac. You'd likely be fine with a do-it-yourself postbac at a local uni, by taking, eg, upper-level (med-school relevant) Bio, Biochem, Stats, and getting all As. If your MCAT score is strong enough, and senior year sciences (if you're taking a few) are A-range, you might not need to do even that, but I think that many adcomms will want to see more than a year of sustained excellent grades before they feel you've proven your capablity. My advice would be to wait before applying.

 

[GeraldA]

Would classes I take during the application process contributing to my Science GPA help? I could conceivably take supplemental courses at the community college during my Master's, though I'd have to find out the school policy on this, and I would be able to definitely take some courses this summer that would slightly boost that GPA. In this scenario I would likely be able to raise that Science GPA to a 3.6 by the end of Fall and send those grades to colleges in December, about 6 months after I would have sent in my primary applications.

 

[Catalystik]

1) Would classes I take during the application process contributing to my Science GPA help?

2) I could conceivably take supplemental courses at the community college during my Master's, though I'd have to find out the school policy on this, and I would be able to definitely take some courses this summer that would slightly boost that GPA.

3) In this scenario I would likely be able to raise that Science GPA to a 3.6 by the end of Fall and send those grades to colleges in December, about 6 months after I would have sent in my primary applications.

1) Not unless adcomms are on a cusp regarding your application and want an excuse to accept you based on other strengths.

2) CC classes aren't going to impress anyone that you can handle a rigorous science courseload. Maybe there are a few CCs out there that offer course content and expectations similar to that of a 4-year school, but most do not.

3) Schools will not recalculate your sGPA on the strength of new transcript submission during mid cycle.


As a thought, can you add another year of sciences classes now (maybe adding a minor or another major as an excuse) and delay graduation, then do the second masters year after that?

Why do you want the MPH?