Hey everyone,
To get it out of the way, here are my current stats
cGPA: 3.30 sGPA:3.07 MCAT: 31
I've done a lot of searching on this topic on my own, but I feel that my case is specific enough to warrant its own post. I am currently a 4th year Psychology major and was (originally) planning on graduating this year. I wish to go to MD school, specifically one of my state schools. I was originally planning on attending an SMP organized by said state school to shore up my low GPA, as this is usually what SDN (and others) prescribe low GPA applicants to go for. However, a few days ago during my contact with the SMP director, they told me that they were removing the medical school courses from the program, and exchanging them for graduate courses. I asked if this would change the competitiveness of the program's graduates, and they of course said no.
I was obviously freaked out by this, so I started looking at other options. Upon further review of my grades/credits, I noticed that since I have solely taken the premed pre-reqs in terms of science courses, I can potentially increase my sGPA up to a 3.5 (I re-calculated this multiple times), if I were to take an intensive fifth year, including this summer, and the next summer. This would allow me to finish with a Biology B.S., and a Minor in Medical Sciences.
Now, I know that you're probably thinking that there is unlikely for me to fare well in science courses if I've already done poorly. But my low sGPA/cGPA is almost solely due to me failing two science courses my freshmen year because of a breakdown due to outside issues. Since then, my sGPA has hovered at around a 3.6/3.7. I am also planning on re-taking the MCAT, and have been studying quite hard for it.
This leads me to my question: fifth year of undergrad, or a master's program? A fifth year of undergrad would leave me with a 3.45-3.5 cGPA/sGPA. But said master's program would give me more relevant experience, and probably add to my LoR's if I were to get them from medical school professors.
To get it out of the way, here are my current stats
cGPA: 3.30 sGPA:3.07 MCAT: 31
I've done a lot of searching on this topic on my own, but I feel that my case is specific enough to warrant its own post. I am currently a 4th year Psychology major and was (originally) planning on graduating this year. I wish to go to MD school, specifically one of my state schools. I was originally planning on attending an SMP organized by said state school to shore up my low GPA, as this is usually what SDN (and others) prescribe low GPA applicants to go for. However, a few days ago during my contact with the SMP director, they told me that they were removing the medical school courses from the program, and exchanging them for graduate courses. I asked if this would change the competitiveness of the program's graduates, and they of course said no.
I was obviously freaked out by this, so I started looking at other options. Upon further review of my grades/credits, I noticed that since I have solely taken the premed pre-reqs in terms of science courses, I can potentially increase my sGPA up to a 3.5 (I re-calculated this multiple times), if I were to take an intensive fifth year, including this summer, and the next summer. This would allow me to finish with a Biology B.S., and a Minor in Medical Sciences.
Now, I know that you're probably thinking that there is unlikely for me to fare well in science courses if I've already done poorly. But my low sGPA/cGPA is almost solely due to me failing two science courses my freshmen year because of a breakdown due to outside issues. Since then, my sGPA has hovered at around a 3.6/3.7. I am also planning on re-taking the MCAT, and have been studying quite hard for it.
This leads me to my question: fifth year of undergrad, or a master's program? A fifth year of undergrad would leave me with a 3.45-3.5 cGPA/sGPA. But said master's program would give me more relevant experience, and probably add to my LoR's if I were to get them from medical school professors.