6 years to graduate undergrad

[hopefuldoctor93]

Hello all,

How bad does it look to med schools if a person took longer than 4 years to finish their bachelors? I went to a school for my first 2 years in a different state where I was dealing with family medical problems/depression. I also had a <3.0c gpa there. When I moved back almost none of my courses transferred, so I had to basically start my degree all over. I was able to get myself out of the "funk" after a semester of being back here and I have maintained 3.91c for the past year and a half here. If I continue this upward trend, I should end up with a 3.16c and 3.45s GPA. I'm also a URM TX resident. Will this severely affect me with med school? Should I just plan on getting into an SMP?

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[ZPakEffect]

The 6 years don't matter at all. The 3.16 cGPA is a HUGE deal, even if you're URM.

 

[P0ke]

Hello all,

How bad does it look to med schools if a person took longer than 4 years to finish their bachelors? I went to a school for my first 2 years in a different state where I was dealing with family medical problems/depression. I also had a <3.0c gpa there. When I moved back almost none of my courses transferred, so I had to basically start my degree all over. I was able to get myself out of the "funk" after a semester of being back here and I have maintained 3.91c for the past year and a half here. If I continue this upward trend, I should end up with a 3.16c and 3.45s GPA. I'm also a URM TX resident. Will this severely affect me with med school? Should I just plan on getting into an SMP?

Yeah they don't care how long it takes you. GPA matters a lot though.
I don't really advise people to do an SMP when it's cGPA that's low and not sGPA. cGPA can easily be fixed by taking a bunch of fluff classes that are easy A's. sGPA is much harder to repair.

 

[Turkishking]

gg ?

 

[hopefuldoctor93]

The 6 years don't matter at all. The 3.16 cGPA is a HUGE deal, even if you're URM.

Yeah they don't care how long it takes you. GPA matters a lot though.
I don't really advise people to do an SMP when it's cGPA that's low and not sGPA. cGPA can easily be fixed by taking a bunch of fluff classes that are easy A's. sGPA is much harder to repair.

Thanks for the responses guys! I know this is just speculation, but even if I get a 513+ or so MCAT I will still not be competitive with my low cGPA and average sGPA? If not, what cGPA would you all recommend aiming for? From what I am calculating using the AMCAS calculator I can have a 3.29 cGPA by taking 30 more credits of easy A fluff courses.

 

[hopefuldoctor93]

Bunp

 

[allantois]

https://www.aamc.org/download/321514/data/factstablea24-2.pdf

 

[moisne]

Bunp

Why are you bumping?

The 6 years don't matter at all. The 3.16 cGPA is a HUGE deal, even if you're URM.

^ he gave you your answer. I'd worry less about the number of years and more about your grades. Even with 3.45 sGPA, it's worrisome. I hope you are applying DO as well.

 

[ProspectiveKidd]

I would go that far. "On schedule to meet pre-medical coursework" is considered a factor of medium importance in a recent AAMC survey where 127 medical school admissions office. However, good GPA is far, far more important

I think on schedule to meet premedical coursework simply implies that the applicant will be able to complete prerequisite in time. It should be worded differently if it really means the amount of time to finish UG.