Advice for program, 3.45 BCPM, 3.52 overall, 35 mcat,

[ssingh0]

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I applied very late, Apps complete middle/late december for most schools (some early december, and some I just received the email for last week!).
I took the August 2005 MCAT and scored well, 35: 10VR 12 PS 13 BS. GPA is sorta crappy, 3.45 bcpm, 3.52 overall.

1. Would I benefit most from a program for boosting the GPA?

I have some clinical experience, no research and am currently starting a job as an Emergency department technician at Kaiser next week.
I've received two rejections (suny upstate, and penn state) and NO interviews so far, so it doesn't look like i'll be getting in this year.

I'm going to re-apply this June.

2. I am really interested in research, trying it out at least, and feel that it's keeping me out of being considered at higher ranked school. Would I benefit more from a research/courses masters? At my nearby CSU-east bay, I can start classes this spring quarter (In like 2 months) for a master's in biological sciences. That means I'll have new grades to show adcom.The bad side is that the mandatory research seems like a formality, and not the real/non-busy-work researcg that I really want to see.

Out of the few SPM, postbacc programs I have considered that are one year, the CSU Eastbay option seems better to me. YES/NO? It's not structured or connected with any med school, so that sucks, but I'll have new grades to show with my application - not the case for any of these programs.

 

[tacrum43]

I applied very late, Apps complete middle/late december for most schools (some early december, and some I just received the email for last week!).
I took the August 2005 MCAT and scored well, 35: 10VR 12 PS 13 BS. GPA is sorta crappy, 3.45 bcpm, 3.52 overall.

1. Would I benefit most from a program for boosting the GPA?

I have some clinical experience, no research and am currently starting a job as an Emergency department technician at Kaiser next week.
I've received two rejections (suny upstate, and penn state) and NO interviews so far, so it doesn't look like i'll be getting in this year.

I'm going to re-apply this June.

2. I am really interested in research, trying it out at least, and feel that it's keeping me out of being considered at higher ranked school. Would I benefit more from a research/courses masters? At my nearby CSU-east bay, I can start classes this spring quarter (In like 2 months) for a master's in biological sciences. That means I'll have new grades to show adcom.The bad side is that the mandatory research seems like a formality, and not the real/non-busy-work researcg that I really want to see.

Out of the few SPM, postbacc programs I have considered that are one year, the CSU Eastbay option seems better to me. YES/NO? It's not structured or connected with any med school, so that sucks, but I'll have new grades to show with my application - not the case for any of these programs.

You don't need to do a Masters program. Your grades are just fine, and your MCAT is excellent. Applying early makes a surprising amount of difference.

You might consider working on a research project if that interests you, but the EMT thing sounds good. Just as long as you are doing something medically related.

Also, have you tried asking for feedback about your application for any medical schools? Some schools are happy to talk to you about your application. Maybe one of your LORs wasn't good or something.

 

[relentless11]

As tacrum43 stated, applying late comes back and bites you real hard. A lot of the schools are already putting out interviews around October or something. So completing your applications in december is probably costing you a lot. The late MCAT probably also hurt you too, assuming you had them wait for those Aug scores.

In terms of national standards, your scores are fine. In terms of CA, you might be on the lower end depending which school. Since I have UCSF's average stats available ( http://medschool.ucsf.edu/admissions/profile.aspx )

So the average GPA for those that got in for 2005 was 3.79 (overall), 3.79 (science), MCAT of about 33-34. UCSF is of course more competative, so the other UC's will probably be from 3.5-3.7 in terms of GPA, and MCAT of 31-32. Of course these are averages so take it as a grain of salt.

Unless you have a 4.0, getting more A's will always be a good thing. Please note, taking a conventional masters program does not add into your undergrad GPA. Graduate courses are calculated seperately, and based on advise from UC Davis, graduate courses have relatively less weight vs. undergrad. This is why schools encourage doing post-bacc (official or unofficial) if you want to improve your grades. However getting into an official post-bacc program may be hard, because your MCAT and GPA is quite high.

If you want to see what research is like, volunteering a quarter or semester before jumping into a graduate program is probably more ideal. Since once you're in the program, its kinda frowned upon if you get out prematurely.

Anyway, tacrum43 pretty much covers the rest. Just remember grades/MCAT aren't much. My PI did the MSTP at UCSF. He pretty much said, back when he applied which was a while ago (so might not apply today), your grades and MCAT scores only amounted to 1/6 of the points needed to get you admitted. About 50% of the points came from interviews, and letters of recommendation. The problem is, UC's tend to screen the primary apps first using your GPA/MCAT. I don't know what the cut off is, but your GPA/MCAT should be fine. So it will depend on the bigger picture...your whole application, and how much space is left.

When you apply next year, you should try to show more recent experiences, including but not limited to taking more classes. Hope that helps. Good luck applying to the UC's......good times there 😀