advice needed for gap years please!!

[ds7]

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I graduated from a top public university in spring 2010. My overall gpa was in the high 2-point range and my science gpa was a 2.84. Since graduation I have taken 11 credits worth of science classes to improve my GPA summer and fall 2010, for a total of 21 additional science credits (I took 10 in my last undergraduate semester that I didn’t need to graduate). I got a 4.0 for these credits. I have also volunteered at the hospital once a week for the past year. My work involved visiting with patients in Occupation/Physical Therapy and performing EKGS in the Pediatric Cardiology Department. I also took the MCAT in May this year and got a 32 (10P 10V 12B). I applied this summer for entry in fall 2012 and am looking to reapply next summer for entry in fall 2013.


I currently have two options to consider on my track toward medical school. I could either take more classes through a basic medical sciences master’s program at a nearby university beginning January 2012 while doing more volunteer work and shadowing, or I could take an Americorps position starting now (and do some volunteer work also), and then possibly consider a post bacc/masters program beginning Fall 2012. With Americorps, I would be working in a community health center, helping pregnant women learn more about their healthcare options, as well as doing community outreach/health education.


I would like thoughts/guidance on which of these two paths would be more beneficial to me. The school option might be helpful because I could further improve my academic standing and get more solid letters of recommendation (although I do have two from science faculty right now), while getting in some volunteer work. The work option might be helpful because I would be getting a lot of patient interaction and doing something a bit different. I’m not sure whether I’ve already done enough to improve my GPA (21 credits worth of science classes and getting a 4.0) or if that is still the main issue. What things might you consider doing if you were in this situation? Thanks a lot.

 

[DrShazam]

I graduated from a top public university in spring 2010. My overall gpa was in the high 2-point range and my science gpa was a 2.84. Since graduation I have taken 11 credits worth of science classes to improve my GPA summer and fall 2010, for a total of 21 additional science credits (I took 10 in my last undergraduate semester that I didn’t need to graduate). I got a 4.0 for these credits. I have also volunteered at the hospital once a week for the past year. My work involved visiting with patients in Occupation/Physical Therapy and performing EKGS in the Pediatric Cardiology Department. I also took the MCAT in May this year and got a 32 (10P 10V 12B). I applied this summer for entry in fall 2012 and am looking to reapply next summer for entry in fall 2013.


I currently have two options to consider on my track toward medical school. I could either take more classes through a basic medical sciences master’s program at a nearby university beginning January 2012 while doing more volunteer work and shadowing, or I could take an Americorps position starting now (and do some volunteer work also), and then possibly consider a post bacc/masters program beginning Fall 2012. With Americorps, I would be working in a community health center, helping pregnant women learn more about their healthcare options, as well as doing community outreach/health education.


I would like thoughts/guidance on which of these two paths would be more beneficial to me. The school option might be helpful because I could further improve my academic standing and get more solid letters of recommendation (although I do have two from science faculty right now), while getting in some volunteer work. The work option might be helpful because I would be getting a lot of patient interaction and doing something a bit different. I’m not sure whether I’ve already done enough to improve my GPA (21 credits worth of science classes and getting a 4.0) or if that is still the main issue. What things might you consider doing if you were in this situation? Thanks a lot.

Since your GPA is less than a 3.0 (which is the cut-off for most MD medical schools to even receive a secondary), I would recommend doing more post-bacc work. I don't think a formal master's program is useful since these are typically considered easy (due to grade inflation), unless it is an SMP. Speaking from experience, I think your best route is to do an informal post-bacc at a nearby university, and ace all your classes so these are counted towards your undergraduate GPA.

If you don't do the necessary GPA repair, it will come to haunt you in the admissions cycle. Adcoms will wonder about your ability to handle the volume and velocity of medical school if you found your pre-reqs challenging. While the Americorps position is certainly a great resume booster/ learning opportunity, it will unfortunately not make up for your academic record.

Take it from someone who has learned her lesson with a sub-par academic record. GPA > extracurriculars when s/cGPA < 3.50.

 

[Buzz Me]

You're going to need to take a lot more post-bacc to get that GPA up. The average for matriculants is over 3.6 so you're a long way away from that.

 

[hazmat2]

Since your GPA is less than a 3.0 (which is the cut-off for most MD medical schools to even receive a secondary), I would recommend doing more post-bacc work.

I would have to disagree with this. At this point, very few schools would see higher grades in the sciences that you've already taken as "improvement." (One would hope that everyone would do better the second time around.) However, doing well in a special master's program (SMP) would go a long way to helping you out as it would give you a "new" GPA to work with.

While it's not a fantastic option because you're no longer bringing up your undergraduate science GPA, it's probably the best one. Since the majority of SMP students take the same classes as a first year med students and are often weighed against them for grades, a good GPA from a SMP is saying "this individual is able to succeed in medical school."

Also, in line with this, many (though not all) medical school adcoms will not place as much weight on your undergrad GPA if you have a good SMP GPA and a personal statement that gives an honest reason for the all of the above.