Am I being realistic?

[HopingForMed]

Hi everybody. I've read many of the posts by other people with similar situations to mine, but wanted to ask questions anyway for absolute clarity. I'm a 2nd degree undergrad, and my science grades are both good and bad. I've done really well in some science classes, and really, really bad in others. Unfortunately, Organic Chem, the mother of all science classes, I received a B and D for the 2 semesters of the course. My GPA is around a 3.3. I have not taken the MCATs yet, but am planning to spend about a year studying for them, and then take them next year. What I'd like to know is, if I did well on the MCATs, do I have a chance of getting into medical school with my science grades and GPA? And how much does it really help to apply as early as possible?

Thank you!

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[Maxwell Edison]

A 3.X on the low side is not the end, but now the heat is on with the rest of your app; MCAT, LOR, ECs and all that other good stuff are now your best bet. Your GPA will not be a "strength" in your app, so beef it up in the corners that you can more actively manipulate.

As for the late app, personal experience is this: it's not an advantage to apply early (per se), but it is a HUGE disadvantage to apply late, particularly when your academic/MCAT stats do not fall into the upper percentiles.

 

[nlax30]

I was in a similar situation, around a 3.3 GPA due to a rough first year in college. But I made up for it a little by doing well on the MCAT, so focus on blowing away the MCAT and like was previously said, make sure the rest of your app (LORs, essay, ECs, etc..) is really good.

 

[bopmop]

I'm in a similar situation...my pre med advisor told me, that if you score around 35 on the MCAT it'll offset the low GPA and keep you competitive. If you're around average though, you need some killer recommendations and committed volunteer work to get you going threw some doors.

 

[timmy0410]

I was in a similar situation, around a 3.3 GPA due to a rough first year in college. But I made up for it a little by doing well on the MCAT, so focus on blowing away the MCAT and like was previously said, make sure the rest of your app (LORs, essay, ECs, etc..) is really good.

3.3 is a bit above the average for LECOM, isn't it? That's a DO school right? And their MCAT avg is low 20's, no?

 

[nlax30]

3.3 is a bit above the average for LECOM, isn't it? That's a DO school right? And their MCAT avg is low 20's, no?

I would think 3.3 is probably right around the average and the avg MCAT is probably low to mid 20's. From looking at the mdapplicants.com site for LECOM the past couple years of accepted profiles have a littler higher avg MCAT and an avg GPA of 3.22 (varying from 2.84 - 4.00), but there's only like 20 accepted profiles on there so can only take it with a grain of salt.