Am I doing the right thing, going the nontraditional route?

[vinsanity07]

Hello,

This is my first post and I'm not really sure where this should go, but I'm thinking it fits well in here. These forums have been really helpful and I'm thankful I heard of this site.

Anyway, here's my situation...I'm going to graduate in May 2007 from USC with a degree in Biomedical/Biochemical Engineering. This major covers all the necessary pre-req med school classes (gen chem, ochem, etc.). I have thought about medical school for a long time and wavered on my decision mainly becuase of my GPA (currently overall 2.80 with my pre-req GPA ~2.88...gen chem A/A, gen bio C+/C+, ochem B-/C+, physics C-/B-, calculus A/B+, molecular bio B, biochem C+).

However, I'm interning this summer (as we speak, in fact) at City of Hope cancer hospital in Duarte, CA and I've decided that being a doctor is what I want most.

Unfortunately, my GPA makes me a very uncompetitive candidate for medical school admissions straight out of college. Furthermore, I have yet to take the MCAT or an MCAT prep course. My gut tells me to graduate in May 2007, and find a job as closely related to medicine as possible and from there, study like mad for the MCAT (with the help of a prep course, probably), and apply for medical school in...Fall of 2008?

I really want this to work out but I don't know how medical schools are going to view my actions. I've volunteered in an Emergency Room for a summer, a pharmacy for a summer, and now an internship at City of Hope (the internship includes shadowing many Oncologists).

My question is, am I being wise about how I'm approaching this? What else can I do to improve my chances?

I realize that when I apply to medical school, I'll be 22, at the oldest, which isn't very untraditional, but it's still different. Would I have to retake any of the pre-req classes (post-bacc?)?

Thanks for your help and advice.

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[mellbell]

Try reading some existing threads in this forum regarding low GPAs and how to overcome them. Example: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=291278

It's going to take a lot of units & a lot of hard work to raise that GPA of yours. An amazing MCAT score alone isn't going to cut it, unfortunately. A lot of medical schools screen out low GPA's and your application would be tossed even before admissions committee members get a chance to look at your extracurriculars and life/work experiences. So, my suggestion would be to work on that GPA first and foremost. When it's at least above a 3.0 (or preferably higher), then start concentrating on taking the MCAT.

 

[silkworm]

I second the opinion to work on that GPA. I would first draft a course plan for your coming year, then put on your optimist hat and calculate your over-all science GPA if you got As in all your future classes. See if this take you close to or over the 3.0 threshold. If not, perhaps consider taking more upper-division science classes. At that point, you could also consider a Special Master's Program.

Retaking the pre-requisite is good idea if you didn't really learn the concepts the first time around, but for the purpose of GPA boosting it won't help much as all repeat class grades are averaged.

Be patient, it may take a extra year, but with dedication, you can do it.

 

[remo]

You need to either do a post-bac or an SMP. You can do an informal post-bac just by taking upper-level bio classes at any UC or CSU school through the concurrrent enrollment or open university programs. If you go this route you should keep taking undergraduate classes until your gpa is at least 3.0. You will need to re-take the Physics that you got a C- in because many schools won't accept less than a C for pre-reqs. It's almost impossible to get in somewhere with less than a 3.0 (unless you have a big time upward trend and other factors and even then it's hard). Your other option would be to do a formal post-bac or smp but this is a full time thing and you probably wouldn't be able to work very much if you want to do well.

 

[vinsanity07]

"Your other option would be to do a formal post-bac or smp but this is a full time thing and you probably wouldn't be able to work very much if you want to do well."



if i did an SMP instead of postbacc/working, would that greatly improve my chances? would med schools be willing to overlook the GPA issues if i got into an SMP?

I've searched around on google and I haven't found many SMPs. So far they all seem to be on the east coast (georgetown, boston u, etc.). Are there any in California or the West Coast in general?

 

[remo]

"Your other option would be to do a formal post-bac or smp but this is a full time thing and you probably wouldn't be able to work very much if you want to do well."



if i did an SMP instead of postbacc/working, would that greatly improve my chances? would med schools be willing to overlook the GPA issues if i got into an SMP?

I've searched around on google and I haven't found many SMPs. So far they all seem to be on the east coast (georgetown, boston u, etc.). Are there any in California or the West Coast in general?

I'm not the expert on smp's since I just an informal post-bac but I think they might give you a better chance because they are pretty rigorous programs and you even take classes with med students in some of them. Some even have linkages to med schools. Scripps has a formal post-bac outside LA here is the link.

http://jsd.claremont.edu/postbac/

 

[oldpro]

Really a 2.8 isn't too bad If you take some upper level sci courses and pull it up into the 3.3 area this will put you more in the zone. Also a really good MCAT like 30 or higher will do a lot, good luck, your young!

 

[relentless11]

I agree with what everyone said, and the focal point should be GPA FIRST. However I would also like to add that based on your GPA trends in the pre-req courses, the OP should also address why he/she received those grades.

Optimally, one would want to do at least a year of full-time upper division science courses as a post-bacc. You want to do well in the most rigorous environment as possible. Hence SMPs working well. However if you are getting mostly C's and low B's in the pre-reqs, then it may be challenging to acheive a high GPA in more difficult/advanced courses offered in SMPs or taken in a post-bacc program.

vinsanity07, you need to address WHY you did not perform up to expectations. A 2.8 isn't too bad since its not too far away from a 3.0, and meets the criteria for some post-bacc programs. However you will pretty much be screened out of the application process by the UC's, while other schools may not be convinced that you can perform well in the first two years of basic sciences. Your weakness appears to be in basic pre-medical sciences. Therefore figure out why you performed poorly in these pre-reqs, fix it, and do better in a post-bacc program. If not then you will perform the same way as before and thats not good. One of my friends is in that situation right now.

 

[bioteacher]

I am going to be brutely honest. You really don't stand a chance with a 2.8 GPA even with a kickass MCAT. I too am from California. I am 32, a 3.1 GPA and had a 32S MCAT. It is not kickass, but fairly respectable. I have seven years teaching experience with a teaching credential (3.9 GPA). I applied to 40+ schools and sent out over 30 secondaries. I got one interview....waitlisted.....denied.

After 4 years of school with all the credits you've amassed, bringing a 2.8 to a 3.3 even with straight A's is not reality.

I went the SMP route. Once I saw I wasn't in demand I applied to 5 SMP's and got four acceptances. I spent one year at EVMS (2.75 GPA cutoff and 22MCAT) and will be starting my first year of medical school this fall. In fact, 17 out of 18 of us got accepted from the SMP.

There are no SMP's in California unless you are a disadvantaged minority. If so, check out UC Davis, Irvine (I seem to remember about four of them).

Of course you still have to take the MCAT and study your a$$ off. Congrats on the City of Hope internship. That is cool (I got denied there for a job about 9 years ago), but won't do diddly for getting you into medschool with 2.8.

You are so freaking young. You have a lot of time, but the fastest would be to take the April MCAT and apply to all the SMP's in the East Coast (RFU, Gtown, Drexel, EVMS, UPenn, etc.). Hope to get on the waitlist even though you don't have your MCAT scores in. Hopefully you will get accepted...but you may have to reapply again in a year. Hope this all helps.

 

[relentless11]

There are no SMP's in California unless you are a disadvantaged minority. If so, check out UC Davis, Irvine (I seem to remember about four of them).

UCD and UCI does not offer any SMP program. Only the post-bacc program is offered. Actually none of the UC's offer any official SMP that would be in the context of the Georgetown program. The UC post-bacc programs are merely structured so that you take additional upper division courses to boost your undergrad GPA, and they throw in a few other courses to help you apply to med school. UC post-bacc programs are aimed towards those that are disadvantaged. Not neccessarily a minority. Disadvantaged meaning (defined by AMCAS) that at an early age you faced social, economic challenges, etc.

Whereas at Georgetown, where they first coined the term SMP, essentially throws you in witih the first year med students so you can prove to adcoms that you can handle the coursework. See the som.ucdavis.edu site, and the other UC websites. We don't have such a program, otherwise I would've applied to it ages ago, rather than be a PhD student at UCD.

 

[vinsanity07]

"vinsanity07, you need to address WHY you did not perform up to expectations. A 2.8 isn't too bad since its not too far away from a 3.0, and meets the criteria for some post-bacc programs. However you will pretty much be screened out of the application process by the UC's, while other schools may not be convinced that you can perform well in the first two years of basic sciences. Your weakness appears to be in basic pre-medical sciences. Therefore figure out why you performed poorly in these pre-reqs, fix it, and do better in a post-bacc program. If not then you will perform the same way as before and thats not good. One of my friends is in that situation right now."


first off, thanks for all the replies everyone. your answers have been extremely useful and I think I'm beginning to see what I have to do. second, my less than spectacular performance in my pre-reqs may be attributed to the other classes i was required to take as well. with an engineering student schedule, the classes that come with pre-reqs are also pretty tough (computer simulation methods, circuit design, etc.), so i feel that may have something to do with it. however, if i did an SMP, i am confident that with just science classes alone, i should be able to perform well.

i'd really rather not do a post bacc and find some sort of SMP. as far as I understand it, post bacc programs will not take you if you've already taken any of the classes (as I have). bioteacher, which SMP programs did you apply to and how were you grades/MCATs at the time?

thanks again. =)