Am I on pace to get into any med school?

[MCAT or bust]

go to UIUC

headed into 2nd semester of junior year w/ 3.23 gpa (should have it at 3.35 by end of semester, i know)

volunteered at hospital last semester working food services (bringing food to patients, but patient interaction eh?) and will be working in different area this semester

work at dining hall right now as well

have 2 LOR already as well from bio professors (molec. and cellular bio major)

in Skydiving Club and a couple of volunteering organizations

I know w/ the 3.35 gpa I need a killer MCAT score, but do the colleges look at sr yr GPA as well? (say if I got it to 3.4-3.5 senior year?)

please let me know with responses

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[sliceofbread136]

Your GPA is low. Work hard for a large upward trend and do well on your MCAT. Sorry to say, but you'll have to work harder from now on to turn things around!

 

[Nymphicus]

go to UIUC

headed into 2nd semester of junior year w/ 3.23 gpa (should have it at 3.35 by end of semester, i know)

volunteered at hospital last semester working food services (bringing food to patients, but patient interaction eh?) and will be working in different area this semester

work at dining hall right now as well

have 2 LOR already as well from bio professors (molec. and cellular bio major)

in Skydiving Club and a couple of volunteering organizations

I know w/ the 3.35 gpa I need a killer MCAT score, but do the colleges look at sr yr GPA as well? (say if I got it to 3.4-3.5 senior year?)

please let me know with responses

Yes if you apply the summer/fall after your senior year, but then you will have at minimum 1 gap year between undergrad graduation and medical school matriculation.

 

[MCAT or bust]

Your GPA is low. Work hard for a large upward trend and do well on your MCAT. Sorry to say, but you'll have to work harder from now on to turn things around!

what if I can raise my GPA to 3.35 by end of semester?

I'm also african american, so what do you think my chances are if I can increase it?

 

[Thego2guy]

what if I can raise my GPA to 3.35 by end of semester?

I'm also african american, so what do you think my chances are if I can increase it?

Race doesn't weigh in as much as you think. I agree with the above posts. The important thing is just not to feel discouraged if you do take that year off. Instead, use it to your advantage, and build up your resume. You can always add things into your applications and say what you are doing/planning to do in the coming months. Take your weaknesses and turn them around into strengths.

 

[XReflection]

You will need to work extra hard to bring that GPA upward so that it shows improvement. Also, as other posters have said, don't be afraid to decide to take the year off to do activities that will strengthen your application. Often times this can play into your favor simply because when interviewers/applications ask why you took the year or more off, you are able to say that you decided your application was not strong enough and you wanted to make moves to strengthen the weaknesses you saw. This helps you show that you are mature enough to make these kind of decisions.

 

[sliceofbread136]

what if I can raise my GPA to 3.35 by end of semester?

I'm also african american, so what do you think my chances are if I can increase it?

Being URM does help, but I don't think that 3.35 is enough. Look into to postbacc's, and think of some cool extracurricular's you can do while improving your GPA. Try and look at this as a fun experience, and you'll probably get more out of it.

Also, feel free to apply this cycle, you never know you might get in!

 

[theseeker4]

Being URM does help, but I don't think that 3.35 is enough. Look into to postbacc's, and think of some cool extracurricular's you can do while improving your GPA. Try and look at this as a fun experience, and you'll probably get more out of it.

Also, feel free to apply this cycle, you never know you might get in!

If you can get a 30 on the MCAT, your chances with a 30 and a 3.35, being AA, are around 87%. If you have a 28-29 on the MCAT with the same GPA, your chances drop to ~82%.

To put this in perspective compared to white applicants, the white applicant with the same stats would have a 40.3% and a 24.5% chance, respectively. A white applicant would have to have a 3.8+ and a 30+ MCAT to have an 84% chance at being accepted. So yes, being AA does, in fact, help a lot.

Before a URM flame war starts, I am pointing out stats, not railing against the system.

OP, try to raise your GPA as much as possible, and get as high an MCAT score as you can, and if you apply broadly you will probably get in.

 

[MCAT or bust]

If you can get a 30 on the MCAT, your chances with a 30 and a 3.35, being AA, are around 87%. If you have a 28-29 on the MCAT with the same GPA, your chances drop to ~82%.

To put this in perspective compared to white applicants, the white applicant with the same stats would have a 40.3% and a 24.5% chance, respectively. A white applicant would have to have a 3.8+ and a 30+ MCAT to have an 84% chance at being accepted. So yes, being AA does, in fact, help a lot.

Before a URM flame war starts, I am pointing out stats, not railing against the system.

OP, try to raise your GPA as much as possible, and get as high an MCAT score as you can, and if you apply broadly you will probably get in.

hey thanks for the input, I wasnt trying to cause a URM war by stating i was AA, I just know that that is one of the factors that's considered

def. gonna bring that gpa up and gun for that 30+ MCAT score

 

[sliceofbread136]

If you can get a 30 on the MCAT, your chances with a 30 and a 3.35, being AA, are around 87%. If you have a 28-29 on the MCAT with the same GPA, your chances drop to ~82%.

To put this in perspective compared to white applicants, the white applicant with the same stats would have a 40.3% and a 24.5% chance, respectively. A white applicant would have to have a 3.8+ and a 30+ MCAT to have an 84% chance at being accepted. So yes, being AA does, in fact, help a lot.

Before a URM flame war starts, I am pointing out stats, not railing against the system.

OP, try to raise your GPA as much as possible, and get as high an MCAT score as you can, and if you apply broadly you will probably get in.

Hm, this kinda makes me jealous of URMs....

OP scratch what I said earlier, Study hard for the MCAT (I suggest taking the princeton review class as it helped immensely with my 37), do well, apply broadly, and you should have no problems. Good luck!

 

[TriagePreMed]

URM status and a 3.4 + 28 (or higher) MCAT = no problem finding an MD acceptance.