Another Adcom, ask me (almost) anything

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Gaborik10 said:
Hello hushcom, I'm enjoying the thread. My cgpa is about 3.5 and my post-bacc gpa is about 3.8. My undergrad was fine arts so most of my science has been done in the post bacc, but I'm a little frustrated how seemingly impossible it's been to raise my cumulative. I'm currently looking through the MSAR and my cgpa is fairly low for a lot of the schools I'd otherwise like to apply to (right at the 10th percentile or just below). Generally how much more consideration will be placed on my post-bacc rather than my cumulative? And in general should I still avoid applying to schools where my cgpa is just below what they typically accept? Thanks.
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I would place a lot of emphasis on your post-bacc grades, since they better represent your ability to handle the preclinical curriculum in medical school. I am willing to bet that many of the 10th percentile students at the schools you are looking at were in a similar situation, having done successful post-baccs to shape up their academic records.

I would strongly advise you to not start with the schools you want to attend. Apply to all your state schools, and then start with the private ones where you will be most competitive based on your numbers. Definitely shoot for some reach schools, although how many will be dictated by the number of applications you are willing to file. The point is to get in, not to get in to a particular institution.
 
hushcom said:
Do you wish to do research as part of your career?
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Yes I would like to do research as a part of my career. I am especially interested in clinical research e.g. developing new surgical techniques etc. I also would like to be involved in academic medicine, teaching if possible.
 
hushcom said:
I don't need all the LORs to be highly personal, especially coming straight from undergrad it can sometimes be difficult to find three faculty members who you really connected with. At this point you got what you got.

Your MCAT /GPA issue is trickier, because there are several possible ways to explain a 4.0 with a 29. One is that your undergrad institution is not very challenging or has serious grade inflation, and the 29 represents a more accurate assessment of your academic ability. Another is that your undergrad institution is challenging, making you are an exceptional student but a mediocre standardized test-taker on the day you took the MCAT.

Either way you might get in somewhere with your package, or you might not. A higher MCAT score would help your case, but if you retake and score lower it's going to hurt a lot. I don't know the details of how you got your 29, so it's somewhat difficult for me to say.
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Yeah as I feared. I am going to state school so there is no grade inflation. So do you think it will be essential mentioning MCAT score in PS? The breakdown is (11 PS, 8 VR, 10 BS). I have hardest time with verbal and focused heavily on that during one month. (I am an immigrant with English as a third language). I definitely got flustered during taking the Mcat and scored 3 points below my aamc average.
Anyways, I am sure this will come up a lot if I apply... And so wanted your input.
 
Willy38 said:
Yes I would like to do research as a part of my career. I am especially interested in clinical research e.g. developing new surgical techniques etc. I also would like to be involved in academic medicine, teaching if possible.
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It is going to be very difficult selling yourself as someone who wants to do research when you have no research experience. I would like to be a professional baseball player, yet I have never played the game. Sounds somewhat naïve, doesn't it? An interviewer could have you looking like a deer-in-headlights in no time.

The good news is that research opportunities are ubiquitous. Apply wherever you want, when you matriculate there will be projects available to give you a taste, and summer research programs abound for students between M1 and M2.
 
Hushcom,

Thanks for your reply to my question, I have one more if you don't mind. Maybe this will help the other postbac non-trads as well. If I apply to medical school in June as soon as AMCAS opens, what should I be doing (besides secondaries) between then and when I hopefully get accepted to a school in the late fall/early spring? Would working a non-medical related job be okay, maybe traveling a bit too, etc, or should I focus on things medically related such as research or full time volunteering to discuss at my fall interviews? Thanks.
 
You are a very patient guy, Hushcom.

I've seen some people ponder about some schools rejecting candidates because they found that the candidate probably wouldn't attend if accepted. What are your thoughts on telling the interviewer that this school is your first choice? Does it come off as unsavory even if it can be backed up (list of the facilities that stand out, the unique opportunities, etc.)?
 
kouentou13 said:
You are a very patient guy, Hushcom.

I've seen some people ponder about some schools rejecting candidates because they found that the candidate probably wouldn't attend if accepted. What are your thoughts on telling the interviewer that this school is your first choice? Does it come off as unsavory even if it can be backed up (list of the facilities that stand out, the unique opportunities, etc.)?
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I have had a number of applicants tell me something along those lines prior to being accepted. Most of them went to other schools because of cost and, to a lesser extent, location. About the only evidence I find compelling for this argument is whether the applicant has a significant social or familial network in the area. Otherwise I assume you are just telling me what you think I want to hear.
 
Ryan17 said:
Hushcom,

Thanks for your reply to my question, I have one more if you don't mind. Maybe this will help the other postbac non-trads as well. If I apply to medical school in June as soon as AMCAS opens, what should I be doing (besides secondaries) between then and when I hopefully get accepted to a school in the late fall/early spring? Would working a non-medical related job be okay, maybe traveling a bit too, etc, or should I focus on things medically related such as research or full time volunteering to discuss at my fall interviews? Thanks.
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You should be living your life as richly and fully as possible. The killer is when an applicant spends his or her gap year living at home with the parents and doing nothing beyond applying for med school.
 
You should be living your life as richly and fully as possible. The killer is when an applicant spends his or her gap year living at home with the parents and doing nothing beyond applying for med school.
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Just to make sure I'm not misunderstanding what you said- so as long as I'm not living at my parent's place doing nothing, anything else should be fine (i.e. traveling abroad, etc), even if its not medically-related?
 
hushcom said:
It is going to be very difficult selling yourself as someone who wants to do research when you have no research experience. I would like to be a professional baseball player, yet I have never played the game. Sounds somewhat naïve, doesn't it? An interviewer could have you looking like a deer-in-headlights in no time.

The good news is that research opportunities are ubiquitous. Apply wherever you want, when you matriculate there will be projects available to give you a taste, and summer research programs abound for students between M1 and M2.
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Yeah I can understand that, I know research isn't my thing right now but I'm interested in getting involved once in medical school. But as far as applying, are you saying its worth a shot at the top tier private schools?
 
Thanks for this hushcom... This is my situation


I'm super excited, since I found out Friday that I was accepted to my first choice med school. This was unexpected, since I had a 27 on my MCAT. I was ALREADY planning on reapplying, so I had already scheduled another MCAT, and am in the middle of a prep course to bring up my score. But now I'm freaking out, and this is why...

I graduated almost 15 years ago, with a BA in something that doesn't matter at all. I've been enrolled for the last 3 years at my state school, taking only the prereqs, upper level science classes ( Acing them all ) and basically living in the cell bio lab for research. I was enrolled as a POST-BAC student, so I thought.

No sooner had I printed out, signed and sent back the acceptance documents, then I ran into something that might be a problem. I began requesting my transcripts, to send in to my future med school. I did not notice this while entering everything into amcas last year, but yesterday I saw that I'm classified as an additional degree student!! I think this must have happened when I had to declare a "major" in order to use veterans benefits, when I started way back when. Since then I had long forgot about that classification... but I already have a degree...

I never intended to get a degree here. None of the people who wrote my LORs expected this of me... I didn't indicate an intent to graduate on AMCAS, and labeled all of the work as postbac. I can not afford to take all the classes required to graduate, and certainly can't finish them by August. But there is this stipulation on the acceptance form that all Bachelors, Masters, PhD coursework be finished before matriculating. I feel like I should call the admissions office to clarify, to be completely up front and transparent, but I don't want to come off as neurotic either... Would you rescind an offer over something like this.

How would you view a student you preemptively called to explain or clarify this. Would you even care about something like this? I've worked too hard to lose this opportunity now. If I should call the adcom, how do I explain/broach this subject?
 
Thanks for the advice Hushcom. I've got a gap year(s) question that hopefully isn't too specific.

I majored in an engineering field and decided on pre-med in my senior year. Now I'm faced with 2 gap years unless I can somehow do my MCAT, LORs, personal statement, applications, job search, etc... That's fine, but I'm not really qualified to do any true "clinical" jobs since my education is in engineering. If I'm going to support myself for 2 years I think my best options are either an academic research position (where I could possibly publish/get additional clinical exposure) or I could work in the biotech industry (where I would save more for med school debt/be a "real person").

So my question is, which would look more favorable for an applicant with great grades and about 3 years of research experience (~15-20 hrs. per week, no pubs just posters/abstracts), and does it really even matter?
 
Ryan17 said:
Just to make sure I'm not misunderstanding what you said- so as long as I'm not living at my parent's place doing nothing, anything else should be fine (i.e. traveling abroad, etc), even if its not medically-related?
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That's right. Some people have more medical experience than others, but if you have enough then you have enough. Travel can be incredibly enriching, provided you aren't spending the whole time in hash bars or on a booze cruise out of Cabo. I have interviewed a few applicants who have spent some of their travel time studying the health systems in other countries. They can be very interesting to talk to.
 
Willy38 said:
Yeah I can understand that, I know research isn't my thing right now but I'm interested in getting involved once in medical school. But as far as applying, are you saying its worth a shot at the top tier private schools?
Click to expand...

With your stats why not? The baseball angle will likely help you stand out a little. Just don't get your heart set on top tier, there are plenty of places to obtain an excellent medical education all up and down the US News rankings.
 
mdordie said:
Thanks for this hushcom... This is my situation


I'm super excited, since I found out Friday that I was accepted to my first choice med school. This was unexpected, since I had a 27 on my MCAT. I was ALREADY planning on reapplying, so I had already scheduled another MCAT, and am in the middle of a prep course to bring up my score. But now I'm freaking out, and this is why...

I graduated almost 15 years ago, with a BA in something that doesn't matter at all. I've been enrolled for the last 3 years at my state school, taking only the prereqs, upper level science classes ( Acing them all ) and basically living in the cell bio lab for research. I was enrolled as a POST-BAC student, so I thought.

No sooner had I printed out, signed and sent back the acceptance documents, then I ran into something that might be a problem. I began requesting my transcripts, to send in to my future med school. I did not notice this while entering everything into amcas last year, but yesterday I saw that I'm classified as an additional degree student!! I think this must have happened when I had to declare a "major" in order to use veterans benefits, when I started way back when. Since then I had long forgot about that classification... but I already have a degree...

I never intended to get a degree here. None of the people who wrote my LORs expected this of me... I didn't indicate an intent to graduate on AMCAS, and labeled all of the work as postbac. I can not afford to take all the classes required to graduate, and certainly can't finish them by August. But there is this stipulation on the acceptance form that all Bachelors, Masters, PhD coursework be finished before matriculating. I feel like I should call the admissions office to clarify, to be completely up front and transparent, but I don't want to come off as neurotic either... Would you rescind an offer over something like this.

How would you view a student you preemptively called to explain or clarify this. Would you even care about something like this? I've worked too hard to lose this opportunity now. If I should call the adcom, how do I explain/broach this subject?
Click to expand...

Sounds like an honest mistake, especially since you already have a BA. Contact your post-bacc institution and find out what you did wrong, then call your future medical school and explain it. I am about 99.8% certain that nobody is going to care. The stipulation rule was not written for cases like yours.
 
EngineerPreMD said:
Thanks for the advice Hushcom. I've got a gap year(s) question that hopefully isn't too specific.

I majored in an engineering field and decided on pre-med in my senior year. Now I'm faced with 2 gap years unless I can somehow do my MCAT, LORs, personal statement, applications, job search, etc... That's fine, but I'm not really qualified to do any true "clinical" jobs since my education is in engineering. If I'm going to support myself for 2 years I think my best options are either an academic research position (where I could possibly publish/get additional clinical exposure) or I could work in the biotech industry (where I would save more for med school debt/be a "real person").

So my question is, which would look more favorable for an applicant with great grades and about 3 years of research experience (~15-20 hrs. per week, no pubs just posters/abstracts), and does it really even matter?
Click to expand...

There are pluses and minuses to both options, depending on the exact nature of each job. Apply for both types and see which one tickles your fancy. Neither is going to look bad.
 
Thanks for doing this @hushcom.

Quick question: Is there a point of diminishing returns when assessing an applicant's research accomplishments? Just curious, since I've had somewhat constant flow of abstracts/peer-reviewed publications this year and I thought I might see more tangible benefits in the admissions process. Of course, there are a lot of different variables in play, especially post-interview.
 
Serious question btw, have you ever gotten a suicide threat? ex. "I will kill myself if I am not admitted to your medical school" if so how do you go about handling it?

P.S I'm not planning on doing the just curious
 
Amba said:
Thanks for doing this @hushcom.

Quick question: Is there a point of diminishing returns when assessing an applicant's research accomplishments? Just curious, since I've had somewhat constant flow of abstracts/peer-reviewed publications this year and I thought I might see more tangible benefits in the admissions process. Of course, there are a lot of different variables in play, especially post-interview.
Click to expand...

There is a point of diminishing returns on almost everything. For example, having a 500 hours of shadowing does not impress me more than 50. If anything it makes me wonder why you would waste so much time following doctors around, or if you are being honest with your reporting of hours. Like everything there are exceptions, but they are few and far between.

Research productivity does not quite fit that mold, but it might add to a perception that you would rather be in a lab than working with patients. Depending on the school and the rest of your application that may be a good thing or you may look one-dimensional. You are absolutely correct that many variable are at play.
 
BigBoy99 said:
Serious question btw, have you ever gotten a suicide threat? ex. "I will kill myself if I am not admitted to your medical school" if so how do you go about handling it?

P.S I'm not planning on doing the just curious
Click to expand...

Has not happened to me yet, and I am just going to pretend it never will.
 
Hushcom,

I have been waitlisted at a total of 3 schools. One is my top choice, the other is my second choice and the third Iwithdrew from. I sent a letter of intent to my top choice but not anything to the second choice. What advice do you have for getting off of these waitlists? Send more letters before May 15th? After? Call the office? Send the dean a letter directly? Thank you!
 
This may be a touchy subject, but could you disclose how race/ethnicity gets talked about in adcoms? Is it an unspoken thing, or do adcoms bring up applicants' race when talking about them? If, hypothetically, an adcom member were to come out as being against affirmative action, would that person get kicked off the adcom or otherwise suffer professional consequences?
 
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!

I have one that may be difficult to answer. I'm trying to gauge how well a recent interview went. I had really good vibes from both of my interviewers. There were no awkward or tense moments, and it felt more like a conversation than anything. One of them even remarked afterwards that it was a fun interview. My question is, are interviewers usually genuine when they say something like that, or are they just being polite? Can I trust my gut instinct that things went well based on those good vibes I was getting? Lastly, do you treat candidates any differently if they bomb the interview?
 
jram2323 said:
Hushcom,

I have been waitlisted at a total of 3 schools. One is my top choice, the other is my second choice and the third Iwithdrew from. I sent a letter of intent to my top choice but not anything to the second choice. What advice do you have for getting off of these waitlists? Send more letters before May 15th? After? Call the office? Send the dean a letter directly? Thank you!
Click to expand...

Pray. If schools allow themselves to be systematically influenced by this sort of thing it would open the floodgates to a new reality that nobody wants. You applied, you interviewed, the committee made a decision. The wheels of the machine have turned and come to rest. You will simply have to wait and see.
 
johnnycage377 said:
This may be a touchy subject, but could you disclose how race/ethnicity gets talked about in adcoms? Is it an unspoken thing, or do adcoms bring up applicants' race when talking about them? If, hypothetically, an adcom member were to come out as being against affirmative action, would that person get kicked off the adcom or otherwise suffer professional consequences?
Click to expand...

Different people on the committee have different perspectives on this issue. That is all I am going to say.
 
Matt20 said:
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!

I have one that may be difficult to answer. I'm trying to gauge how well a recent interview went. I had really good vibes from both of my interviewers. There were no awkward or tense moments, and it felt more like a conversation than anything. One of them even remarked afterwards that it was a fun interview. My question is, are interviewers usually genuine when they say something like that, or are they just being polite? Can I trust my gut instinct that things went well based on those good vibes I was getting?
Click to expand...

The interviewer probably meant it. Doesn't mean it will change anything, but he/she was likely sincere.

Matt20 said:
Lastly, do you treat candidates any differently if they bomb the interview?
Click to expand...

"Bomb" is a rather ambiguous term, but if I feel that I have legitimate reason to not want someone admitted or wait listed based on the interview, my assessment will reflect that. I have not kept track, but when I want someone gone the committee tends to agree.
 
Would you consider research experience if it is not for a formal publication headed by a professor? I participated in to research experiments in undergrad including a survey and an experiment with human subjects. We had to go through the universities IRB, debrief subjects and do formal analysis and write ups for both. I a non-trad working full time and taking pre-recs not sure if I can pencil in formal research but wanted to know if this would be looked apon similarly. Thanks
 
hushcom said:
I am a practicing physician who serves on the admissions committee of an allopathic medical school in the United States. I am also not new to SDN, having seen the cast of characters evolve here over a number of years. Some recent threads in the pre-allo forum have compelled me to start this one. While I am not a longstanding and venerated member of the committee, perhaps someone will find my two cents useful and/or interesting.

So please, have at it.
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Hushcom, thank you very much for being willing to take questions pertaining to medical school admissions. My younger sibling was recently admitted to a medical school. However, while waiting to hear back she had already applied for a Fulbright and to a couple of other international teaching opportunities that will each last 1 year. She is considering deferring medical school for 1 year if her application for one of these opportunities is accepted.
She has aspirations of a global health career, so she wants to take advantage of opportunities to go abroad and expose herself to a different country and culture. This wouldn't be news to the medical school because she discussed it in her application. Would it be frowned upon for her to defer 1 year for such an endeavor? When I was going through the application cycle 4 years ago I heard mixed messages about deferring. I am currently advising her to defer, but I don't want to force my perspective on her. I was wondering what your objective take on this is, as an admissions committee member.
 
GasAllDay said:
Hushcom, thank you very much for being willing to take questions pertaining to medical school admissions. My younger sibling was recently admitted to a medical school. However, while waiting to hear back she had already applied for a Fulbright and to a couple of other international teaching opportunities that will each last 1 year. She is considering deferring medical school for 1 year if her application for one of these opportunities is accepted.
She has aspirations of a global health career, so she wants to take advantage of opportunities to go abroad and expose herself to a different country and culture. This wouldn't be news to the medical school because she discussed it in her application. Would it be frowned upon for her to defer 1 year for such an endeavor? When I was going through the application cycle 4 years ago I heard mixed messages about deferring. I am currently advising her to defer, but I don't want to force my perspective on her. I was wondering what your objective take on this is, as an admissions committee member.
Click to expand...

There is no "frowning" upon a deferral for a Fulbright or other international teaching opportunity. The school will either grant one or not. If not, then she will either have to matriculate in August or withdraw her acceptance and reapply, which I would not recommend.
 
bearmedic said:
Would you consider research experience if it is not for a formal publication headed by a professor? I participated in to research experiments in undergrad including a survey and an experiment with human subjects. We had to go through the universities IRB, debrief subjects and do formal analysis and write ups for both. I a non-trad working full time and taking pre-recs not sure if I can pencil in formal research but wanted to know if this would be looked apon similarly. Thanks
Click to expand...

At this level student research is about the experience, not about papers. Publications are great if the happen, but they usually do not.
 
Thank you for doing this Hushcom

I was just wondering if you along with your colleagues ever decided to accept an individual even though they were in previous legal trouble?
What was the worst case you had come by but still made an exception for the individual?
Would you ever consider somebody who got a DUI, or maybe was caught with a small amount of marijuana, felon, or someone who has misdemeanor(s) on their record? Say within the cycle they applied or even a few years ago. Their freshman or sophomore year of undergrad perhaps.

Not expecting too specific of an answer to all the above questions, a summary on the topic of applicants with criminal records will quench my interest on this.
 
Hello @hushcom,

Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to help us. If I could send you the best bottle of scotch in the store I would.

1) How does your committee view reapplicants? Are they put in some sort of a separate pile aside from new applicants and decided on differently or is it all in one pool?

2) If an applicant has a GPA and MCAT score below the mean at your institution, what does your committee look at that demonstrates they are right for your school? What other parts of the student's application could potentially outweigh the slightly lower GPA and MCAT score, eventually tipping the scale and gaining them acceptance?

3) If a student had a low science GPA during undergrad would you rather see that student retake those courses or complete an SMP program?
How would you feel if that student retook those courses at a small college vs a university.

Once again, thanks!
 
Ash Ketchem said:
Thank you for doing this Hushcom

I was just wondering if you along with your colleagues ever decided to accept an individual even though they were in previous legal trouble?
What was the worst case you had come by but still made an exception for the individual?
Would you ever consider somebody who got a DUI, or maybe was caught with a small amount of marijuana, felon, or someone who has misdemeanor(s) on their record? Say within the cycle they applied or even a few years ago. Their freshman or sophomore year of undergrad perhaps.

Not expecting too specific of an answer to all the above questions, a summary on the topic of applicants with criminal records will quench my interest on this.
Click to expand...

See below..
hushcom said:
Isolated misdemeanors are usually not much an issue, either, but the ice gets much thinner. A single DUI in an otherwise strong candidate can get overlooked. Multiple convictions, however, require a lot of time and some extraordinary circumstances to be forgiven.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
@hushcom

Thank you for doing this.

Two quick questions - are there any programs that you know of that will specifically look at the last 120, 90, X hours when calculating GPA?

Second, my cgpa is abysmal (3.0), as I got C's, D's, and a couple F's in many of my freshman classes ~ 12 years ago. My post bacc is a 4.0 and my last 120 is 3.5, potentially 3.6 when all is said and done. How much are those freshman year grades going to come back to bite me...?
 
Hushcom,

Another question if you don't mind. As a nontrad post-bac, would taking just 2 science classes (with labs) per semester until I finish the pre-reqs, raise any flags? I am working part time, and between work, volunteering and 2 classes and their respective labs, I just can't cram in 3-4 classes like a typical undergrad would. Just making sure it won't raise any flags. Thanks!
 
yanks26dmb said:
@hushcom

Thank you for doing this.

Two quick questions - are there any programs that you know of that will specifically look at the last 120, 90, X hours when calculating GPA?

Second, my cgpa is abysmal (3.0), as I got C's, D's, and a couple F's in many of my freshman classes ~ 12 years ago. My post bacc is a 4.0 and my last 120 is 3.5, potentially 3.6 when all is said and done. How much are those freshman year grades going to come back to bite me...?
Click to expand...

Some schools may screen you out based on your cGPA, but many (if not most) will make some allowance for you having a post-bacc. If you get past a screen I doubt many people will care about a rotten freshman year so long ago.
 
Ryan17 said:
Hushcom,

Another question if you don't mind. As a nontrad post-bac, would taking just 2 science classes (with labs) per semester until I finish the pre-reqs, raise any flags? I am working part time, and between work, volunteering and 2 classes and their respective labs, I just can't cram in 3-4 classes like a typical undergrad would. Just making sure it won't raise any flags. Thanks!
Click to expand...

What raises red flags are people who take one science class per semester and spend the rest of the time padding their GPA's with softer coursework. Your situation sounds understandable.
 
I'm a second-year medical student, and I'm working hard to advocate for our admissions committee to consider LGBTQ candidates as a privileged group with regard to admissions due to the myriad obstacles LGBTQ patients face in receiving health care and the numerous health disparities that exist in this population due to myriad factors, including systematic discrimination. Does your institution currently have any kind of policy with regard to recruiting LGBTQ students and making LGBTQ applicants feel more welcome on their interview day?

Thanks so much for your time.
 
Would a 4.0 in all the pre-reqs be enough to overcome a 3.3 cgpa? I changed my career path in my senior year of college. I wasn't as focused and mature as I am now and I have a few bad grades on my transcript. I will graduate this fall and will take the remaining pre-reqs at a CC to cut costs. Would this be enough to prove i can handle the rigor of medical school to adcoms who might question my gpa? Thanks for the help again. Greatly appreciate it.
 
tantacles said:
I'm a second-year medical student, and I'm working hard to advocate for our admissions committee to consider LGBTQ candidates as a privileged group with regard to admissions due to the myriad obstacles LGBTQ patients face in receiving health care and the numerous health disparities that exist in this population due to myriad factors, including systematic discrimination. Does your institution currently have any kind of policy with regard to recruiting LGBTQ students and making LGBTQ applicants feel more welcome on their interview day?

Thanks so much for your time.
Click to expand...

We have no specific policy aimed at the recruitment of LGBTQ students. We also have no specific policy aimed at the recruitment of groups that are underrepresented based on race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status. That is not to say that committee members here are not keenly aware of such issues.

I have not seen large portions of the interview day personally, but knowing our staff the goal for establishing the general environment is pretty simple: be welcoming and treat everybody with kindness and respect. I'm not sure if that answers your questions.
 
V said:
Would a 4.0 in all the pre-reqs be enough to overcome a 3.3 cgpa? I changed my career path in my senior year of college. I wasn't as focused and mature as I am now and I have a few bad grades on my transcript. I will graduate this fall and will take the remaining pre-reqs at a CC to cut costs. Would this be enough to prove i can handle the rigor of medical school to adcoms who might question my gpa? Thanks for the help again. Greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...

If I am reading this correctly, you have a "few bad grades" that resulted in a 3.3 cGPA, and now you are looking to ace the prereqs at community college. From a purely academic standpoint that is going to be a hard sell, unless you have some sort of extenuating circumstances.
 
Hushcom,

I have recently had an unsuccessful application cycle due to a low sGPA. I am torn between retaking a few science courses that I received Cs in vs doing an SMP. Would you prefer seeing an applicant retake those courses or complete an SMP? If you suggest retaking those courses, would it matter if I took them at a Community College vs a University.

Thanks for your time.
 
Hushcom,

What is your favorite thing about an interview?

Is there some questions or some part of the interview you look forward to?
 
Hushcom,

What is the lowest percentile on the MCAT that is typically not screened out?
 
Serious question; has any interviewee ever hinted at certain favours? ex. monetary/sexual
 
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