Another WAMC

[Chunkee Munkee]

Hey all,

I graduated last year with a 3.07 cGPA and 2.87 sGPA.

I read a plethora of other posts similar to mine and saw Goro's tips on reinvention. However, I wanted to make this thread to get some personalized advise.

I am planning on doing an SMP or post-bacc classes. If I get straight A's in 37 credits my GPA will rise to 3.25 cGPA and 3.2 sGPA.

My ECs:

-1000+ hours as a medical scribe including direct and indirect patient contact (still employed so will go up.)
-100 hours hospital volunteering.
-8 months volunteering with the ambulance corps. (not sure of my exact hours) (also received a voucher to take the EMT-B class which I will be doing soon.)
-Working full time in restaurants for 6 years since high school. ( should be > 9000 hours)
-*will be starting to volunteer at the nearby homeless shelter soon*

My questions are:

1. What MCAT should I be aiming for?
2. What schools would consider me competitive with said MCAT and potential GPA. (looking to apply 100% DO)
3. I have the opportunity to do some research. Will this help bolster my application?
4. How you doing?
5. Are my ECs good enough or should I do more? Also, is scribing good on its own or do I also need some stand alone shadowing hours?
6. Should I be doing an SMP or the post-bacc. On one hand it would be nice to save money but on the other hand, I don't want to waste time and my chance at med school to save a few thousand dollars.

Also, my poor GPA was due to a number of reasons, including self destructive behaviors, procrastination, lack of motivation, and some familial issues, which I have successfully eliminated. This is why I believe that I can do very well in the classes that I will be taking.

Thanks in advanced for the advice.

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[Chunkee Munkee]

Wow 73 views and not a single comment. This ain't looking too good.

 

[de Ribas]

You left a comment.

 

[BobbyKoch]

Smp won’t move your ugpa. I’d start with a diy post bacc, get those As you’re talking about. Always aim for the highest MCAT achievable...not sure why anyone would set the bar lower than 510-512 these days. Especially if you have gpa issues.

 

[GTown]

Hey all,

I graduated last year with a 3.07 cGPA and 2.87 sGPA.

I read a plethora of other posts similar to mine and saw Goro's tips on reinvention. However, I wanted to make this thread to get some personalized advise.

I am planning on doing an SMP or post-bacc classes. If I get straight A's in 37 credits my GPA will rise to 3.25 cGPA and 3.2 sGPA.

My ECs:

-1000+ hours as a medical scribe including direct and indirect patient contact (still employed so will go up.)
-100 hours hospital volunteering.
-8 months volunteering with the ambulance corps. (not sure of my exact hours) (also received a voucher to take the EMT-B class which I will be doing soon.)
-Working full time in restaurants for 6 years since high school. ( should be > 9000 hours)
-*will be starting to volunteer at the nearby homeless shelter soon*

My questions are:

1. What MCAT should I be aiming for?
2. What schools would consider me competitive with said MCAT and potential GPA. (looking to apply 100% DO)
3. I have the opportunity to do some research. Will this help bolster my application?
4. How you doing?
5. Are my ECs good enough or should I do more? Also, is scribing good on its own or do I also need some stand alone shadowing hours?
6. Should I be doing an SMP or the post-bacc. On one hand it would be nice to save money but on the other hand, I don't want to waste time and my chance at med school to save a few thousand dollars.

Also, my poor GPA was due to a number of reasons, including self destructive behaviors, procrastination, lack of motivation, and some familial issues, which I have successfully eliminated. This is why I believe that I can do very well in the classes that I will be taking.

Thanks in advanced for the advice.

1. As mentioned above, definitely nothing below a 510. I was in a similar-ish situation, but my uGPA/sGPA was not nearly as low (I only had 2 bad semesters). I got a 513. I applied MD and DO, but accepted at my top choice DO. So the higher your MCAT the better.

2. If you get a great score on the MCAT and even with a lower GPA, I feel you should be good at a lot of DO schools. I know at my school, people have gotten in with a combo of really low MCAT+great GPA or great MCAT+really low GPA. So I would say apply broadly.

3. Research is always great in my opinion. But I'm also biased as I've been heavy in research since undergrad and that is my current career. Research matters to DO schools (again at least to my school which has one of the highest amounts of NIH funding). Even if you end up not doing anything with it later, I believe it matters. Also it just makes you a stronger candidate in my opinion because it helps you understand the nuance of science better outside of just classes.

5. This is going to sound frou-frou, but don't just do EC's to do them. Do them because yes you definitely need them, but also do things you like. I think schools pick up on this. I do lot of political volunteering/work and this was a huge thing that came up during my interview. Keep doing what you need to in order to maintain clinical exposure - because this is important for you and for the schools. I think your EC's sound good, and if you have time do something you like that maybe has nothing at all do with medicine. It makes you a more interesting candidate. Again this is what my experience has been. Certainly start looking to shadow a physician, this will be important as well. Especially for a LOR.

6. Don't do a SMP unless you can handle the course load. Your low gpa indicates you may not be able to and in that case the smp will kill your chances of med school. Also, since you don't have a MCAT it's hard to gauge where your weakness lies. So stick to the post-bacc as recommended.

But basically, if you kill the MCAT, get in some research, have a compelling reinvention story - you should be okay.

 

[Goro]

Hey all,

I graduated last year with a 3.07 cGPA and 2.87 sGPA.

I read a plethora of other posts similar to mine and saw Goro's tips on reinvention. However, I wanted to make this thread to get some personalized advise.

I am planning on doing an SMP or post-bacc classes. If I get straight A's in 37 credits my GPA will rise to 3.25 cGPA and 3.2 sGPA.

My ECs:

-1000+ hours as a medical scribe including direct and indirect patient contact (still employed so will go up.)
-100 hours hospital volunteering.
-8 months volunteering with the ambulance corps. (not sure of my exact hours) (also received a voucher to take the EMT-B class which I will be doing soon.)
-Working full time in restaurants for 6 years since high school. ( should be > 9000 hours)
-*will be starting to volunteer at the nearby homeless shelter soon*

My questions are:

1. What MCAT should I be aiming for?
2. What schools would consider me competitive with said MCAT and potential GPA. (looking to apply 100% DO)
3. I have the opportunity to do some research. Will this help bolster my application?
4. How you doing?
5. Are my ECs good enough or should I do more? Also, is scribing good on its own or do I also need some stand alone shadowing hours?
6. Should I be doing an SMP or the post-bacc. On one hand it would be nice to save money but on the other hand, I don't want to waste time and my chance at med school to save a few thousand dollars.

Also, my poor GPA was due to a number of reasons, including self destructive behaviors, procrastination, lack of motivation, and some familial issues, which I have successfully eliminated. This is why I believe that I can do very well in the classes that I will be taking.

Thanks in advanced for the advice.

1. I didn't comment because you wrote that you read my tips.
2. Reinvention is rewarded by a number of MD schools, including UCSF and Vandy, and all DO schools.
3. As a nontrad, research is less important than showing you can handle med school, and having good ECs.
4. I am fine, thank you.
5. Your ECs are great
6. SMP or post-bac? Your call. SMP is high risk but high reward.

 

[Chunkee Munkee]

Sorry, I got cough up at work and had to reply so late. Thanks for all the advise. Also, Thanks for replying @Goro. I didn't think that you would since I already spoke with you in a PM.

I also forgot to add this earlier but if I do ace the 37 credits I would be at 3.25 cGPA and 3.2 sGPA. would this be considered good for med school or would I need to take more classes? I am asking because I might end up doing the post-bac due to financial issues.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Sorry, I got cough up at work and had to reply so late. Thanks for all the advise. Also, Thanks for replying @Goro. I didn't think that you would since I already spoke with you in a PM.

I also forgot to add this earlier but if I do ace the 37 credits I would be at 3.25 cGPA and 3.2 sGPA. would this be considered good for med school or would I need to take more classes? I am asking because I might end up doing the post-bac due to financial issues.

The thing is an SMP is a Masters degree which mean it's graduate level, so in other words it won't raise your undergraduate GPA. Instead you'll have 2 sets of GPAs on AMCAS and AACOMAS (graduate and undergraduate). If you want to raise your undergrad GPA it's better to do a DIY post-bacc than an SMP.

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[Shotapp]

It's true that SMP GPA is viewed separately from undergrad GPA, but performing well in a SMP (3.5+), especially the well known ones with a long track record of getting students into medical schools, will substantially improve OP's application for both MD and DO. However, since OP's science GPA is below a 3.0, doing a diy post-bac to bump it to a 3.0 would be the next logical step in order to meet cutoffs for certain schools.

@Goro himself prefers that re-inventors do a SMP. Do medical school to prove you can handle medical school. I would suggest OP to do a diy post-bac first then a SMP if he/she is boning for a MD or an established DO school. Apply with the best application.

 

[Chunkee Munkee]

Thanks for the additional info guys! Great advice as always.

Doing a few upper level science courses in the summer to raise my sGPA will not be an issue.

2 more questions:

1.say that I don't get accepted to an SMP, would a post-bac with identical courses, except for those with med school, look good?

2. From what I read, med schools see different GPA for ugrad, post-bac, and masters. But do they base their cut-offs on overall GPA or just ugrad + post-bac GPA?

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Thanks for the additional info guys! Great advice as always.

Doing a few upper level science courses in the summer to raise my sGPA will not be an issue.

2 more questions:

1.say that I don't get accepted to an SMP, would a post-bac with identical courses, except for those with med school, look good?

2. From what I read, med schools see different GPA for ugrad, post-bac, and masters. But do they base their cut-offs on overall GPA or just ugrad + post-bac GPA?

1) I think a post-bacc will be fine as long you ace all the classes you take. The classes you take should also be mostly upper level science classes to show that you have what it takes for med school.

2) Post-bacc GPA will be part of your overall uGPA (cGPA) and sGPA, but not Masters GPA. Schools cut-offs are made usually on cGPA and sGPA (and MCAT). But post-bacc GPA is also calculated separately, so the schools are able to see how you did in those classes.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

 

[Chunkee Munkee]

So the takeaway points are:

1. Get sGPA above 3.0 (post-bac)
2. Continue post-bac or do SMP (Excell in either)
3. Get > 510 MCAT
4. Keep building ECs
5. Return to SDN with updated stats for school list

Am I missing anything?

Also, does @Faha have anything to add or has everything been covered?

 

[Faha]

Everything has been covered. A post bac (DIY at a local college) is fine.

 

[CJhooper123]

Same undergrad GPA as you - just finished a DIY PB w/ 3.9 GPA. Also had a 510 MCAT --> I'll let you know how it goes.
Stay hungry youngblood