Any shot?

[Qester]

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Thanks

 

[sunset823]

The answer will also be similar to other people who have posted here; although the significant improvement is good, besides the obvious shot that your first two years did to your GPA, you also switched from a 'hard science' major to a softer major - while there's nothing wrong with this, it may look to some that you switched off only because you couldn't handle the classes, not because you are truly interested in psych (versus having demonstrated that you were doing that major from the beginning)

Anyway, the best way to get out of this is a post-bac; as long as you do decently on your MCAT, you should have a good chance at post-bac programs, and acing those will show that you have learned from your mistakes and give you a better shot

 

[Qester]

Thanks

 

[Krisss17]

Hey Guys,
So my backstory is probably similar to a few others here. I fooled around first and second year at univeristy with no real focus on schooling as was only got a 69% average (not too hot just below a 3.0GPA). Come my 3rd year i was able to get a GPA of 3.7 and now entering my fourth year I have full confidence of getting a GPA of 3.7 or even 3.9. It should be noted that i switched my major into something that interested me more from Molecular biology and genetics (bsc) to a Psychology (bsc).

I was employed in a doctor's office for two years as well as I was on the varsity wrestling team for my first year of university. I also have coached a wrestling and basketball team. I'm starting to look into writing the MCAT but I wanted to know if I would have a chance of getting into a medical school (US/Canada) with my 3.0 GPA in the first two years or if the 3.7 GPA and a 30+ MCAT score would offset my mistake? If not what steps can I take to increase my chances? Is it possible to retake those courses? Would more extra activities possibly upset the low GPA?

Let me know what you guys think, if i can remedy the situation or if I should explore other avenues.

Thanks

Actually, a 69% is not just below a 3.0, but below a 2.0. 70% is usually considered the minimum for a C average, so if you have a 69%...

I'm really not sure how much a 3.7 in your third year will help although it does show an upwards trend. You would definitely have to get greater than a 30 MCAT to be competitive.

I would definitely sit down with your transcript and see what your actual GPA is, and if it is less than 3.0, you might want to consider waiting to apply until after you get another year in...if you achieve another year like you did your third year, that would really help. Are you in a university setting with a premed advisor? If yes, I would definitely confer with him/her to see what they think.

 

[RxnMan]

With a ugrad GPA of 3.7, most places are not going to notice your first 2 years unless you mention it. Most places will not look through your transcripts unless you took your pre-reqs during those first two years or you mention it. Earn a respectable score on the MCAT and nobody will see it. The change of major, unless you mention it, won't be noticed, and even then, probably won't be thought of as negative - ugrad major has little to no effect (hard science or not) on admissions.

 

[Qester]

Thanks

 

[postbacker]

Hey Krisss- your right- coming from a canadian school we rarely use GPA's so i screwed up looking at the conversion chart. I was also definately going to wait until i finished my fourth year before applying since my cumulative average is 72.304% (which on the chart puts me between a 2.7 and a 3.0gpa- closer to a 3.0).

Rxnman- the problem is my ugrad GPA won't be a 3.7. My final two years will be a 3.7 or a 3.9 while my overall GPA will be a 3.0. Does the upwardtrend help my case substaintally? Or does applying with a final GPA of only 3.0 basically put me out of the runnings. Also what are some of the 'lower' tier schools I should be looking at to apply to medschool with such a GPA?

An upward trend sure beats a downward trend, but I doubt if it helps much, and I really doubt if it helps "substantially."

Your overall GPA will really hurt you no matter how good the recent trend, and your recent trend is only slightly better than the median overall GPA for matriculants (3.6) so you still aren't knocking it out of the park...

 

[WHR]

Hey Guys,
So my backstory is probably similar to a few others here. I fooled around first and second year at univeristy with no real focus on schooling as was only got a 69% average (not too hot just below a 3.0GPA). Come my 3rd year i was able to get a GPA of 3.7 and now entering my fourth year I have full confidence of getting a GPA of 3.7 or even 3.9. It should be noted that i switched my major into something that interested me more from Molecular biology and genetics (bsc) to a Psychology (bsc).

I was employed in a doctor's office for two years as well as I was on the varsity wrestling team for my first year of university. I also have coached a wrestling and basketball team. I'm starting to look into writing the MCAT but I wanted to know if I would have a chance of getting into a medical school (US/Canada) with my 3.0 GPA in the first two years or if the 3.7 GPA and a 30+ MCAT score would offset my mistake? If not what steps can I take to increase my chances? Is it possible to retake those courses? Would more extra activities possibly upset the low GPA?

Let me know what you guys think, if i can remedy the situation or if I should explore other avenues.

Thanks

I don't know much about US schools but I think you will have a very hard time getting an interview let alone getting acceptance from Canadian medical schools. From my experience, I had 3.7 UG GPA and 31P when I applied during my undergrad and I didn't get an interview from any of the Ontario medical schools (i.e. University of Toronto, etc). However, two schools, University of Western Ontario and Queens University do count the last two years of undergrad if your cumulative GPA doesn't make the cut. The GPA cut offs for interviews are 3.7 and 3.78 respectively. Hope this clarifies a bit.