Anyone accepted to SMP with <3.0?

[NeuroscEYEnce]

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I have been scouring this site and there seems to be many worried pre-med students with <3.0. Myself being one of them. The plan is to attend SMP right? But it seems like the average GPA for most of the SMPers are above a 3.0. But then there's those few who have <3.0 and have been admitted to an SMP program. For those of you who are in this "club" I wanted to ask:

What SMP are you attending?
What was your cGPA and BCPM?
Did you take a postbac?
What was your MCAT or GRE score?
Are you still in the program or are you now med school?
Any tips for those with <3.0 GPAs?

Thanks and good luck!

 

[DeucesHigh3]

I have been scouring this site and there seems to be many worried pre-med students with <3.0. Myself being one of them. The plan is to attend SMP right? But it seems like the average GPA for most of the SMPers are above a 3.0. But then there's those few who have <3.0 and have been admitted to an SMP program. For those of you who are in this "club" I wanted to ask:

What SMP are you attending?
Drexel IMS
What was your cGPA and BCPM?
cGPA 2.98, BCPM 2.93
Did you take a postbac?
Nope. My last 50 credits (3 semesters) were done after a couple years out of school, though, and were almost all upper-level bio -- this might have served as a post-bac for all intents and purposes.
What was your MCAT or GRE score?
34 and 38 back in 2005; 33 in 2009 after the previous had expired (had the flu, bleh)
Are you still in the program or are you now med school?
Still in the program.
Any tips for those with <3.0 GPAs?
Not really sure. MCAT, ECs, and upward GPA trend probably help a lot.

 

[theWUbear]

What SMP are you attending?
UMDNJ Newark
What was your cGPA and BCPM?
~2.7, ~2.4
Did you take a postbac?
Rutgers Newark, for grade enhancement (already had completed prereqs)
What was your MCAT or GRE score?
33O
Are you still in the program or are you now med school?
Still wit the program
Any tips for those with <3.0 GPAs?
For med school admissions: Analyze whether one year of SMP will be enough to get you into med school with such a low uGPA that will not be affected by an SMP
For SMP admissions: Meet with people in charge of the program/admissions and explain that despite your numbers you are on the right path, you will succeed in the SMP and the program is right fit, etc. and you can get in with subpar GPA (with a good mcat)

 

[Doctorella]

What SMP are you attending?
One of the two Boston ones
What was your cGPA and BCPM?
cGPA 2.66, BCPM 2.78
Did you take a postbac?
No, it was pretty hopeless to try and raise my GPAs since they were composed of 5 full-time years.
What was your MCAT or GRE score?
32R when applying to the SMP. 38R after finishing it.
Are you still in the program or are you now med school?
I finished the classes last June, am completing the thesis portion this year, and was recently accepted to medical school for next year.
Any tips for those with <3.0 GPAs?
I REALLY wish I could dispel the 3.0 cutoff myth. I truly believe that most schools look at your overall application. If you have something that makes them take a second look, I don't think it's necessary to hit some "magic" 3.0 cutoff. I may be wrong, but I applied with well under a 3.0 and I received secondaries from every school that "officially" pre-screens before sending them out except UCLA (i.e. Wake Forest, Loyola, etc.). At the very least, I don't think that if you're close to a 3.0 that it makes sense to take classes to hit some "magic" cutoff. There are no computers which throw your app in the trash.

Also, it's good if you can have a "hook" for your application - a narrative around which your application is based. The people looking at your app are *people* - if you can make them understand your story, how you were and how you've changed, they are more likely to be sympathetic to your past transgressions.

 

[NeuroscEYEnce]

Did you apply to medical school while you were in the program? Do people do that in your program? Is that a good idea?

 

[tmntdonjuan]

What SMP are you attending? completed VCU Basic Health Sciences Certificate in 2009
What was your cGPA and BCPM? 2.84 and 2.64
Did you take a postbac? no went in straight out of undergrad
What was your MCAT or GRE score? 28 before VCU and 34 after
Are you still in the program or are you now med school? first year at VCU Med
Any tips for those with <3.0 GPAs? Make sure everything on your application is solid, especially the MCAT. Also apply smart and to a lot of programs (particularly the ones that are out of state friendly). Every part of your application is important in order to compensate for your GPA. Also be prepared for rejections. A LOT of them. I honestly think a lot of schools do the 3.0 cutoff for interview.

 

[chucktown]

tmntdonjuan, did anybody in your cert class get into VCU during the program or was it mostly the cycle after the program ended?

 

[NeuroscEYEnce]

What SMP are you attending? completed VCU Basic Health Sciences Certificate in 2009
What was your cGPA and BCPM? 2.84 and 2.64
Did you take a postbac? no went in straight out of undergrad
What was your MCAT or GRE score? 28 before VCU and 34 after
Are you still in the program or are you now med school? first year at VCU Med
Any tips for those with <3.0 GPAs? Make sure everything on your application is solid, especially the MCAT. Also apply smart and to a lot of programs (particularly the ones that are out of state friendly). Every part of your application is important in order to compensate for your GPA. Also be prepared for rejections. A LOT of them. I honestly think a lot of schools do the 3.0 cutoff for interview.

Wow. That's great, congrats! Did you get any other interviews to other medical schools? I was looking into the VCU program. Do most of the students get admitted to Virginia schools?

 

[tmntdonjuan]

Wow. That's great, congrats! Did you get any other interviews to other medical schools? I was looking into the VCU program. Do most of the students get admitted to Virginia schools?

I only had 2 interviews: VCU and Wayne State. The vast majority of VCU Certificate graduates who get into medical school end up at VCU but I do know of people who got into EVMS as well.

 

[lashley02]

I honestly think a lot of schools do the 3.0 cutoff for interview.

Is that 3.0 for sgpa or cgpa?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

There are no computers which throw your app in the trash.

you are wrong

 

[DrMidlife]

I REALLY wish I could dispel the 3.0 cutoff myth. I truly believe that most schools look at your overall application. If you have something that makes them take a second look, I don't think it's necessary to hit some "magic" 3.0 cutoff. I may be wrong, but I applied with well under a 3.0 and I received secondaries from every school that "officially" pre-screens before sending them out except UCLA (i.e. Wake Forest, Loyola, etc.). At the very least, I don't think that if you're close to a 3.0 that it makes sense to take classes to hit some "magic" cutoff. There are no computers which throw your app in the trash.

you are wrong

👍👍👍

DMU at least has the decency to state a 3.0 cutoff on its admissions page. I was rejected pre-secondary there with a 2.97 science GPA in '07. Yep, that's a DO school. MD schools that get 5000 or 10,000 apps have to autoscreen or they'd have to charge $500 per app.

If it's possible to get up over 3.0 by taking a year or two of undergrad, imho it's worth it.

 

[deleted248403]

I third bleargh and midlife that doctorella is wrong. There is definitely a 3.0 cutoff in existence - some schools stick to it harder then others, but unless you are willing to travel substantially (aka apply to like every SMP with a sub 3.0) then the 3.0 is a good rule of thumb to have.

If you only want to school in city X, and have a <3.0, then you are going to find tougher sledding