Anyone accepted with <3.0 gpa and high mcat??

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Smurdo17

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Looking for success stories of people accepted to medical school with a less than 3.0 gpa and a high mcat score! Edit I still have 3 semesters of classes to go before I actually graduate. 2.96 overall GPA.


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Unfortunately, you probably won't find many on here whom gotten into an MD program, but I'm sure there are some who've gotten into a DO program. Even then, the population of those successful applicants is low. Despite a high MCAT score, it doesn't make-up for a poor GPA. Also those whom have been accepted as you described must have had an incredible story to tell.

Adcoms want to be confident that a student can handle the academic rigor of medical school. Even with an incredible story, GPAs below a 3.0 are a massive red flag.
 
Sub 3.0 is a no-go. SMP or post-bac if you cant get into the SMP
 
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Smurdo17 said:
Looking for success stories of people accepted to medical school with a less than 3.0 gpa and a high mcat score! Edit I still have 3 semesters of classes to go before I actually graduate. 2.96 overall GPA.


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2.65 uGPA
522 MCAT

Did a 1 year DIY postbacc and a 2 year SMP.

Currently 1 MD acceptance and another interview coming up, I also submitted very late though even if I did submit early idt I wouldve been that much more successful.

It's a long road ahead friend.
 
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Smurdo17 said:
Looking for success stories of people accepted to medical school with a less than 3.0 gpa and a high mcat score! Edit I still have 3 semesters of classes to go before I actually graduate. 2.96 overall GPA.


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The only scenario is when someone has a massive rising GPA trend, or, more likely does a post-bac or SMP.
 
armybound said:
I was eventually accepted but it involved getting a Master's with a 4.0
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Congrats! I’m trying to decide if I should apply this cycle with a 2.96 or wait one year because I still have 55 credits over 3 semesters left to take which could impact my GPA in a positive way, however, EVERY single other area of my application exceeds expectations. So it’s like should I really edit a year to apply just to increase my GPA when everything else is stellar?


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Smurdo17 said:
Congrats! I’m trying to decide if I should apply this cycle with a 2.96 or wait one year because I still have 55 credits over 3 semesters left to take which could impact my GPA in a positive way, however, EVERY single other area of my application exceeds expectations. So it’s like should I really edit a year to apply just to increase my GPA when everything else is stellar?


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I would say it depends on your financial situation. It's a very long shot with a 2.96, but if you have the money to burn..
 
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Smurdo17 said:
Congrats! I’m trying to decide if I should apply this cycle with a 2.96 or wait one year because I still have 55 credits over 3 semesters left to take which could impact my GPA in a positive way, however, EVERY single other area of my application exceeds expectations. So it’s like should I really edit a year to apply just to increase my GPA when everything else is stellar?


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You will be auto screened out of like every med school ever with that gpa. You need to do some gpa repair. Thats a waste of 5000 dollars
 
I graduated with a 2.92 undergraduate GPA - my freshman year was by far my worst, but I was not a great student overall. I did a DIY postbacc with 61 credit hours and 3.93 GPA along with 2 years of medical research, volunteering, and 1 year+ patient-facing work. I scored 513 on the MCAT.

I've been accepted into my top choice MD program. I have another MD interview coming, and have turned one MD interview offer down. I also received 6 DO interviews so far, one of which I accepted and was offered an acceptance for.

It was an uphill climb, with many people telling me I had no shot, to look into becoming an NP or PA, or wondering how long I would keep trying. With a good support network, a purpose, and confidence, I was able to construct a narrative, believe in myself, and work towards this goal. Becoming a doctor is 100% within your reach and there is a lot of work ahead of you.
 
Sky138 said:
What do you mean by exceeds expectations? I hate to break it to you but unless you do something truly incredible (find a cure for cancer or come up with a vaccine for the Wuhan virus should suffice) then you really need to rethink med school or take and do well in a lot more classes.
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Agreed. I'd take at least 1 more year of post-bacc classes and do extremely well then apply.
 
Nugester said:
Agreed. I'd take at least 1 more year of post-bacc classes and do extremely well then apply.
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I still have 3 semesters of classes to take before I graduate. Projecting I get As a d A- then I can get close to 3.3


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ABCPlease said:
I graduated with a 2.92 undergraduate GPA - my freshman year was by far my worst, but I was not a great student overall. I did a DIY postbacc with 61 credit hours and 3.93 GPA along with 2 years of medical research, volunteering, and 1 year+ patient-facing work. I scored 513 on the MCAT.

I've been accepted into my top choice MD program. I have another MD interview coming, and have turned one MD interview offer down. I also received 6 DO interviews so far, one of which I accepted and was offered an acceptance for.

It was an uphill climb, with many people telling me I had no shot, to look into becoming an NP or PA, or wondering how long I would keep trying. With a good support network, a purpose, and confidence, I was able to construct a narrative, believe in myself, and work towards this goal. Becoming a doctor is 100% within your reach and there is a lot of work ahead of you.
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Congrats and thanks for your in put. I’m not from the states so I have no idea what a postbacc is, I’ll have to look that up. I still have 3 semesters of classes to take so 2.96 isn’t my final gpa.


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Smurdo17 said:
I still have 3 semesters of classes to take before I graduate. Projecting I get As a d A- then I can get close to 3.3


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Well, if you get 518+ then you'll probably be fine.
 
Nugester said:
Well, if you get 518+ then you'll probably be fine.
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Only AAMC FLE so far. Scoring 514-519 over 4 exams, still have 2.5 months before my MCAT. I enjoy standardized testing... don’t ask why I just genuinely do


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2.96
511
2 gap years with 1 year being a Post Bac 4.0
1 MD acceptance

Wish you the best of luck. Remember to take it slow. Don’t worry about 2 years from now, just take it a semester at a time and get that rising upward trend
 
What do you guys think of my situation?

uGPA: cGPA 3.1 sGPA 2.99 (just took a 4 credit hour anatomy class last fall and got an A so that should bump me over the 3.0)
Master of Science: GPA 3.8
MCAT: taken 3 times with recent score of 516

Applied previously with these stats, except a 505 MCAT, and got 1 DO interview with no acceptance.

I will be on my second gap year since applying. Since then I have got my new MCAT score, and have been upping my clinical and non-clinical volunteering. This fall I will be starting an SMP as well.

Do you think getting a 3.8+ in the SMP and my 516 MCAT will overcome the low undergrad GPA?
 
labtech312 said:
What do you guys think of my situation?

uGPA: cGPA 3.1 sGPA 2.99 (just took a 4 credit hour anatomy class last fall and got an A so that should bump me over the 3.0)
Master of Science: GPA 3.8
MCAT: taken 3 times with recent score of 516

Applied previously with these stats, except a 505 MCAT, and got 1 DO interview with no acceptance.

I will be on my second gap year since applying. Since then I have got my new MCAT score, and have been upping my clinical and non-clinical volunteering. This fall I will be starting an SMP as well.

Do you think getting a 3.8+ in the SMP and my 516 MCAT will overcome the low undergrad GPA?
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Yes, for sure. A >3.0 sGPA with a very strong SMP and strong MCAT will make you an attractive candidate at many schools.

You may not even need to do an expensive SMP with your current stats. A 516 is a big difference from a 505, I hope you've also been keeping up with your ECs/volunteering/clinical exposure/etc though just re-read your post haha. If you do go the SMP route, make sure it's a program with some degree of linkage to make it worth your time and money. I see you're going with the UC SMP, which at least offers a guaranteed interview so that's good.


I'd also definitely make a "WAMC" thread and see if you can get feedback from adcoms. Tag folks like Goro, he is quite knowledgable about reinvention.
 
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AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
Yes, for sure. A >3.0 sGPA with a very strong SMP and strong MCAT will make you an attractive candidate at many schools.

You may not even need to do an expensive SMP with your current stats. A 516 is a big difference from a 505, I hope you've also been keeping up with your ECs/volunteering/clinical exposure/etc though just re-read your post haha. If you do go the SMP route, make sure it's a program with some degree of linkage to make it worth your time and money. I see you're going with the UC SMP, which at least offers a guaranteed interview so that's good.


I'd also definitely make a "WAMC" thread and see if you can get feedback from adcoms. Tag folks like Goro, he is quite knowledgable about reinvention.
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Thanks for the quick reply. Ya UC SMP had really good stats as far as students getting accepted after their program. I have been working part-time, volunteering and shadowing till Covid hit. But I am about to start virtual tutoring to kids in the children's hospital as a nice compromise.

I will post a WAMC thread most likely toward the end of the first semester of the SMP once I know where my GPA will likely end up. I'm looking to get into my linkage school but I am going to apply broadly and look for advice on my school list so I don't have any donations.
 
@Cheezin You think someone should apply with a 2.9 without a postbach or SMP?
 
Sky138 said:
@Cheezin You think someone should apply with a 2.9 without a postbach or SMP?
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I don’t believe someone interested in providing healthcare should be using rhetoric like the “Wuhan virus”
Sky138 said:
(find a cure for cancer or come up with a vaccine for the Wuhan virus should suffice)
Click to expand...
 
Cheezin said:
I don’t believe someone interested in providing healthcare should be using rhetoric like the “Wuhan virus”
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LMAO. Do you realize when I posted that? Everyone called it the wuhan virus and that was before Covid19 was known to everyone as Covid19. I don’t believe anyone interested in providing healthcare should lack critical thinking. FYI, I’m Chinese American so do call me a xenophobe so I can get a good laugh.
 
@Goro, I see that this post is almost a year old so I apologize for commenting on a late post. I was wondering if my GPA upward trend would be considered to be a massive upward trend. My last 93 hours I had all A's and 4 B's. However, my first 2 semesters as a freshman were not as good. I made C's and 2 D's. The next semester I retook the 2 D's and made A's in them. My overall cGPA is 3.35.
Goro said:
The only scenario is when someone has a massive rising GPA trend, or, more likely does a post-bac or SMP.
Click to expand...
 
Fugeredenton said:
@Goro, I see that this post is almost a year old so I apologize for commenting on a late post. I was wondering if my GPA upward trend would be considered to be a massive upward trend. My last 93 hours I had all A's and 4 B's. However, my first 2 semesters as a freshman were not as good. I made C's and 2 D's. The next semester I retook the 2 D's and made A's in them. My overall cGPA is 3.35.
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Classic example of a massive rising GPA trend!!!!!
 
gonnif said:
This is why focusing on a single GPA number is an unreliable metric for students with atypical or problematic background. Your last 93 credits is about a 3.8 and you can use that as your "effective" GPA when targeting schools. However, you must make a VERY BRIEF note of this in PS else it can be overlooked. When I say brief I mean LESS THAN A SENTENCE, almost in passing. Depending on the rest of your story, a theme for you PS may be a pattern of increasing achievement. But a bad freshman year is easily understood by an adcom. While obviously a negative on a application you also immediately overcome it on the rest of the application
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@gonnif Thank you so much for the advice! I need as much of it as I can get. I am a first time college student, and definitely the first one in my family to pursue a medical degree. Everyone else in my family are blue collar workers and had little college advice for me to take. Like I said my freshman year was horrible to me. Just three days after leaving for college my home of 18 years was flooded by Hurricane Harvey. This deeply depressed me, knowing that I was sleeping in my cosy dorm and my parents, along with my three younger siblings, were having to sleep on cots in the shelter at our little town's church. Once my father began to rebuild our home I would drive 2.5 hours home after class to help, and then 2.5 back then next morning before class would start. Along with this, I found out my girlfriend, now wife, was pregnant with our daughter. These events were extremely stressful on me and made a negative impact on my grades. I was not sure how to implement this into my PS, or if I even should? I do not want them to sound like excuses.

Also, sorry if this is a dumb question, what is the "effective" GPA? I most definitely do not want my upward trend to be overlooked. It brings me hope knowing adcoms understand. When you say "While obviously a negative on a application you also immediately overcome it on the rest of the application" is that due to the upward trend?

Thank you so much Gonnif
 
Goro said:
Absolutely!
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That is great! Thank you so much Goro. Worrying about my GPA has been an everyday occurrence, but now I have peace knowing that my upward GPA trend is considered massive and also a reinvention. I am from Texas so I will be applying to the majority of schools in state. However, is there certain schools I should apply to out of state with my GPA? I am interested in D.O. schools as well as M.D. Therefore, I will be happy either way. I have saved a lot of money working as a crane mechanic after school so I want to apply to as many schools as I can.
 
Goro said:
Md, no.
Do, yes
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As many D.O.'s as I can? That are within GPA range? Also, I calculated my GPA and if I do 10 more hours I could have a 3.40 I was not sure if that would be a good idea or to just apply with the 3.35 and my upward trend.
 
20 yrs ago I got into 4 MD schools with a 2.9 and what I guess equates to a 519 now. But that was after leaving school in third year, joining the army reserve and training as a nurse (finishing at the top of my classes) and finishing school with all As. Sounds like nowadays I may not have succeeded though.
 
Fugeredenton said:
As many D.O.'s as I can? That are within GPA range? Also, I calculated my GPA and if I do 10 more hours I could have a 3.40 I was not sure if that would be a good idea or to just apply with the 3.35 and my upward trend.
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Fugeredenton said:
As many D.O.'s as I can? That are within GPA range? Also, I calculated my GPA and if I do 10 more hours I could have a 3.40 I was not sure if that would be a good idea or to just apply with the 3.35 and my upward trend.
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I don't know what is the matter with me!! Yes for MD and DO.

Do you have an MCAT score?
 
Goro said:
I don't know what is the matter with me!! Yes for MD and DO.

Do you have an MCAT score?
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No not yet. I am taking off of work to take the 515+ Princeton Review prep class this June.
&
I was happy seeing "DO yes" but seeing "MD YES" makes it better!
 
Goro said:
I don't know what is the matter with me!! Yes for MD and DO.

Do you have an MCAT score?
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Also, is there certain MD schools that I should apply to? I guess schools that reward reinvention?
 
Goro said:
Yes, but the MCAT needs to be > 512. For your state school, 510+
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Okay great! What schools would fall into that category?
or
Do you have a link to the schools that you would recommend that have already been posted on this forum?

Thanks a lot Goro!
 
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